Victory!  Barack Obama will not pursue cutting Social Security benefits by using the Chained CPI measure of inflation to calculate future benefit increases.  Obama had proposed doing this just last year, offering it as a compromise to Republicans.

Now, who gets credit?

One possibility is that "the left," gets the credit.  Obama has told "the left," which is a well-organized political apparatus of some sort, to "hold his feet to the fire."  And, boy, did we!  Why, I have personally blogged about the topic.  Ad nauseum.  Seriously, I wrote about it a lot.  I should have shut up already.  So, us.  The left. We did it!

Obama deserves the credit! With a relcacitrant Congress but a helpful Federal Reserve, the Obama administration has, in fact, helped the economy grow and helped to reduce the size of deficits.  He can justly argue that recent economic successes make moving to the Chained CPI less necessary.  The best defense of the current budget is, after all, a growing economy and we have that.  So, Obama did it!

Republicans saves Social Security!  Don't give them credit, though.  They did it unwittingly.  See, they asked for the Chained CPI cuts.  Well, to be fair, they asked that Obama ask for them.  The Republicans want this policy change but they do not want to propose or enact it themselves because then it will look like they cut Social Security benefits and Republicans are for rich people but also for old people.  Old people like Social Security and Matlock. Republicans would like to see Social Security benefits cut by Democrats.  That is all that they want.  Obama offered this to them and then said, "Now what will you do for me?"  They said, "Nothing."  Had Republicans offered something, the cuts would have happened.  So, bad faith bargaining saved Social Security!

The Simpson/Bowles Commission saved Social Security.  Let's face it, the Simpson/Bowles Commission is not cool.  It is, in fact, uncool.  That makes cutting Social Security uncool too.  Everybody wants to be cool.  Except Republicans.