Go read it all, it’s informative. From Josh Marshall:
Many Republicans can see the political danger of touching Medicare. No one campaigned on this in 2016. Support for phasing out Medicare and replacing it with private insurance and vouchers is minimal outside libertarians and conservative ideologues. That’s why word play about ‘reform’ and averting ‘bankruptcy’ and ‘saving Medicare’ are the catch phrases. If anyone said, ‘We have an idea to have seniors get private insurance instead of Medicare and a check from the government to pay part of the cost’ they’d be laughed out of whatever room they were in. What’s most salient is that it is toxic within the coalition around which Donald Trump has at least temporarily remade the GOP.
Paul Ryan and his backers in the Koch donor network want to do this badly. People like Mike Pence and Tom Price and a lot of hardcore conservatives in the House GOP caucus want to do this badly. It’s an historic culmination of decades policy dreams and preparation. But I doubt very much Trump and Ryan will be able to achieve this if they have to do it with no Democratic votes.
This is what short-circuited President Bush’s attempt to partially phase out Social Security in 2005. Republicans were willing but wary. They wanted President Bush to bring along some number of Democrats and move public opinion in his favor. As Democrats coalesced around an all but unanimous refusal to support or even negotiate over any phaseout plan, the effort collapsed. The key was depriving would-be privatizers of the cover of ‘bipartisanship’ and anonymity in the legislative crowd.
The Senate will be the hardest obstacle for the Trump/Ryan phaseout supporters. But deprived of any Democratic support, I think they’ll have challenges in the House too. Of course, there they have a number of votes to spare there.
So we have to make sure the Democrats hold the line. With Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, I don’t think it will be a problem.
That is such pre trump thinking. I think if they wreck Medicare they might get some adverse pushback. I think they can absorb it, though. Maybe lose one election cycle at most.
The upshot of this election is that it doesn’t matter how obviously you are a con man if you are a republican. The marks are absolutely BEGGiNG to be suckered. More so now than before the election. I think they could even do it and get the blame put on the dems, with a big assist from the media.
If we bet Medicare on Mr. Hedge Fund Bracket, ask yourself when did AARP contribute more than Wall Street?