Busting the “Blame Social Security & Medicare” Myth
As the Presidential campaign narrows to an Obama/Romney match-up there is one key issue that should clearly define the choice for American voters ? should poor and middle class beneficiaries, both present and future, pay the price for Washington?s fiscal failures? Does this meet your idea of “shared sacrifice”?Already, fiscal conservatives have ratcheted up their political rhetoric attempting to blame Social Security and Medicare for an economic meltdown and federal deficits they did not create. The GOP/Ryan budget, with Mitt Romney?s endorsement, lays out their economic strategy of benefit cuts for the poor and middle-class combined with even larger tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. Yes, you read that right?more tax cuts for those who need them the least.Demos and the American Prospect created this terrific breakdown of what this flawed fiscal strategy has already done to our economy in their post ?Top Ten Tax Facts -Think you know a lot about government revenue? Think again.? Here are the first 5, but we recommend you read the entire post and share it with your friends if they sound like they’re buying the bogus GOP/Fox News talking points on Social Security, Medicare and deficits:
Top Ten Tax Facts
Ben PeckApril 16, 2012
Think you know a lot about government revenue? Think again.This piece is the fifth in a six-part series on taxation, and a joint project by The American Prospect and its publishing partner, Demos.1. The government has collected less in taxes as a proportion of the economy in the past three years than it has in any three-year period since World War II, and tax rates are at historic lows.2. One out of three multi-millionaires pays a lower percentage of their income in taxes than the vast majority of people making $60,000 a year.3. Chairman Paul Ryan?s budget proposal, which has been praised by Governor Romney, would deliver benefits to people with incomes over $1 million that are 10 times greater than the benefits to those earning $40,000 or less.4. Corporate income taxes for the past three years have hovered at just over 1 percent of GDP, lower than for any three-year period since World War II. The average for OECD countries is 3.5 percent.5. The Bush tax cuts added $1.7 trillion to the nation?s debt between 2001 and 2008, which is more than it would cost to send 25 million kids to four-year public universities.
You can see all 10 of the Tax Facts here.
Social Security & Medicare Benefits All Ages
Many of the arguments used by those who fundamentally do not believe the government should provide health insurance or retirement security for American?s seniors are as old as Social Security and Medicare themselves.The ?greedy geezer? myth is often used as part of a larger strategic goal pitting America?s young versus old in a battle to convince younger generations to give up on our nation?s most successful poverty prevention 
programs. This inter-generational warfare theme was at the heart of a recent Esquire story chock full of pretty visuals but just as packed with errors and flawed logic.Generations United provides a terrific look at just some of the ways this Esquire piece got it so, so wrong. That?s why we?re giving ?It?s Not a Fight, It?s a Family? our Networthy Award for great online coverage of Social Security and Medicare. We also urge you to take a moment and comment on the Esquire author?s blog to let him know that — it?s not a fight, it?s a family.
Generations
It?s Not a Fight, It?s a Family.
In the April issue of Esquire magazine, an article entitled ?The War Against Youth,? by Stephen Marche emerges as the latest attempt to incite generational warfare while offering no constructive policy recommendations. As a result of the attention this piece has received, Generations United is issuing the following statement.Recent attempts in the media to fuel intergenerational conflict are a disservice to our country. This is particularly true in the midst of a polarizing political climate that threatens to cut critical safety net programs for children, youth, and older adults. Rather than pitting generations against one another, we should be working together to address our country?s most difficult challenges while still investing in each generation of our society.Marche?s article unjustly blames the baby boomer generation for our country?s problems and insinuates that generation?s callous indifference will forever stint the human potential of today?s youth. This narrow view devalues the capacity and contributions of both older and younger generations. To address the needs of our country, we must forge stronger connections among generations and engage the strengths unique at every age.Old and young Americans form a community of interest. It?s called family. According to Pew Research Center, 76% of adults report that family is the most important element of their life. And in these family units we demonstrate how much we care about each other.Take grandparents, for example. A survey by the MetLife Mature Market Institute found that two-thirds of grandparents provided an estimated $370 billion in financial support to grandchildren over a five-year period. This averaged out to $8,661 per grandparent household. They did this not out of duty, but out of concern and love for their young family members. Grandparents step in to provide child care, as well. According to the Census Bureau, among the 11.3 million children younger than five whose mothers are employed, 30 percent are cared for on a regular basis by a grandparent.Too often, Social Security is referred to as a retirement program. Tell that to the nearly 7 million children and youth who today receive a critical part of their family income from Social Security. In reality, it is a family protection program. It covers almost every child in America should they lose a parent to death or disability. Moreover, two-thirds of Americans support paying more for Social Security instead of reducing benefits. Most importantly, Social Security is fully funded through 2036. With modest changes to strengthen the program, it can be solvent for generations to come.Marche asserts today?s youth are on their own; he sees young people returning home as a negative. But that?s what families