Biden’s remarks indicate that Democrats have ruled out compromises that they pursued during President Barack Obama’s first term to trim long-term benefits as a way to reduce the national debt. Those negotiations drew objections from the left and never materialized into an agreement. Since then, Democrats have turned away from potential cuts and rallied around raising revenues to expand retirement benefits.
It represents a growing divide with Republicans, who continue to rule out new taxes to finance the benefits and instead believe spending must be curtailed in the long run.
This reporter is a lot stupider than I am. Republicans don’t believe it — they just want an excuse to cut the programs.
