Then there is this...

[sheshe2]

Liberals getting distracted...again

http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2013/04/liberals-getting-distractedagain.html

Remember what happened when Obamacare was being negotiated? Liberals got COMPLETELY distracted into thinking the only important provision was the public option. That's part of the reason so many people to this day don't know what was actually included in the legislation. As far as I see it - the public option was much less important than things like the largest Medicaid expansion in the program's history, or the medical loss ratios, or the exchanges, or the end of denials for pre-existing conditions, etc.

Today I see the exact same thing happening in that the only thing people are talking about when it comes to President Obama's budget is the fact that it contains use of chained-CPI. As I wrote about earlier today, when we actually see the details of the budget, what should become obvious is that there will be built-in measures to eliminate the impact this change has on those that are most vulnerable. With those provisions, a 0.3% annual reduction in the inflationary increase of payments is just not that big of a deal.



What I find baffling (and terribly disappointing) is that so little attention is being paid to the fact that President Obama's budget will also include implementation of his proposal for universal pre-K. To quote Vice President Biden..."this is a big fucking deal!"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/02/14/read-obamas-pre-k-plan/

I'm struggling a bit to understand why the silence on this one. Perhaps it has to do with some liberal's addiction to howling about the negative rather than pushing for the positive. In my darker moments, I wonder whether or not they actually give a shit about children.

Link to earlier post:
Chained-CPI: cue poutrage eruption

http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2013/04/chained-cpi-cue-poutrage-eruption.html

President Obama is set to release his budget on Wednesday and there are currently some leaks about what it will include. So of course the poutragers are out in full swing because it will apparently include using chained-CPI as the method to adjust both taxes and benefits to inflation.

But lets calm down a bit and take a look at a few specifics that we know about and then talk strategy for a moment.

First of all, I'd suggest that whenever you read a poutrager going ballistic about chained-CPI, look to see if they are including what President Obama's proposal does to mitigate the effect it will have on the most vulnerable. I can guarantee you that they won't because no one has seen the details yet.

But anyone on the left (including President Obama and Nancy Pelosi) who has been willing to negotiate about implementing chained-CPI has stressed the importance of including such measures.
There are two major changes necessary. First, add a bump in benefits to the very old, who are more likely to have high healthcare bills and to have exhausted their savings that supplemented their Social Security income. Second, exempt Supplemental Security Income, which serves the poorest, disabled and blind but still often leaves people below the poverty line.
One easy way to tell if people are including these mitigating measures in their calculations is that CBO has estimated that switching to chained-CPI will save $220 billion over 10 years. If these protections for the most vulnerable are included, that figure is reduced to $100-150 billion.

To have a full understanding, the article must be read:
This link that I posted above is important:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/02/14/read-obamas-pre-k-plan/