do: take care of their own in times of need. Today, more than 51 million?or one in six?Americans live in multigenerational households, including grandparents raising their grandchildren.Young people are not the only ones moving in with relatives. A recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive, found that 66% of adult respondents living in a multigenerational household reported that the current economic climate was a factor in their family becoming a multigenerational household, while 21% reported that it was the only factor. Most of the respondents expressed positive feelings about their new arrangement. In fact, 82% agreed that ?My family?s multigenerational household arrangement has enhanced bonds or relationships among family members.? If anything, our country is moving into a time when families are realizing once again we are interdependent and need each other. It?s not a sign of weakness but a tribute to enduring strengths of families.A recent study by the MetLife Mature Market found that respondents?across the generations?feel a sense of strong responsibility and obligation to:
- save enough for retirement to avoid having to ask family members for assistance
- have a parent live with them if they need help due to a major health or financial issue
- make sure a spouse or child would have enough money if a financial provider dies unexpectedly
- Help to pay for a child?s college education
- Provide strong and consistent emotional and non-financial support and contact
That doesn?t sound like a country whose generations are at war with each other. The majority of Americans care about each other. They strongly believe, as we do, that ?It is not a fight, it is a family.?Caring for and supporting people of every generation shouldn?t be an either/or proposition. We need to ensure our policies and programs benefit all Americans, whatever their age.We encourage intergenerational advocates to take action on this latest attempt by some to fuel intergenerational conflict. Here?s how you can help:TAKE ACTIONShare our statement. ?Like? our statement on Facebook. Post a comment on Marche?s blog.
- ?The War Against Youth? article unjustly blames the baby boomer generation for our country?s problems and insinuates that generation?s callous indifference will forever stint the human potential of today?s youth. This narrow view devalues the contributions of both older and younger generations and is an unfair accusation.
- There is not a ?Young America? and an ?Old America?. Falsely separating older and younger people into age-graded silos makes each generation more vulnerable and hurts our economy.
- The best way to put our country on a more productive path is to forge stronger connections among generations, engage the strengths unique at every age and address the needs of each.
10 Things to Love about Social Security and Medicare
Americans love their Social Security and Medicare yet these earned benefit programs continue to be the focus of attacks like the GOP/Ryan Budget or the endless slew of ?bipartisan? commissions like Simpson Bowles or the Gang of Six. Here are 10 reasons why workers, retirees, the disabled and their families love Social Security and Medicare and how these benefits are so vital to middle class Americans:1. Social Security benefits are guaranteed. Unlike savings and investments, you can?t outlive your benefits. Social Security benefits are especially vital to women, who live on average longer than men.2. Social Security benefits are protected from inflation. Social Security is one of the few retirement programs that provide an automatic annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to beneficiaries. The annual COLA is intended to ensure that retirees, survivors and the disabled maintain their purchasing power.3. Social Security is a valuable life insurance policy. Besides old age insurance, for the average wage earner with a family, Social Security insurance benefits are equivalent to a $476,000 life insurance policy. 4. Social Security provides disability insurance. Social Security ensures workers will have steady income if they become disabled and can no longer work. The insurance benefits are equivalent to a $465,000 disability insurance policy.5. Medicare provides comprehensive health care coverage for seniors. Since its creation in 1965, Medicare has provided universal, reasonably affordable health care to millions of seniors. Before Medicare, more than half of seniors lacked hospital insurance. Today, virtually all people ages 65 and over are covered by Medicare.6. Medicare provides free preventive health screenings. Seniors do not have to pay for Mammograms, Diabetes or Cancer screenings thanks to new provisions in the Affordable Care Act.7. Social Security has a $2.7 trillion surplus. Since 1982, Social Security has maintained a budget surplus. Social Security remains strong, despite the lingering effects of the recession, and will be able to pay full benefits for the next 25 years – until 2036. Despite the gloom and doom rhetoric of those who want to cut Social Security to balance the budget, the program continues to run an annual surplus.8. Medicare?s costs rise slower than private insurance. Medicare spending per beneficiary rose more than 400 percent from 1969 to 2009 but inflation-adjusted premiums on private health insurance rose more than 700 percent. Although high healthcare costs system-wide affect Medicare, it?s clear we have a healthcare problem, not a Medicare problem.9. Social Security?s administrative costs are low. Less than 1% of Social Security?s budget goes to administrative costs. In a privatized system, commissions and fees could easily burn up as much as 15 cents out of every dollar of a worker’s annual investment as they do in some countries with privatized systems.10. Social Security and Medicare are social insurance programs. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons why Social Security and Medicare are universally cherished is that in return for the contributions to these programs we make during our working years, we receive guaranteed retirement, disability or survivor benefits. These are, for most people, a lifeline of support; insurance for what President Roosevelt once aptly described as the ?hazards and vicissitudes of life.?
