General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSo the Republicants want to privatize Medicare, turn Medicaid into a bloc grant, and repeal the ACA
WASHINGTON House Republicans on Tuesday will unveil a proposed budget for 2016 that partly privatizes Medicare, turns Medicaid into block grants to the states, repeals the Affordable Care Act and reaches balance in 10 years, challenging Republicans in Congress to make good on their promises to deeply cut federal spending.
The House proposal leans heavily on the policy prescriptions that Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin outlined when he was budget chairman, according to senior House Republican aides and members of Congress who were not authorized to speak in advance of the official release.
With the Senate now also in Republican hands, this years proposal is more politically salient than in years past, especially for Republican senators facing re-election in Democratic or swing states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Illinois and New Hampshire, and for potential Republican presidential candidates.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/17/us/politics/house-republican-budget-overhauls-medicare-and-repeals-the-health-law.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150316&nlid=58462464&tntemail0=y&_r=1
This might seem like small bore stuff to some but the privatization of Medicare would begin to unravel a crucial Great Society program that has benefitted millions and millions, turning Medicaid into bloc grants would leave poor sick folks to the tender mercies of their state governors and legislators, the lion's share of whom are Republicans, and the repeal of the Affordable care Act would leave tens of millions of Americans without health insurance.
It's mendacious shit like this that has an invidious effect on the most vulnerable that makes DemocratSinceBirth oppose these misanthropic and cold hearted bastards with every other fiber of his being.
tridim
(45,358 posts)Orsino
(37,428 posts)They are would-be aristos.
BlueJazz
(25,348 posts)They're probably the only group of people that I could say this about>> "The world would be a better place without you" I know that sounds harsh but.....
DemocratSinceBirth
(99,710 posts)They are great if you don't give a rat's ass about vulnerable folks...
Jim Lane
(11,175 posts)Instead of appropriating $5 billion for each of five weapons systems, they could appropriate $22 billion for all of them collectively. That would save $3 billion and would give the Pentagon the flexibility to use the money most efficiently, thus producing a better outcome at less cost.
That's their standard "block grant" argument about the state governments. I've never seen a Republican make that argument about military spending, though.
If block grants are such a great idea, there's no reason that the poor, the sick, etc. should be the only "beneficiaries" of the plan. Let the generals share in the joy.
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)Does this sound familiar? Now ACA has passed and the Congresses of late has vote 56 times to repeal it. Don't they have anything on their agenda which promotes progress? I have lots of family members who votes republican, all are in the 90%, WTH are they thinking? The same party only offers them anti abortion bills, try to take away everything else. If the GOP is successful in removing SS they would be in one hell of a mess. I don't see why they are not writing those they elect and tell them to leave this alone now, to get on with governing with the programs we know works.
freebrew
(1,917 posts)wasn't it the teabaggers that shouted at Obama: "don't touch our Medicare or Social security" ?
I'm starting to get the feeling that these people just cannot be trusted...
See what I did there?
world wide wally
(21,751 posts)Republicans get away with this shit right in front of people's eyes and still get any votes at all?
Is this actually what people want?
Is this Bizarro World?
WTF?
DemocratSinceBirth
(99,710 posts)JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)ieoeja
(9,748 posts)This is, of course, why ACA was intended to be setup as state exchanges in the first place. It was one of the sops to the Right. But as always, they betrayed their own beliefs rather than go along with Obama on anything.