Bernie Sanders,’The wealthy and corporations must play a significant role in reducing the deficit.’

Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 01:36 pm

After Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner took Social Security off the table, Sen. Bernie Sanders applauded Obama and added, ‘The wealthy and large corporations must play a significant role in reducing the deficit.’

On ABC’s This Week, Tim Geithner announced that Social Security will not be a part of any deficit deal, “We are prepared to, in a separate process, look at how to strengthen Social Security, but not as part of a process to reduce the other deficits the country faces.”

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In a statement Bernie Sanders took Geithner’s remarks a step further, stressed that the wealthy and large corporations have a big role in deficit reduction,

I applaud the Obama administration. This is good news for more than 55 million Americans who have earned Social Security benefits today and every working American who will receive Social Security benefits in the future. The fact is that Social Security has not contributed a nickel to the national debt so it makes no sense for it to be part of deficit negotiations.

The American people have been clear that Social Security should not be cut and that the wealthy and large corporations must play a significant role in reducing the deficit.

While Republicans are bickering among themselves about whether or not to support raising taxes on the wealthy, Democrats and the left are pretty much in unanimous agreement on this one.

Sen. Sanders brought up a very important point that congressional Republicans aren’t understanding. Their beloved rich people and large corporations are going to have pay their fair share. There will be no more free ride for their sacred, “job creators.”

The White House proposal reflects exactly what Sen. Sanders is talking about. This deficit can’t be reduced on the backs of the poor, the elderly, the disabled, and the middle class. Today, John Boehner came out in opposition to raising taxes on the wealthy. Also today, Grover Norquist said he wants a deal just like the extension of the Bush tax cuts that was signed in 2010.

Neither of those things are going to happen.

Led by people like President Obama and Bernie Sanders, the left had undergone a complete transformation since the 2010 election. It is now the left leaning part of the country that is unified around a set of values. President Obama has successfully transformed the Bush tax cuts into a values issues, and Sen. Sanders has become the guardian of beloved liberal institutions like Social Security and Medicare. The right is arguing that rich should pay less taxes based on ideology, while the left is championing the value of fairness.

As the right falls apart and the left is moves forward, the new political era that many thought would come after 2008 is now within reach.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association