Healthcare Reform, Seniors and the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court is wrapping up three days of hearings on the Affordable Care Act today. Seniors with the National Committee?s ?Rally Corps? joined other activists on the steps of the Court urging Justices to uphold the health care reform law.?The truth is the more seniors get the facts about healthcare reform the more they support it. But unfortunately all the partisan bickering surrounding the law?s passage and continuing even now, two years later, has left too many Medicare beneficiaries unaware or misinformed about all the new benefits now available to them thanks to the ACA. Our Rally Corps members understand they?ll end up paying more for their prescription drugs, preventative screenings and higher out-of-pocket costs if the ACA is dismantled so they?re glad to take their case in support of health care reform to the steps of the Supreme Court today. ? Max Richtman, NCPSSM President/CEOThe Patients Aware campaign, created by the National Committee Foundation, the National Physicians Alliance, and the Herndon Alliance , has built a national network of doctors, nurses, and caregivers to provide information directly to beneficiaries about the Affordable Care Act. Doctors, nurses and other care providers are among the most trusted sources of health care information for seniors and their families and they are leading town hall meetings in communities nationwide to sort the fact from fiction about health care reform?s impact on Medicare beneficiaries. You can get more info about Patients Aware here.
Targeting Seniors: For Real and Just for Fun
If America?s seniors really want to get at the heart of the ongoing political debate about our nation?s economic mess and the solutions offered to change course, yesterday provided a good snapshot of what?s at stakeHouse Budget Chairman Paul Ryan has introduced the GOP/Ryan budget and as expected it envisions balancing the budget by turning Medicare into a privatized program giving seniors a voucher (designed not to keep pace with their health costs over time) to buy private insurance. The new twist offered this year is a promise to also keep traditional Medicare as an option. Unfortunately, what that really means is private insurers will siphon-off younger-healthier seniors while older and sicker patients remain in traditional Medicare which will increase the programs costs, potentially limit doctor participation, and create a death spiral to the Medicare?s demise. Ultimately, the ideological goal of getting the government out of the business of providing healthcare for seniors will be achieved. The American Prospect offers this description:
?Most Republicans really do believe that Medicare is a vile, socialistic cancer on the American system, and things would be much better if it were privatized. The fact that Medicare works so much better than private insurance (it has far lower administrative costs, and its overall costs have been rising at a slower rate than those of private insurance), and that it’s so popular, is just all the more reason why it’s so hateful to them. Medicare validates the idea that government can do something better than the private sector, standing as a living rebuke to arguments they make in so many areas.?
And maybe this also explains while Congressman Ryan continues to conflate America?s retirees with the poor and welfare with Medicare. By lumping these programs together he attempts to paint a picture of Americans simply milking the system, which conveniently ignores the fact that workers contribute to Medicare. He did it again in yesterday?s budget news conference (25 minutes into this video):
?but we don?t want to turn this safety net into a hammock that lulls able-bodied people into lives of dependency and complacency, that drains them of their will and the intent to make the most of their lives.?
