Obama Steps on Third Rail Without a Parachute

Oh yes he did! Unless there's a denial of the plain wording of the Washington Post article by Lori Montgomery:

“Obviously, there will be some Democrats who don’t believe we need to do entitlement reform. But there seems to be some hunger to do something of some significance,” said a Democratic official familiar with the administration’s thinking. “These moments come along at most once a decade. And it would be a real mistake if we let it pass us by.”

Rather than roughly $2 trillion in savings, the White House is now seeking a plan that would slash more than $4 trillion from annual budget deficits over the next decade . . .

Privately, some congressional Democrats were alarmed by the president’s proposal, which could include adjusting the measure of inflation used to determine Social Security payouts.

Stephen Ohlemacher via AP seems to confirm this:

One option includes a new inflation measure for Social Security that could produce savings close to $200 billion through a combination of reduced benefits and higher taxes, White House officials said Thursday.

 Low- and middle-income families could be hit.

The proposal would represent a reversal for Obama. In contrast to his pledge to target tax increases at the wealthy, high-income families would largely be spared from tax increases that would result from changing the way inflation is measured.

Looks like it's time for some magic book-cooking to will away that pesky inflation. Reversal? I've seen milder reversals in skateboard championships.

At which Nancy Pelosi goes mildly ballistic:

“You want to take a look at Social Security then look at it on its own table, but do not consider Social Security a piggy bank for giving tax cuts to the wealthiest people in our country.”

I don't know what else you'd call what's described above but that! But we've had clues for a year and a half that this has been Obama's intention all along, all the while saying the opposite over and over again. I don't know if this outrage is truly outrage, or just a bit of a dust-up so we'll think the Dems give a damn. Why is there a Democratic Party at all at this point, when all they can seem to accomplish is Stealth Republicanism(TM)?