Sen. Kerry Reveals Secret Deal To Cut Social Security
By Lawrence A. Hunter, Ph.D.
November 20, 2011
"We accepted, we accepted. . .huge, hard, thorough, horrible reductions."
Appearing on Meet the Press today, Massachusett Senator John Kerry admitted Super Committee Democrats and Republicans agreed behind closed doors to cut Social Security benefits for current beneficiaries to reduce the deficit -- "We're ask[ing] fixed-income seniors to ante up more." Only disagreement over taxes holds up those cuts.
Nine times in 13 minutes, Senator Kerry mischaracterized Democrats' insistance that taxes be raised as opposing a tax cut. Here is how he abused the rules of logic and mangled the English language to pretend that Republicans' remaining true to their pledge not to raise taxes would produce "the biggest tax cut since the Great Depression." The tax rates that have been on the books since 2003 are scheduled to go up automatically in 2012 unless Congress votes to maintain them. In other words, a TAX INCREASE is scheduled to take effect automatically unless Congress votes to maintain current tax rates. Voting to maintain current tax rates -- rates that have been in place for almost a decade -- is not a tax cut. What Senator Kerry is tyring to do is recharacterize the tax increase Democrats are manuevering to achieve as a tax cut for the rich.
In the following video, watch Senator Kerry admit that Democrats accepted Republican demands to cut Social Security benefits for current retirees by means testing the program and cutting annual cost of living allowances (COLAs) -- "We accepted, we accepted," what he called "huge, hard, thorough, horrible reductions."
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