Now, Congressman Ryan knows that Medicare isn?t welfare. He knows that American workers help fund Medicare throughout their working lives. Still?the hammock analogy remains one of his favorite talking points. Now, consider the fact that on the flipside there were very few details offered yesterday describing the huge tax cuts proposed in this GOP/Ryan budget. This plan would provide even more tax cuts to the wealthy, an average of $150,000 for the richest among us, while also protecting tax breaks and giveaways to corporations reaping huge profits. The National Journal reports:
The fiscal 2013 House Republican budget proposal contains a tax-code overhaul lowering corporate and individual tax rates, eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax, and repealing taxes associated with the health care reform law. This would result in $4.6 trillion in lost revenue over a 10-year period, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. That?s on top of the estimated $5.4 trillion lost by extending the Bush-era tax cuts. House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., on Tuesday called his plan revenue-neutral, saying eliminated loopholes and tax shelters would pay for the cuts. Pressed at a news conference for specifics, he declined to say which tax breaks he?d like to forgo. Ryan said he would leave that decision to the House Ways and Means Committee.
Simply put, this GOP budget proposes tax cuts for corporations and billionaires and benefit cuts for everyone else.Speaking of billionaires?One of Mitt Romney?s top economic advisors , Greg Mankiw, proved that what?s funny for the 1% isn?t quite so humorous for the rest of us. Mankiw posted this ?joke? on his blog under the headline: ?A Fiscal Solution?.
 |
| Romney?s staff says ?obviously it?s not serious?. We say obviously it?s not funny either — especially when you know that Governor Romney supports the Ryan/GOP budget which is a fiscal plan that threatens the health and security of millions of American seniors. That?s certainly no joke. |
Busting the “Blame Social Security & Medicare” Myth
As the Presidential campaign narrows to an Obama/Romney match-up there is one key issue that should clearly define the choice for American voters ? should poor and middle class beneficiaries, both present and future, pay the price for Washington?s fiscal failures? Does this meet your idea of “shared sacrifice”?Already, fiscal conservatives have ratcheted up their political rhetoric attempting to blame Social Security and Medicare for an economic meltdown and federal deficits they did not create. The GOP/Ryan budget, with Mitt Romney?s endorsement, lays out their economic strategy of benefit cuts for the poor and middle-class combined with even larger tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. Yes, you read that right?more tax cuts for those who need them the least.Demos and the American Prospect created this terrific breakdown of what this flawed fiscal strategy has already done to our economy in their post ?Top Ten Tax Facts -Think you know a lot about government revenue? Think again.? Here are the first 5, but we recommend you read the entire post and share it with your friends if they sound like they’re buying the bogus GOP/Fox News talking points on Social Security, Medicare and deficits:
Top Ten Tax Facts
Ben PeckApril 16, 2012
Think you know a lot about government revenue? Think again.This piece is the fifth in a six-part series on taxation, and a joint project by The American Prospect and its publishing partner, Demos.1. The government has collected less in taxes as a proportion of the economy in the past three years than it has in any three-year period since World War II, and tax rates are at historic lows.2. One out of three multi-millionaires pays a lower percentage of their income in taxes than the vast majority of people making $60,000 a year.3. Chairman Paul Ryan?s budget proposal, which has been praised by Governor Romney, would deliver benefits to people with incomes over $1 million that are 10 times greater than the benefits to those earning $40,000 or less.4. Corporate income taxes for the past three years have hovered at just over 1 percent of GDP, lower than for any three-year period since World War II. The average for OECD countries is 3.5 percent.5. The Bush tax cuts added $1.7 trillion to the nation?s debt between 2001 and 2008, which is more than it would cost to send 25 million kids to four-year public universities.
You can see all 10 of the Tax Facts here.
Social Security & Medicare Benefits All Ages
Many of the arguments used by those who fundamentally do not believe the government should provide health insurance or retirement security for American?s seniors are as old as Social Security and Medicare themselves.The ?greedy geezer? myth is often used as part of a larger strategic goal pitting America?s young versus old in a battle to convince younger generations to give up on our nation?s most successful poverty prevention programs. This inter-generational warfare theme was at the heart of a recent Esquire story chock full of pretty visuals but just as packed with errors and flawed logic.Generations United provides a terrific look at just some of the ways this Esquire piece got it so, so wrong. That?s why we?re giving ?It?s Not a Fight, It?s a Family? our Networthy Award for great online coverage of Social Security and Medicare. We also urge you to take a moment and comment on the Esquire author?s blog to let him know that — it?s not a fight, it?s a family.
