You may wonder

why I've been focusing on marriage lately. Well, it's the best news going. I mean, what's the alternative -- Obama's "budget proposal"? Here's a good analysis of the chained CPI mess that he's proposing from Karoli at Crooks and Liars.

On a policy level, chained CPI is terrible, awful, Pete Peterson policy and shame on David Axelrod for spouting those policy ideas on Rachel Maddow's show and shame on the president if he's actually buying that bill of goods.

It makes almost no dent in the deficit or debt now or in the future.
It takes from those who can least afford it.
It relies on the false premise that Social Security is somehow compromised or bankrupt, neither of which are true.

Chained CPI also has an impact on tax preferences and Medicare benefit payment schedules to providers, so it is ostensibly a way to slow the growth of tax preference items and Medicare costs. While it's important to contain those costs, chained CPI is the gnat straining at an elephant. There is no unbendable law that says chained CPI can't be used for tax preferences without linking Social Security benefits.

Here's the Rachel Maddow segment she refers to:

Axelrod is such a tool. He's just repeating all the catch-phrases that the Very Serious People in Washington repeat. Ad nauseam. And Maddow is absolutely right -- Social Security has nothing to do with the deficit, we can "fix" the solvency issue in SS by raising the cap on payroll taxes, there is no need to go after benefits.

Politically, the Republicans are already going after Obama on this -- "it's the Democrats who are cutting Social Security!" What the hell did he expect?

My own guess is that Obama really wants to go to work for Pete Peterson after he leaves the White House.

Footnote:  Here's some more information on the benefit cuts via Digby.  And more from David Atkins.