You Got To Know When To Hold 'Em!

I'm reprinting this list from Cliff Schecter writing in Politico, of what the real chips should be on the bargaining table between Obama and John Boehner. This is the counter offer we should be asking for! Why should we let the Republicans request a pony and all we ask for is a bitter pill?

Not only should there be very little compromise here, but here is what smart, progressive governance would actually look like in the current situation, if you consider where the leverage is:

1) Lower the Medicare age to 40
2) Bulk negotiation and reimportation of prescription drugs for Medicare
3) Double Social Security benefits (per the New America Foundation)
3) Add an additional tax rate for over $1 million per year of 50%, let’s call it the “First Term Reagan” tax rate, end the ridiculous Romney-ish “carried interest loophole” (per Warren Buffett)
4) Decriminalization of recreational drugs–you know, to save the billions wasted in criminal justice costs, if not for moral reasons (per Richard Branson)
5) Cut defense spending by at least $110 billion as Rep. Jan Schakowsky has called for (explained best by Red Dawn…sort of)
6) Get out of Afghanistan–yesterday (explained best by common sense, experiences of the last century and War Of The Worlds)

And this from me:

7) Remove the salary cap on Social Security and take catfood off the table. There, Social Security “fixed.” (Senator Sanders, you can start this tomorrow — just get your 29 letter-writers to co-sponsor the Begich bill.)

That, of course, is just a start. But it looks to me to be about equal to the victory that was won by progressives in 2012. It’s a helluva lot closer to the Democrats’ mandate from this election than the GOP one–which is to go slink into a corner somewhere with your self-proclaimed witches and theological-rape specialists and listen to actual adults discuss policy that works in the real world.