Like a kidnapper or terrorist, President Obama seems to be aiming to build support among the elderly by not injuring them.
Mark Tapscot points out that there is no need to "starve grandma":
Washington gets $200 billion a month, Social Security costs $50 billion a month, and Obama is threatening to starve Grandma?And:
President Obama told CBS News today that he "cannot guarantee that those [Social Security] checks go out on August 3rd if we haven't resolved this issue. Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it."
But wait just a minute. If Washington receives about $200 billion in monthly revenues and sends out roughly $50 billion worth of Social Security checks and the same amount of Medicare payments, why is Obama claiming the checks may not go out?
Isn't $200 billion minus $100 billion still $100 billion?
Because Obama is playing the demogogue, that's why. Pure and simple. He is trying to scare seniors into making panicked calls to their congressmen begging them to do whatever Obama and the Democrats want in order to keep the checks coming.
Here are the facts, as reported by MarketWatch and the Bipartisan Policy Center. You do the math:It wouldn't do to force Congress to do its job.
* The federal government receives approximately $200 billion in revenues each month.
* Interest on the national debt in August will be approximately $29 billion.
* Social Security will cost about $49. 2 billion.
* Medicare and Medicaid will cost about $50 billion.
* Active duty military pay will cost about $2.9 billion.
* Veterans affairs programs will cost about $2.9 billion.
If you've been punching buttons on your calculator, you know that still leaves $39 billion each month. This is where Obama and the Democrats most fear to go. If Congress doesn't agree to raise taxes and the national debt limit, they will then have to make the tough choices about which of the remaining programs gets paid or cut and by how much:
* Defense vendors
* IRS refunds
* Food stamps and welfare
* Unemployment benefits
* Department of Education
* Department of Housing and Urban Development
* Department of Justice, etc. etc.
In sum, federal spending would have to be cut about 44 percent.
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