krebscycle

Imagine the GOP had offered President Obama the following deal

• make the Bush tax cut for the rich permanent
• Raise eligibility for Social Security by 5 years
• Cut cap gains
• Pass law so that in 5 years, Medicare eligibility starts going down, one month a year until it is at 50 (unless Congress changes the rules)

There would have been a wave of protest based on the obvious observation that we were trading massive losses now for hypothetical gains in the future – and anyone stupid enough to trust that the GOP would live up to the last point was a chump.

And yet

• end the Bush tax cuts for the rich
• end the cap gains special rate
• cut oil company tax breaks
• Pass a law that in 5 years, Medicare eligibility starts going up, one month a year until it is 66.

the rumored “grand bargain”.