The Republicans' 2012 budget, offered up by Wisconsin's Paul Ryan, is supposedly serious, supposedly courageous, next to the very over-zealous Tea Partiers and even some Democrats silly enough to want to keep government just minimally functional, is absolutely ridiculous. ALL OF IT.
Just look at Ryan's approach to Medicare. We all know, or should know, the GOP is absolute in wanting to abolish Medicare. The basic reason, the truthful reason, Medicare was started in the first place was because seniors could NOT get health insurance companies to cover seniors' health problems. Imagine you're a senior, a little frail and you need and ask insurance companies for affordable health coverage. Well, good luck...
Let's look at the GOP's 2003 Medicare Part D, PDP: The massive entitlement expansion with billions of dollars in give-aways to Big Pharma and zero new revenue to pay for it. Ryan not only voted for it, he was the deciding vote in the House. In 2010 midterms, Republican candidates hammered "Obama Care" for cutting $500 billion from Medicare. And, everyone should remember the origin of the "Death Panel" hysteria was a provision that would subsidize doctors end of life care-the conversations only-with Medicare patients, a practice that's proven effective in reducing hardship and cost dollars of care. Republicans very gleefully demogued and beat it to death.
Ryan has taken this hypocrisy to its logical end. He wants to replace Medicare with an exchange and subsidies system that would resemble the "Affordable Care Act." However, the savings he projects would come from not so much competition but from Major cutbacks in care and benefits. This would END the Great Society and Medicare. The GOP and all the Republicans would love to see Medicare destroyed.
However, there's a wrinkle: none of this applies to age over 55. These folks will continue to enjoy the benefits of the very-very popular single-payer version of Medicare, as it is now. Here, Ryan would, indeed, keep government's hands off Medicare. If you're younger than 55, you're just screwed, really-really screwed. That's NOT good...
Here's something really galling: It's the way the slash and burn agenda is pursued. We must do this so our kids and grand-kids will NOT inherit the massive debt.
So, instead of the debt, Ryan would leave them in very lousy health care and no jobs, while making sure current seniors whose voters are needed, would enjoy the benefits of our democracy, our social democracy, in full...
Finally, Ryan isn't at all serious about controlling the cost dollars or securing the future for our young folks. But, he is deadly serious about bribing narrow constituencies to cement his party's power, redistributing wealth solidly upward and dismantling the elements of government on which our collective security depends. Because of GOP recklessness and intransigence, we must remember what, exactly, upstanding men like Republican Rep. Paul Ryan actually stands for. Indeed, what he's really up to in the short run and the long run...
Sincerely,
Freddy Erwin Lewis
Cartersville