Now there’s no one to stop them. Talking Points Memo:
First, Ryan claims that Obamacare has put Medicare under deeper financial stress. Precisely the opposite is true. And it’s so straightforward Ryan unquestionably knows this. The Affordable Care Act actually extended Medicare’s solvency by more than a decade. Ryan’s claim is flat out false.
Second, I’ve heard a few people say that it’s not 100% clear here that Ryan is calling for Medicare Phase Out. It is 100% clear. Ryan has a standard, openly enunciated position in favor of Medicare Phase Out. It’s on his website. It’s explained explicitly right there.
Ryan says current beneficiaries will be allowed to keep their Medicare. Says. It’s the cord is cut between current and future beneficiaries, everything is fair game. For those entering the system, Ryan proposes phasing out Medicare and replacing it private insurance with subsidies to help seniors afford the private insurance. That is unquestionably what it means because that is what Ryan says. So if you’re nearing retirement and looking forward to going on Medicare, good luck. You’re go on to private insurance but you’ll get some subsidies from the government to pay the bill.
Through all the gobbledygook and bamboozlement, you’ll find this line on Ryan’s page: “For younger workers, when they become eligible, Medicare will provide a premium-support payment and a list of guaranteed coverage options – including a traditional fee-for-service option – from which recipients can choose a plan that best suits their needs.”
This means, if you haven’t gone on Medicare yet, when you do, you won’t get Medicare. You’ll get a “premium-support payment” – i.e., a check that will allow you to buy insurance from private insurers. The “support” in the phrase means it won’t cover the whole amount. And in any case, rather than Medicare you’ll have insurance from an insurance company, which everybody should love because haven’t you heard from your parents and grandparents how bummed they were when they had to give up their private insurance for Medicare?
You’ll hear lots of people calling this “reform” and other catchwords. But Medicare is a single payer, universal health care system. Replacing it with private insurance means getting rid of it. Even calling it “privatization” masks what is really afoot.
Every Democrat should be focused and talking about it volubly both as a matter of policy and politics. There isn’t much time.
Every Ryan budget for years has contained this privatization model. All of the House Republicans have voted for it repeatedly. The Democrats won’t touch criticism. There is only one issue. After decades of regressive taxation to fund Medicare and financial invasion to pay “tax relief”, who ponies up to pay into the financial hole. Retirees who paid in, or the government that mismanaged retirement benefits at every opportunity?. Believe it or not, the retirees and those near retirement know the answer. This nonsense only flies with Democratic cover.
Josh is always more fired up with a Republican administration, and he played a significant role in beating back the Bush SS privatization plan. He was pretty quiet as Obama shut out single-payer advocates and pre-compromised away the public option. What we got was a Rube Goldberg Machine that helped tens of millions, but also hurt tens of millions (I am one), and enriched insurance companies. The 2014 Republican mid-term blood bath was significantly driven by the ironic and false meme that Obamacare was funded out of Medicare. If you’re looking for simple, single cause reasons Hillary lost, the announcement that premiums would be increasing by double digits would have to be on the list. Obamacare is, on balance, very unpopular and sinking.
Point here is that compromising with opponents whose primary stated goal is to destroy you is a really, really dumb strategy that the Dems follow again and again. In order to seem “moderate, reasonable, and bi-partisan.” If you’re playing tiddly-winks and the other guys are playing hand grenades, you are going to lose big.
As with Obama’s beloved 90-10 Bowles-Simpson inspired Grand Bargain plan to reduce SS benefits, our only hope here is that Republicans are not just really nasty, they’re also nuts. In the Grand Bargain case they seized defeat from the jaws of victory just because they wouldn’t agree to anything Obama proposed, even if it achieved their long-term objectives. The hope here is that Trump is so self-centered and vindictive that he will push to get rid of Ryan. If Priebus succeeds in reconciling Trump to the Republican leadership who dissed him, including Ryan, we’re toast.
Damn sure Democrats are going to be powerless to stop them. Look for “reconciliation” or even eliminating the filibuster, both strategies that Dems by and large failed to employ.
Obama shut out single-payer advocates and pre-compromised away the public option
The votes were never there for single-payer. Not even remotely.
Clearly you are going to believe what you like, but The. Votes. Were. Never. There.
the government that mismanaged retirement benefits at every opportunity
Not sure I know what this refers to.
The SS Trust Fund was invested, by law, in treasury bills.
Could you maybe explain what you mean by the bit I quoted ?
I’m just really glad that I got my cataract surgeries last year when the ACA was still in effect to help pay for them. Standing up to Trump seems like it would be a lot harder if I was both blind and disabled…
@ Joel Hanes Too simple, but Matt Yglesias and other Obama apologists would agree with you. Oh, heavens, I can’t go up against the Republican Party. I only control both houses of congress. Obama and the Dems penchant for compromise fucked them and us on health care reform, closing Guantanamo, bringing the architects of the financial collapse to justice, continuing eternal war worldwide, and so much more. Not buying the “devil made me do it” excuse.
By the way, by most polls prior to initiation of the health care reform debate, up to 75% of the public supported single payer when it was described to them functionally. Throwing it away pre-emptively was, at least, supremely stupid negotiating strategy if a public option was the real goal. Bully pulpit, anyone. Or demogoguery, as it would have been claimed by the health care industry and RW idealogues. But that wasn’t the real goal, was it? Caving to the Repubs in an arrogant and hopeless bid to “unify Washington” was.. Total fail. Another reason why all the voices calling for a total purge of the DNC are precisely correct.
Speaking of the DNC………….I heard Rep. Ellis on Chris Hayes’ show this evening and I like what he had to say and where he’s at in understanding what has to be done to wake the Dems from their generational snooze. He said some fucking shit on one of the Sunday shows 5/6 months ago to watch out for Trump—-and everyone on the panel laughed at his wisdom, including George Steph. I like Kieth’s message and point of view, and no doubt so do most of the stronger Dem progressives, i.e. Sen. Warren, et.al.
The party doesn’t need Howard Dean, or any of the old head strategies of the past to deal with the madness Trump is about to slam this country with! Go Kieth………….
Howard Dean…”has helped drug companies maintain monopoly power, reversed his old positions on Medicare prices, and worked to undermine a critical component of the Affordable Care Act. Though known for his anti-war rhetoric in 2004, Dean has accepted money from Mojahedin-e Khalq, an extremist group seeking regime change in Iran and has criticized President Obama’s negotiations with Iran.”
Total shill.
Read the whole thing: https://theintercept.com/2016/01/21/howard-dean-despite-denials-has-long-sad-history-of-selling-himself-on-k-street/
Keith looks to be the best bet so far.
Sorry Joel, I just found your question. By mismanage I mean rolling the Social Security surplus into the general fund to understate the deficit. Putting an interest bearing IOU in your 401K to cover current expenses is not sound planning.
Don’t expect me to take the Intercept seriously. They frequently exaggerate and outright lie, I don’t trust them.