The Kroog Versus Alan Simpson

Paul Krugman doesn't pull any punches voicing his opinion that Obama Catfood Commission chair Alan Simpson needs to be shown the door.

At this point, though, Obama is on the spot: he has to fire Simpson, or turn the whole thing into a combination of farce and tragedy — the farce being the nature of the co-chair, the tragedy being that Democrats are so afraid of Republicans that nothing, absolutely nothing, will get them sanctioned.

When you have a commission dedicated to the common good, and the co-chair dismisses Social Security as a “milk cow with 310 million tits,” you either have to get rid of him or admit that you’re completely, um, cowed by the right wing, that IOKIYAR rules completely.

And no, an apology won’t suffice. Simpson was completely in character here; it was perfectly consistent with everything else he’s said, and with his previous behavior. He has to go.

I'll go one step further and say the entire Catfood Commission needs to go, but that's just me.  The only possible outcome from this is that Obama is forced to make cuts to Social Security and Medicare and the Republicans will rightfully destroy him on that in 2012.  I'm not sure why Obama doesn't see this coming, but with his now famous proclamation that he doesn't mind being a one-term President if it means he gets what needs to be passed into law, he's well on his way to exactly that.

The best part is the GOP will happily undo everything that Obama's done anyway.