The next couple months will be consumed with discussion about the Catfood Commission II, and their efforts to reach a $1.5 trillion or higher deficit package. This will frustrate any attempt to pivot to jobs. But as long as that’s known, activists and organizations can point out best practices on that committee while trying to force the conversation in a different direction.

One way to do that is to consistently point out that job creation is the best and most robust way to ensure any deficit reduction, and that reducing the deficit with 9% unemployment is a near-impossibility. Another way is to point out how much deficit savings can be gained merely by engaging in the vitally necessary actions of protecting the earth from climate change.

Earl Blumenauer, the Portland-area Democrat who raised eyebrows with his story in the New York Times suggesting potential benefit changes to Social Security, again reiterated to Tim Fernholz that he never intended to call the Social Security Trust Fund a “Ponzi scheme,” as Bai interpreted. He also talked about his ideas for the budget in general and Social Security in particular.

Now that Earl Blumenauer has exposed the craven indemnification agreement the US government under the Bush/Cheney Administration gave to Halliburton/KBR, he should pursue the same types of agreements secretly given to telco companies participating in the illegal wiretapping program.

Earl Blumenauer is Lanny Davis in a bow tie. He’s an unprincipled hack who hides behind schtick, wagging his finger in exhortations to “civility” while shamelessly betraying every promise he makes.

Matt Bai has a NYT article ostensibly about Democratic Congressman Earl Blumenauer and his willingness to cut wasteful spending to reduce the deficit — no news there — but Bai turns it into a dishonest hit piece on the Social Security Trust Fund.

Now that their scams have all been laid bare, Democratic leadership has resorted to firing on their own troops and threatening to run them all out of office if they don’t vote for the AHIP/PhRMA bailout.

So, it looks like it’s time to whip.