Hush-hush meeting with John Boehner, closed door meeting with Nancy Pelosi, certainly not the transparency and accountability in government that Obama campaigned on.

Is it all just smoke and mirrors?

In a report this morning from TPM's Brian Beutler, he says that Dems are supporting a Social Security benefit cut by calling it something else:

Social Security benefit cuts may be a bridge too far for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). But what if Republicans and Democrats alike just agreed to refer to a benefit cut by another name. That's how key negotiators have decided to treat one policy proposal, popular in Washington, that would simultaneously raise tax revenues and reduce Social Security benefits. As explained at length here, the idea is to peg federal Cost of Living Adjustments to a new, stingier measure of inflation. Experts say the new index (the so-called Chained Consumer Price Index) is a more realistic metric for measuring inflation's impact on peoples' behavior. But the fact remains that if the change goes through as part of a grand bargain to lower deficits and raise the debt limit, retirees will receive less money each month than they're currently promised. And if you think Democrats are playing dumb because they want a deal, think again. They're some of the biggest supporters of this plan. "We make the determinations right now for benefits based upon CPIU," Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), one of the Dems' principal debt limit negotiators. He's referring to the current index the government uses to calculate Social Security's Cost of Living Adjustment. And that's what they're talking about changing. "Now the question is will some other look at CPI make sense? And I think that it makes sense to look at it all to see what is an accurate account, a better way to determine benefits. I certainly wouldn't walk away from that kind of discussion."

Also note at the end of the report, this observation from Beutler:

This bucking of orthodoxy via clever wordplay mirrors the cover Republicans give themselves from their base when they agree to close tax loopholes, despite pledging never to raise taxes. Only Democrats seem much more willing to play this game than the GOP.

There are also reportsthat Speaker Boehner is "upbeat" about Sunday's debt showdown. Here's one clip from The Hill:

Amid reports that Boehner had signaled a new openness to include a tax overhaul in a broad debt deal, he said comprehensive tax reform was “under discussion,” but again repeated his denunciation of higher taxes. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) described Boehner as “upbeat” about the negotiations, and said the Speaker told lawmakers the probability of a deal in the coming days “could be 50-50.”

Is Boehner going to agree to and end to Bush's tax breaks for the wealthy - raising them, but calling it a 'comprehensive tax reform' in hopes of pulling one over on the Tea Party? This part would be fine with me, of course, but...

Will congressional Dems agree to implement the Chained Consumer Price Index on Social Security, avoid calling it a 'cut in benefits,' even though indeed, retirees will receive less monthly benefits than promised?

It's all so reminiscent of George W. Bush's 'We don't use torture' reassurances, only to find out that he simply had his lawyer write up some conflated new and improved guidelines for treatment of detainees to pull it all off.

This current administration is just as obvious when they start moving mirrors around to obfuscate the truth, but the smoke will hopefully clear on Sunday and we'll see what values our current government truly holds dear.