Tag: Medicare
Hey Paul Ryan, How’s That Ax-y Medicare-y Thing Workin’ Out for Ya?
Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan’s constituents showed they are much smarter than he thinks they are. They aren’t buying the latest iteration of trickle-down, voodoo economics. And when he persisted in trying to get them to see it his way, they booed him. Let this be a warning to other tea bag Republicans who underestimate us. You need to throw out new red meat. We aren’t swallowing the old stuff.
DCCC Ad Shows Fate of Seniors if GOP Kills Medicare
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spot is running this Speaker Boehner’s district in Ohio.
Triumph of American Socialism: 70% of Tea Partyists Oppose Republican Plan to Kill Medicare
One provision in the 2012 federal budget that was passed by Republicans on a party-line vote in the U.S. House last week is so unpopular that even 70 percent of tea baggers — a group formerly known as the “Bush base,” whose existence is solely based on its hatred of Pres. Obama — agrees with the president that Medicare and Medicaid should not be cut, according to a new poll from McClatchy-Marist [PDF].
To the question, “Do you support or oppose doing each of the following to deal with the federal budget deficit: Cut Medicare and Medicaid?” 23 percent of tea partyites answered that they supported the cuts, 70 percent opposed and 2 percent were not sure. Among all Republicans, 25 percent supported the cuts and 73 percent opposed.
Among all voters, the response was 18-80 percent in support. Among Democrats, it was 5-92 percent; independents: 23-75 percent.
The Republican approach to Medicare, which is now the party’s official position, is to convert it from a single-payer system into a voucher program that would force seniors to buy health insurance on the open market. The plan, which was developed by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), would, in effect, kill Medicare as we know it.
It is not news that tea baggers claim to hate socialism while simultaneously clinging to Social Security and Medicare, the crown jewels of American socialism. During the debate on health-care reform, for example, their demand that the government keep its hands of Medicare was a constant theme.
But while tea baggers may agree with the president that Medicare should be preserved, their hatred for him has not softened. In the same poll, a whopping 80 percent of tea partyites said they disapprove of his job performance.
Their Team Winning is More Important to Florida Republicans Than Their Constituents Are
19 of 19
Number of Republican members of the House of Representatives from Florida who voted for the Ryan budget plan, which would expand tax cuts for rich people while canceling the current Medicare program. The vote seems odd in a state known for its high number of retirees, who were apparently not on the minds of their elected representatives.
GOP Ex-Leader Tom DeLay Declares Support for Killing Medicare
Republican leaders are sending signals that their real target in killing health-insurance reform is privatizing Medicare, and thus killing it, too.
Just this week, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) described Medicare on “Meet the Press” as “tyranny.” Tonight, on MSBNC’s “Hardball,” another former House Majority Leader, Tom DeLay, R-Texas, agreed with Armey, saying Medicare must go:
TOM DELAY: I want Medicare to be privatized. It shouldn’t be a government program. It’s the thing that is driving up costs. Not [the need] to have a public option. It’s Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP — the government-run programs — that are running up costs. That’s where the reform ought to be.
There are 44 million million seniors on Medicare right now. Killing the program by privatizing it would bankrupt tens of millions of them and cause self-imposed rationing by millions more who would find themselves choosing between food and medicine or paying the rent and seeking treatment.
That is the Republicans’ Dickensian vision for health-insurance “reform.”
