Like a lot of us who hang out often on the left-hand sector of the political spectrum, I'm not too thrilled this A.M. to read that President Obama is willing to trade cuts in Social Security for other things — and it's not just the fear that Republicans will somehow get all the cuts without giving in on all the other things. I just think this country works better when fewer of its citizens are living in poverty or close to it. I think my feelings are a lot like those of Josh Marshall.