Again, they would have been blamed either way. If there was no deal, the coming losses of 2 million jobs due to Sequestration would be blamed on them. The gutting of the military would be blamed on them because they voted for Sequestration 18 months ago. They would be blamed when the debt ceiling expired and SS checks were (once again) threatened to not be direct deposited because of them (even if the House authorized the funding in a seperate line).
The GOP cannot win, the new media won't let them.
The COLA adjustment was all they could get.
Yes, there is a formula in place now, but even with that there was no COLA increase until last year. The Govt saved Billions by cooking the books and not issuing COLAs even when there was real inflation.
Will the "deal" make COLAs (for SS, Fed pensions, and military pensions) even smaller?
Absolutely!
Blamed is one thing. Commiting political suicide is another. If the Reps don't stand by their principles, what is left? Sequestration was a bad deal, but it was Obama's idea and he signed it.
Sequestration was the result of the debt limit fight. The GOP traded the deal for getting spending reductions later. That hasn't happened. We are still running $1 trillion deficits and spending will continue to increase. We are giving Obama more revenue for more promises of spending cuts. The revenue will be used to keep the welfare state afloat.
The Dems have been saying that SS does not contribute to the debt. We know that is a lie. SS has been running in the red since 2010 and the payroll tax holiday means that the General Fund must come up with $130 billion a year to fund the shortfall. 42 cents of every federal dollar spent is borrowed. Let Obama explain why the SS checks can't be sent out.
The COLA adjustment was all they could get. Yes, there is a formula in place now, but even with that there was no COLA increase until last year. The Govt saved Billions by cooking the books and not issuing COLAs even when there was real inflation. Will the "deal" make COLAs (for SS, Fed pensions, and military pensions) even smaller? Absolutely!
There was no cooking of the books. COLAs are like compound interest. When you start reducing them, it will have an enormous impact on future spending and unfunded liabilties. It will keep the system treading a little longer without making the changes needed to reform the program. But it is just more kicking the can down the road.
It will compress pensions between those at higher rates and those at the lower rates. I have no doubt that the deal is that those with lower pensions will not be affected and those with higher pensions will receive lower COLAs. The net impact will be a closing of the gap between those at the bottom and those at the top. It fits Obama's idea of social justice and redistribution of wealth. It is part of the means testing that will be the solution for all of the entitlement programs. It is called communism.
Both parties do not want to make the hard decisions necessary to reform the entitlement programs. The costs will still continue to go up as 10,000 people retire a day for the next 20 years. The population of those over 65 will double in the next 20 years--one in five by 2030. And there will be fewer workers to tax to pay for those benefits.