Boy, what tremulous times to be a Republican, with an anchor called Paul Ryan tied around your neck, and Harry Reid forcing you to take the plunge! First Newtie has to walk the plank, for being a bad boy blabbermouth (i.e. telling the truth about the Medicare Apocalypse.) Next, the reliably conservative 26th District gets flipped for the Dems, precisely because of the GOP candidate's adherence to Ryan's plan. The Ryan Budget is the tightrope that the GOP has bamboozled itself into walking over the sharp spikes of the 2012 election! And our dear Nurse Annie is caught smack damn in the middle of this thin rope!
How do I describe the precise cause of the Republican's woes?
The Ryan plan forces those under the age of 55, to get so-called "premium support payments," to buy private insurance. Say good bye to the old fee-for-service that you could rely upon in adversity. And don't forget that part of Ryan's agenda is to get rid of our new healthcare system, so we'd be under the tender mercies of the old insurance system, meaning no service for pre-existing conditions, kids older than 18 are on their own and insurance can refuse or stop payment for high risk patients or procedures.
In 2022, the average payment for these premiums would be $8,000 for those age 65. The payment is supposed to increase as you get older, based on your age and the consumer price index for urban consumers. But it won't keep up with health care costs, with recipients paying a larger percentage of the coverage. According to the CBO, the government percentage would shrink from 39 percent of the cost of private insurance in 2022, to 32 percent in 2030.
And that's what's got seniors and soon-to-be seniors all up in a lather. The Republicans assumed that they could buy off the present-day senior's support with a promise that the Medicare of anyone presently over 55, will remain the reliable traditional fee for service Medicare we all depend on, and to hell with the rest.
But the divide and conquer approach cannot work when blood is thicker than water. And our population is rapidly aging. Today's seniors are still parents and - grandparents! And there will be many more such grandparents to come! Do Ryan & Co. really think that seniors will pull up the ladder on their aging children and grandkids once they are aboard the boat? Nice try Mr. Ryan!
Already the strain of this anchor is being felt around the GOP's neck as it's limbs begin to flail about and look for an escape. Scott Brown (R. Massachusetts,) just a week ago said that he would vote for the Ryan plan, though he was sure it would go down in defeat. But as the news about how unpopular began to reach Washington, he did an about-face, and chose not to vote for it.
First, I fear that as health inflation rises, the cost of private plans will outgrow the government premium support— and the elderly will be forced to pay ever higher deductibles and co-pays. Protecting those who have been counting on the current system their entire adult lives should be the key principle of reform.
Well bravo Senator. That makes you the exception that proves the rule. The reaction of the Right to Brown's words were, to say the least, uncharitable:
'Respectfully, Scott Brown ought to be ashamed of himself,' Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) told Neil Cavuto on the Fox Business Network. 'This is the defining moment of this generation. We have got to be bold. We know these entitlements have to be reformed to be saved. He knows that.'
Walsh added that any Republican opposed to the plan was motivated by 'political reasons.'
He then said:
'Any Republican that doesn’t vote for this or doesn’t support this is purely being guided by political reasons,' Walsh continued.'"This is not time to be politically scared. Every day I am in this town I am more convinced this president has no clue as to the financial cliff we are about to fall off of.'
And now the Right has painted itself into a corner. The Republican response to the Ryan Budget is now set in stone. First, the House passed the plan 235-193, with only four GOP members voting against it, and all Democrats voting "no." And twhen in the Senate, when McConnell & Co were forced by Harry Reid to show their true allegiance, the measure was defeated along party lines, 54-47, with Republicans voting for the Ryan plan.
Well, didn't the Republicans try to make the grandparents happy? And how about the grandkids?
And how will the folks of Syracuse Southwest feel, since Ann Marie Buerkle cannot un-vote her ballot now on the Ryan Budget?
How will the Southwest neighborhood near West Onondaga and South Geddes feel where the percentage of married-couple families with both working is 50.9%, compared to the 56.9% that Syracuse has as a whole? Where the male to female ratio is evenly divided? Where the median age of males is 23.1 years, and for all of Syracuse is 30.5 years, and the median age for females is 26.4 years, and for the whole city: 31.7 years? Where the percentage of single-mother households in the whole neighborhood is 38.7%, when for all of Syracuse, it is only 14%? City Data
Not very good if in twenty years most of the people living there will need vouchers for their Medicare!
And our dear ever motherly, ever caring Nurse Annie, voted "yes" on the Ryan plan!
Well, I can tell you that our Honorable Representative certainly was most enthusiastic for the Ryan Budget:
Rep. Ryan’s Budget Resolution for Fiscal Year 2012 is a serious and in-depth proposal that addresses the fiscal crisis facing this nation. Congressman Ryan and the Budget Committee have done a commendable job in proposing a course towards fiscal responsibility.
Government has a spending problem. President Obama demonstrated his unwillingness to lead by putting forth a budget that fails to address our future fiscal state and provides neither control nor restraint of current government spending.
This budget resolution proposes to recommit this Congress to a fiscally responsible course that will preserve the American Dream for our children and grandchildren.
I look forward to reviewing the proposal in more detail and working to pass a fiscally sound 2012 budget.
Here's what she put on her website not long after:
No comments:
Post a Comment