Balancing the Budget on the Backs of the Middle Class Working Poor

OK middleclass, get ready for ready for another bipartisan sweetheart deal as Obama uses his so called independent commission report as a blueprint for reducing the deficit.

According to Wikipedia, here’s what the Simpson-Bowles “ independent commission” proposes: “ $100 billion in increased tax revenues through various tax reform proposals, such as introducing a 15 cent per gallon gasoline tax and eliminating or restricting a variety of tax deductions such as the home mortgage interest deduction and the deduction for employer-provided healthcare benefits. It also targets civilian and military federal pensions and student loan subsidies. The proposal has been dismissed as "unserious" by Paul Krugman for its large unfunded cuts in income taxes. Union leaders such as Richard Trumka and several Democrats such as Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Representative Raul Grijalva rejected the plan saying it cut spending, especially on Social Security, too much.

Rand Paul (R-KY), a Tea Party supporter, stated that the proposed changes to entitlement spending should take effect sooner instead of in future.The commission has been criticized as deliberating in secret and as being "stacked with people who want to target entitlement spending rather than any balanced proposal."

So even though Social Security is in surplus with $2.5 trillion in government bonds paid for by middle class contributions, the Social Security lockbox as Al Gore called it has to be broken into to pay for tax reductions for the wealthy.

Because it would lead to cuts in benefits for Social Security and Medicare, many Democrats are calling this a 'cat food' commission, on the grounds that it will allegedly eliminate key portions of the social safety net, forcing some people (particularly the elderly) into such extreme poverty that they will only be able to afford to eat cat food.”

Is this Change we can believe in?