One of the main arguments the Republican obstructionists (and their Blue Dog Democrat helpers) offer against health care reform is that the trillion-dollar program would increase the deficit. You can argue the numbers, but the Democrats have clearly tried to cobble together spending cuts and tax increases to offset the costs.
Compare this to 2003, when the Republican majority in Congress passed the half-trillion-dollar Medicare prescription drug benefit and funded it 100% with deficit spending. 24 current GOP Senators voted for that massive increase in the deficit.
One of those erstwhile big spenders, Senator Olympia Snowe from Maine, now says, "Dredging up history is not the way to move forward." Funny—I thought dredging up history was the way to move forward without repeating past mistakes (even if Santayana didn't say it).
Well, at least it took just six years for Republicans to get religion on deficit spending. It's too bad they couldn't have learned it during eight years of Bush rule. (Debt when George W. Bush took office: $5.7 trillion. Debt when he left: $10.6 trillion.) I just wish I could believe their newfound deficit-hawkishness is more than a smokescreen for a lack of ideas and a convenient anti-Obama political posture, which they will shed the moment they are back in the position of actually governing and making hard fiscal choices.
At least Senator Thune can claim immunity from this hypocrisy: in 2003, he was busy working as a lobbyist.
If it was funded "100% with deficit spending" why do all my Medicare eligible clients pay extra for three different levels of the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan including the donut? Those billions are going somewhere and they're coming right out of our older clients' pockets each month. Do you have any information that compares the Part D revenue to its costs?
ReplyDeleteCory,
ReplyDeleteAre you against Medicare D?
Steve, you know full well I'm for Medicare E. The question here is why Republicans are in favor of deficit spending for their government health care expansions but demand strict fiscal discipline of Democratic health care proposals.
ReplyDeleteRod, whatever costs are coming out of youe clients' pockets, the government side of the benefit was paid for entirely by deficit spending, as the original article says.
Cory,
ReplyDeleteThanks for admitting that you too are for deficit spending, but on a grander scale. Both political parties are for deficit spending, and both parties blame the other political party for doing it. So what good is the finger pointing? America needs reform, but this time let us define reform as returning to the limited government the founding fathers intended when they passed the constitution. It is looking like a third party is needed to accomplish that. So I ask those Democrats that are truly for the little guy, are you ready to join the Tea Party?
Steve, stop playing games with my words. I am in favor of Medicare E. I am in favor of paying for every cent of it through taxes, premiums, etc. Medicare E would save us all money, as we could all stop paying private insurance premiums, transfer 90% of that money to a tax increase, and come away with billions left over in your pocket to drive the economy.
ReplyDeleteI'll join the Tea Party when it shows me a viable plan for governing and candidates who are serious about solving practical problems, not pretending to be great political philosophers or Revolutionary War re-enacters. (They'll also need to show me a better plan than the Dems offer... but you guys need to crawl before you can walk. You'll also need to show me your challenger to John Thune.)
Cory,
ReplyDeleteMedicare is going broke as it is responsible for increasing private insucrance costs due to cost shifting. And fundamental economics spells economic disaster, including extreme unemployment, if we dramatically increase taxes. Second, the reduction in economic activity will lower tax revenues (the Bush tax cuts actually increased tax revenues). The solution is less government spending. Why does restoring the government the founding fathers creating not considered "the solution" Cory?
Cory,
ReplyDeleteNow that I have given you a practical reason for the problems of Medicare E, I will now give a moral one.
Expecting others to pay for your medical care is coveting, which is a violation of God's Ten Commandments. By definition, purposely violation God's Laws is evil. Medicare E would make America a covetous and thereby, evil nation. Why do you want America to become an evil & covetous nation where the rich and powerful end up in control of the people and steal their money (as of now, they have taken $200,000 of my money in the name of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security) through the corrupt practices that is now occurring in Washington DC?
[And Remember Tony's Ben Franklin quote in another thread regarding giving up liberty for the sake of security. So are you ready to keep the liberty of property and give up on Social "Security"?]
And since we are quoting Ben Franklin, I think this quote is also relevant to my previous comment:
ReplyDeleteIf we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper; but if we and our posterity neglect its instructions and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity.
~ Daniel Webster
No reaction? Do I assume you understand what I have layed out is right, but just don't want to admit it?
ReplyDeleteNo, Steve, it means I'm tired of trying to shout the same clear answers at you over the constant and annoying word-twisting spam with which you keep cluttering this blog. Quit hogging the comments section with your irrelavancies. Prayer and Ben Franklin and the Ten Commandments have nothing to do with the Republicans' hypocrisy on Medicare and the deficit. Medicare E is moral and practical. I have already said those things, and I do not feel compelled to repeat them in response to your nonsense. Go home, and come back when you have something constructive to add to the conversation.
ReplyDelete“Medicare E is moral and practical. I have already said those things, and I do not feel compelled to repeat them in response to your nonsense. Go home, and come back when you have something constructive to add to the conversation.”
ReplyDeleteCory, you have not refuted my points that clearly show that the current dysfunctional Medicare system applied to everyone is practical. Again, it is irresponsible for not paying its fair share of the costs, forcing providers to shift them to private plans. That is why we have escalating premiums in the private sector. It is illogical to think that doing more of what caused the problem will fix the problem. You applied the cost benefit rule in the airline security issue. Your plan separates those who pay for the costs from those who receive the benefits. The cost benefit rule is not applied, and that is why costs will go up…not down as you wrongly assume.
And again, coveting is immoral, and that is the case with redistribution. It is evil.
And if you want to be constructive, then you should stop the finger pointing and partisan politically trickery and be thankful that the GOP compromised and expanded Medical. I agree that was fiscally irresponsible, and I am taking more heat from them than the Democrats nowadays, but your plan is far more irresponsible.
Many of us are sick and tired on choosing between a little bet of socialism or a whole lot of socialism, so we are speaking up. Go ahead and tell us to shut up, but that only shows your disrespect for the First Amendment, civil discourse, and your inability to show respect toward those you disagree with.