Generations
It?s Not a Fight, It?s a Family.
In the April issue of Esquire magazine, an article entitled ?The War Against Youth,? by Stephen Marche emerges as the latest attempt to incite generational warfare while offering no constructive policy recommendations. As a result of the attention this piece has received, Generations United is issuing the following statement.Recent attempts in the media to fuel intergenerational conflict are a disservice to our country. This is particularly true in the midst of a polarizing political climate that threatens to cut critical safety net programs for children, youth, and older adults. Rather than pitting generations against one another, we should be working together to address our country?s most difficult challenges while still investing in each generation of our society.Marche?s article unjustly blames the baby boomer generation for our country?s problems and insinuates that generation?s callous indifference will forever stint the human potential of today?s youth. This narrow view devalues the capacity and contributions of both older and younger generations. To address the needs of our country, we must forge stronger connections among generations and engage the strengths unique at every age.Old and young Americans form a community of interest. It?s called family. According to Pew Research Center, 76% of adults report that family is the most important element of their life. And in these family units we demonstrate how much we care about each other.Take grandparents, for example. A survey by the MetLife Mature Market Institute found that two-thirds of grandparents provided an estimated $370 billion in financial support to grandchildren over a five-year period. This averaged out to $8,661 per grandparent household. They did this not out of duty, but out of concern and love for their young family members. Grandparents step in to provide child care, as well. According to the Census Bureau, among the 11.3 million children younger than five whose mothers are employed, 30 percent are cared for on a regular basis by a grandparent.Too often, Social Security is referred to as a retirement program. Tell that to the nearly 7 million children and youth who today receive a critical part of their family income from Social Security. In reality, it is a family protection program. It covers almost every child in America should they lose a parent to death or disability. Moreover, two-thirds of Americans support paying more for Social Security instead of reducing benefits. Most importantly, Social Security is fully funded through 2036. With modest changes to strengthen the program, it can be solvent for generations to come.Marche asserts today?s youth are on their own; he sees young people returning home as a negative. But that?s what families do: take care of their own in times of need. Today, more than 51 million?or one in six?Americans live in multigenerational households, including grandparents raising their grandchildren.Young people are not the only ones moving in with relatives. A recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive, found that 66% of adult respondents living in a multigenerational household reported that the current economic climate was a factor in their family becoming a multigenerational household, while 21% reported that it was the only factor. Most of the respondents expressed positive feelings about their new arrangement. In fact, 82% agreed that ?My family?s multigenerational household arrangement has enhanced bonds or relationships among family members.? If anything, our country is moving into a time when families are realizing once again we are interdependent and need each other. It?s not a sign of weakness but a tribute to enduring strengths of families.A recent study by the MetLife Mature Market found that respondents?across the generations?feel a sense of strong responsibility and obligation to:
- save enough for retirement to avoid having to ask family members for assistance
- have a parent live with them if they need help due to a major health or financial issue
- make sure a spouse or child would have enough money if a financial provider dies unexpectedly
- Help to pay for a child?s college education
- Provide strong and consistent emotional and non-financial support and contact
That doesn?t sound like a country whose generations are at war with each other. The majority of Americans care about each other. They strongly believe, as we do, that ?It is not a fight, it is a family.?Caring for and supporting people of every generation shouldn?t be an either/or proposition. We need to ensure our policies and programs benefit all Americans, whatever their age.We encourage intergenerational advocates to take action on this latest attempt by some to fuel intergenerational conflict. Here?s how you can help:TAKE ACTIONShare our statement. ?Like? our statement on Facebook. Post a comment on Marche?s blog.
- ?The War Against Youth? article unjustly blames the baby boomer generation for our country?s problems and insinuates that generation?s callous indifference will forever stint the human potential of today?s youth. This narrow view devalues the contributions of both older and younger generations and is an unfair accusation.
- There is not a ?Young America? and an ?Old America?. Falsely separating older and younger people into age-graded silos makes each generation more vulnerable and hurts our economy.
- The best way to put our country on a more productive path is to forge stronger connections among generations, engage the strengths unique at every age and address the needs of each.
