Another guest post is by our pal and regular TPC contributor, David Garber:

 WHO’S GUTTING WHO?

Here’s the headline currently on Huffington post: “Obama: ‘We’re Probably Not Gonna Get A Deal’ If GOP Insists On ‘Gutting’ Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid”

Okay, on the surface, that sounded reasonable until I focused on the word, Obama’s word, ‘Gutting’. Wait a minute — that should be touching, not gutting. Stop way before gutting. The holy trinity cannot be touched. Period.

Why are we even discussing this? Has Obama lost sight of his victory from last November? Here we are, just beginning his second term, and he’s out trying to strike a grand bargain. Why? Is America clamoring for one? Maybe, but not the one Obama or the Republicans are talking about.

What we the people are looking for is a deal on immigration reform and gun control. And jobs.

But do you know what we need even more? An overhaul to the tax system. We want a fair and efficient system — with more revenue for the Dems and less government for the Repubs. And you want to know how easy that is to accomplish? Very.

Don’t let the liars in Washington fool you. Or the shortsighted news readers on the TV and radio. Overhaul is as simple as a stroke of the pen.

How? Simply slash the outrageous tax breaks for the super rich. Before you tune me out, just consider this:

• No more yacht write-offs (how many people do you know that have a yacht? You pay taxes to cover their write-off).

• No more private jet write-offs (again, how many people do you know that have private jets? You’re paying for their write off with your taxes).

• No more corporate off shore stashing of profits to avoid taxes (you have to pay taxes, why shouldn’t they?).

• No more subsidies to oil companies thus giving them billions in profits with unfair write-offs like off-shore banking. (You’re paying for it with your taxes).

• No more tax breaks to companies for outsourcing jobs. (Yes, we give a break if a company hires workers in a foreign land as opposed to a legal worker here in the states.)

• No more giving free money to banks (too large to fail or jail) thus giving them even larger corporate writeoffs for managing the money they’ve been loaned).

Do you realize we give big banks interest-free money and let them keep it and call it profits? Yup, and they’re not even encouraged to use it for customer loans or service. It’s OUR TAX MONEY. Yet go in and try to get a loan. Good luck.

If a big bank needs cash to stay afloat, force them to use that money for loans to individuals and small businesses, or else the bank must return the money within two years WITH a punitive interest payment for the use of the money. If you borrowed money, whether you used it or not, you’d have to pay the piper. Why not JP Morgan/Chase or Citibank?

Implement these suggestions and watch how quickly financial institutions start giving out home mortgages to those who qualify or start up capital for small businesses to get launched. Need new equipment to modernize your small company? The banks will loan it because if they don’t, they will have to pay interest. Watch the economy jump then. Big banks will become smaller and new banks will start up and carry those who leave the big established financial institutions for those who care about their customers. No depositor will be losing money. Nor will the banks unless they’re unscrupulous, in which case, leave them. There will be options.

What’s holding us back are loopholes that should never have been in existence in the first place. Their purpose has long since retired — along with the crooks who wrote them into the tax codes.

And just like the NRA who scares the Bejesus out of our elected officials when we talk any sort of gun control, the rich do the same if you threaten their loop holes.

Politicians think only the rich put money into their campaigns so the poor and middle class don’t matter. Ask Karl Rove how that went. Our vote is what they need even more than money. And our vote counts just as much as the millionaires’ or business tycoons’.

So demand what’s important — our elected representatives start representing us — the poor and middle class. The rich don’t need our help. Obama and Congress should be talking about gutting — but gutting the tax system, not our security nets.

The Holy Trinity, Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid cannot be tampered with. They’re not the problem. We can even improve them and cut our taxes at the same time — hear that, Republicans, tax cut — if you stop protecting your rich cronies and do your job.

Congress, we can remove you — and we will. We’ll gut you (with our votes) like Jack the Ripper — a sacrifice that’s more important than gutting 99% of the public. Dump the Chump!

For the past 25 years, David Garber has been serving as the show runner and or writer on some of television’s biggest hits… Saved By The Bell, Power Rangers, 227, Bill Cosby Show and many other network series. His writing and producing have also netted David two very prestigious awards:the PRISM AWARD and the TV CRITICS AWARD – TV SPECIAL OF THE YEAR. Currently he’s authoring a short story series called “A Few Minutes With…”