I think Greg Sargent is right about why there will be no "GOP Capitulation":

A sizable number of House Republicans can be expected to vote against the eventual debt ceiling compromise on ideological grounds, something you'd think would give House Dems a bit of leverage in these negotiations. After all, House leaders will presumably need a sizable bloc of Democrats in order to pass the compromise through the House. So this should give them a say over the outcome of the talks. Right?

Well, no, not necessarily. All signs right now are that the White House is proceeding as if House Dem support can simply be taken for granted. After all, House Dems have made it clear that they don't support any cuts to Social Security or Medicare, and yet that's exactly where the talks appear to be headed.

This will mean even less money available for seniors to purchase food. They'll be buying cheaper, possibly less nutritious types of food.  They'll probably have to give up buying vitamin supplements as Medicare RX doesn't cover those.  I imagine there will be effects I haven't thought of yet. Oh, yeah: Heat. Air conditioning. Gas. Electricity. Other transportation.  

This will be a big hit to the economy, but, I guess Obama figures with less health care seniors will die off earlier and faster, and that will also cut the need for Medicare expenditures and SocSec outlays. Hey, it's a Plan!

My, what a view for an ostensible Democrat to hold! But I always figured he didn't really think of himself as a Democrat; he ran under the D banner because as a black man that was how to get elected in Chicago and then Illinois, and for sure how to be elected president. A flag of convenience, were he a ship.

Damn, a Dem who believes in Cheap Labor and Hurry Up and Die! Sounds like a Republican to me. And, just like a Republican, Obama will probably go with the SocSec COLA "adjustment," since he probably does believe seniors get too much already and they need to get a "haircut"* on those cost of living increases.  And it's sneaky enough, confusing enough, that he can lie about it to the voters.

Note that Obama's doing this just in time for the Baby Boomers** to start receivng SocSec and Medicare.  Since the O'Neill/St. Ronnie "Grand Bargain," everyone has been paying forward (meaning, paying more than was statistically necessary) on their SocSec, to ensure there was enough money to cover the bulge.  Now, these Baby Boomer payers are going to get cuts to their SocSec payments. For those close to or now on SocSec, it means they've also probably lost savings due to the banksters playing around with Credit Default financial gambling Big Mess. Or have used savings to live on since they were downsized or forced into early retirement.... Nice, huh?

The bottom line is there will be even less money for the poor and lower economic strata to use to purchase goods and services. There will be less demand in the whole economy. There will be job cuts as various companies are not making sales which fund the wages of their workers. There will be lower taxes and more state and local job cuts, service cuts.

Obama is setting us up for a double dip -or, more accurately, a deepening of the recession/depression we're already in.

We wuz robbed -- of the opportunity to have a Democratic president during a period of severe economic turmoil. Of the chance to remedy some of the most egregious wrongs with out financial system. Of a chance for single payer health CARE.

We wuz robbed. Ah, maybe that's part of living in an Oligarchic Kleptocracy.  

As Buffett said, there is class warfare and his class has won. Big time, as Cheney might say.

*Re: haircuts -- for thee, seniors and the poor, but not for banksters. The Wall Street Gang Banksters sure are getting their money's worth out of their early donations to Obama, aina hey?

If you step back and look at this from the perspective of the guy in the middle who probably wants to get debt under control while not gutting entitlements, he sees two extremes and Obama pulling those extremes together.

Do I like it as a liberal? No.  Do i think, if he can pull of a grand bargain with concessions on both sides on those points that he's doing the country a fairly big service? Probably.

In the macro sense, this is pretty much what Obama said he'd do and 10-15 years down the road, he's stature will grow as a result of the heat he's taking from all sides.

My prediction: there will be cuts to entitlements that sting but are not ridiculous and there will be some surprising concessions on the revenue side while Obama leaves open the chance of letting the Bush tax cuts expire.

House Republicans saying don't touch taxes

Who knows, maybe they'll find 4 trillion dollars to cut from the defense budget...

It's a JOBS program! And it probably has to be a government program due to the possibility of lawsuits against private entrepreneurs, so it's a JOBS program that also provides low cost PROTEIN for the masses and the elderly poor.

Now is surely the time for such an endeavor. If not now, when?

Hey, win-win-win: Jobs, food, and a way for the poor to sacrifice themselves to the greater good.

Orin Hatch* did say on the floor of the Senate that the poor need to sacrifice more, so, given they don't have much money, why not let them, indeed urge them, to sacrifice themselves entirely? Body and soul? Hearts and minds?

And there's more! Burial costs are avoided and cemeteries won't fill up as fast! Maybe some job losses for gravediggers, profits lost to funeral homes, but what an upside: Jobs, low cost protein, and, maybe, profits the government can apply to the national debt. And there must be some side products, such as fertilizer, some minerals, tallow, etc., which can also be sold. OMG, I almost forgot there could be organs for resale! It's win-win-win-win!

C'mon, Obama, what's not to like?

The woman taking my call at the WH comment line reacted with equanimity.  

*Thank you for your inspiring words, Sen. Hatch. Republicans ought to love this scheme: It will mostly lower the number of Dem voters. Hey, for them it's win-win-win-win-Big Win (electorally).