Obama to propose cuts in Medicare, Medicaid

[Hannah Bell]

White House aides have confirmed the President Obama will outline a deficit reduction plan Wednesday that will put his administration on record in favor of substantial new cuts in Medicare and Medicaid, the major federal programs underwriting health care for the elderly and the poor.

Obama will give a major speech on the deficit-cutting plan at a university in the Washington DC area Wednesday, officials said, although the exact time and place were still in flux...

Congressional negotiators were still working out the final details of these cuts on Monday, with both the House and Senate scheduled to vote on them before a new deadline of Thursday, April 14. But a White House spokesman, Dan Pfeiffer, provided a broad outline of the cuts in a statement posted on the White House web site...

The leader of the Republican-controlled House, Speaker John Boehner, said there would be no vote to increase the debt ceiling without “something very, very big attached” to it, in terms of spending cuts. Senate Republicans have also threatened to filibuster a debt-limit increase.


http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/apr2011/budg-a12.shtml

[Art_from_Ark]

1. Cutting Medicare/Medicaid is just plain WRONG

Wrong, wrong, wrong.
LBJ must be spinning in his grave.

[vroomvroom]

2. No Surprises there. We all Knew He was Going to Do This (Democrats == Republicans)

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[inna]

5. :wtf: was that ludicrous outburst/personal attack about?

and who the fuck is "we"?

laughable and pathetic. :shrug:

[Hannah Bell]

6. Oh, please.

Administration officials contend that the plan would not cause a draconian increase in rationing by finding savings in Medicare and Medicaid — plenty of which takes place already, people on both sides of the debate agree — because it would be largely financed by cutting waste in Medicare, more than $500 billion over 10 years.

“To put this in perspective, the Medicare savings proposals that the House is considering as part of health insurance reform would constitute perhaps a 6-to-7 percent reduction in spending over 10 years,” said Daniel H. Pfeiffer, a White House spokesman, who also noted that the AARP had agreed with the administration’s assessment that the cuts would not force reductions in beneficial services. “A wide array of experts agree that we could reduce spending by 30 percent without reducing services,” he added.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/health/policy/03conservatives.html?

Excuse me, you can cut medicare/medicaid spending by 30% without reducing service?

This is the WH spokesperson saying this.

[tavalon]

8. Wow, that was uncalled for.

And you spelled move forward wrong in your profile.

[Raine]

4. No surprise there

I would be more suprised to hear otherwise.

[tavalon]

7. Of course he is.

My admiration for him is long gone. At least his voice doesn't make me want to cut my ears off like shrub the lesser did. Yeah, faint praise, but that's all I have left.

[Cronus Protagonist]

9. ...BEFORE the negotiations begin, of course

I think he'll lose the next election to a REAL Republican, the voters, having a choice, will surely choose the real one over this "surrender-first" alternative.

I'm embarrassed to have supported him in the past.

[aquart]

10. Well, that doesn't help a lot, does it?

He isn't the Messiah. He never was. He can look at you and lie to your face and probably pass a polygraph while doing it BUT SO WHAT?

We have a Supreme Court to protect and that will never happen with ANY REPUBLICAN.

We told you so. You none of you listened. NOW STOP WHINING AND DEAL WITH YOUR MESS.

[AgainsttheCrown]

11. Protecting the SCOTUS

Is the only reason to vote for him since we're only getting change on the small issues. On the structural issues we can only choose between center right and far right.

If we lose anymore ground in the Court then the coup will be complete.

[Cronus Protagonist]

22. I think we can find someone who will appoint BETTER people to the SCOTUS

Obama has not earned that mantle.

[AgainsttheCrown]

23. At this point Obama is the only viable option...

He may be the most progressive politician that can win within the current system.


...and I think that his administration has governed from the center right.

[sendero]

12. Why not.

... go ahead and finish off the Democratic party by pissing all over one of the few issues we still hold the high ground on.

[vaberella]

13. The interpretation by those on the left is mind boggling. EVERYONE agrees there is waste...

in both medicare/medicaid. There is fraud and waste. Everyone knows this. But so many people hear "reductions" and thing Obama is cutting the whole program. If there is waste, maybe he's figured out how to minimize the waste and fraud. Does no one here think about that? No, obviously not.

Rather the reactionary response is more applicable to anything Obama.

[Hannah Bell]

14. there's fraud & waste in everything. most of the fraud & waste comes from the top.

and if you think that's what's going to be cut, think again.

[vaberella]

15. Uh...yeah there is. And hence the reason there is a lot of cutting back on those measures.

The donut hole in Medicare D is a perfect example of waste that was cut. Or I should say extortion. What I'm getting from your statement is that you sincerely believe Obama wants to cut medicaid/medicare...so there's no real point in discussing anything with anyone who strongly believes something. You definitely bought into the meme a few people are touting. But of course when more information comes out---most people will go silent and find something else to say he's cutting. This is definitely as bad as the right stating Obama is creating death panels---basically twisting the facts always gets you a negative result. Rather than wait---we run on reactionary suppositions.

[Hannah Bell]

16. the doughnut hole is an example of waste that was cut? wtf?

medicare part d was a bush scam & gift to pharma put in place to inflate the cost of medicare precisely so that it could be defunded.

it is an example of the waste & fraud from the top i speak of.

[JoePhilly]

19. Unnamed aides .... world socialist web site ...... yawn

[Rex]

24. SO if it is fraud and waste he is worried so much about, why not start with

the military or corporate welfare?

[progressoid]

17. Woohoo! This will make Morning Schoe happy.

Just heard him bitching about this a few minutes ago.

[Jim__]

18. boner wants something big - double income taxes ove 250K double corporate income tax. - n/t

[Vinca]

20. What's the matter? Isn't the left alienated enough?

Trying to get out of this mess off the backs of the poor, elderly and disabled is obscene in my book.

[jaxx]

21. Info wsws missed.

President Obama on Wednesday plans to announce budget plans very different than what we’re hearing from Republicans.

He will call for shrinking the nation’s long-term deficits by raising taxes on wealthier Americans and requiring them to pay more into Social Security, drawing a barbed contrast with a Republican plan to save money by deeply slashing Medicare, Medicaid and other domestic spending.

Obama will offer some spending cuts, including trims to the Pentagon’s budget, but his speech Wednesday is likely to provide Americans with a vivid choice between higher taxes or fewer benefits, issues that will color the national debate straight through the 2012 election…

Obama would end tax breaks for households earning more than $250,000 a year, trim Pentagon spending, lift a cap on the amount of income that is assessed for Social Security, and save on Medicare and Medicaid through alterations to healthcare delivery, administration officials said. He will speak about 1:30 p.m. Eastern time on the campus of George Washington University.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x871407

[bluestate10]

26. Facts get in the way of an OP that has a mission to obfuscate and confuse. nt

[bluestate10]

25. Yep. I plan my day around news from World Socialist Web Site. Not a more robust

news site in existence.

How do I post the puke emoticon?

[and-justice-for-all]

27. Are the cuts the unused funds?

I am not a fan of cutting these vital programs, but is there funding in them that has not been used?

[Windy]

28. NOT TRUE! Look at the budget yourself. Its posted in PDF

You can search and scan every section. Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security sections of the budget deal with fraud, waste, accounting errors etc and specifically discuss dealing with health care providers and pharmaceutical companies that rip off the government.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2012/assets/trs.pdf