10 Things to Love about Social Security and Medicare
Americans love their Social Security and Medicare yet these earned benefit programs continue to be the focus of attacks like the GOP/Ryan Budget or the endless slew of ?bipartisan? commissions like Simpson Bowles or the Gang of Six. Here are 10 reasons why workers, retirees, the disabled and their families love Social Security and Medicare and how these benefits are so vital to middle class Americans:1. Social Security benefits are guaranteed. Unlike savings and investments, you can?t outlive your benefits. Social Security benefits are especially vital to women, who live on average longer than men.2. Social Security benefits are protected from inflation. Social Security is one of the few retirement programs that provide an automatic annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to beneficiaries. The annual COLA is intended to ensure that retirees, survivors and the disabled maintain their purchasing power.3. Social Security is a valuable life insurance policy. Besides old age insurance, for the average wage earner with a family, Social Security insurance benefits are equivalent to a $476,000 life insurance policy. 4. Social Security provides disability insurance. Social Security ensures workers will have steady income if they become disabled and can no longer work. The insurance benefits are equivalent to a $465,000 disability insurance policy.5. Medicare provides comprehensive health care coverage for seniors. Since its creation in 1965, Medicare has provided universal, reasonably affordable health care to millions of seniors. Before Medicare, more than half of seniors lacked hospital insurance. Today, virtually all people ages 65 and over are covered by Medicare.6. Medicare provides free preventive health screenings. Seniors do not have to pay for Mammograms, Diabetes or Cancer screenings thanks to new provisions in the Affordable Care Act.7. Social Security has a $2.7 trillion surplus. Since 1982, Social Security has maintained a budget surplus. Social Security remains strong, despite the lingering effects of the recession, and will be able to pay full benefits for the next 25 years – until 2036. Despite the gloom and doom rhetoric of those who want to cut Social Security to balance the budget, the program continues to run an annual surplus.8. Medicare?s costs rise slower than private insurance. Medicare spending per beneficiary rose more than 400 percent from 1969 to 2009 but inflation-adjusted premiums on private health insurance rose more than 700 percent. Although high healthcare costs system-wide affect Medicare, it?s clear we have a healthcare problem, not a Medicare problem.9. Social Security?s administrative costs are low. Less than 1% of Social Security?s budget goes to administrative costs. In a privatized system, commissions and fees could easily burn up as much as 15 cents out of every dollar of a worker’s annual investment as they do in some countries with privatized systems.10. Social Security and Medicare are social insurance programs. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons why Social Security and Medicare are universally cherished is that in return for the contributions to these programs we make during our working years, we receive guaranteed retirement, disability or survivor benefits. These are, for most people, a lifeline of support; insurance for what President Roosevelt once aptly described as the ?hazards and vicissitudes of life.?
Healthcare Reform, Seniors and the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court is wrapping up three days of hearings on the Affordable Care Act today. Seniors with the National Committee?s ?Rally Corps? joined other activists on the steps of the Court urging Justices to uphold the health care reform law.?The truth is the more seniors get the facts about healthcare reform the more they support it. But unfortunately all the partisan bickering surrounding the law?s passage and continuing even now, two years later, has left too many Medicare beneficiaries unaware or misinformed about all the new benefits now available to them thanks to the ACA. Our Rally Corps members understand they?ll end up paying more for their prescription drugs, preventative screenings and higher out-of-pocket costs if the ACA is dismantled so they?re glad to take their case in support of health care reform to the steps of the Supreme Court today. ? Max Richtman, NCPSSM President/CEOThe Patients Aware campaign, created by the National Committee Foundation, the National Physicians Alliance, and the Herndon Alliance , has built a national network of doctors, nurses, and caregivers to provide information directly to beneficiaries about the Affordable Care Act. Doctors, nurses and other care providers are among the most trusted sources of health care information for seniors and their families and they are leading town hall meetings in communities nationwide to sort the fact from fiction about health care reform?s impact on Medicare beneficiaries. You can get more info about Patients Aware here.
Targeting Seniors: For Real and Just for Fun
If America?s seniors really want to get at the heart of the ongoing political debate about our nation?s economic mess and the solutions offered to change course, yesterday provided a good snapshot of what?s at stakeHouse Budget Chairman Paul Ryan has introduced the GOP/Ryan budget and as expected it envisions balancing the budget by turning Medicare into a privatized program giving seniors a voucher (designed not to keep pace with their health costs over time) to buy private insurance. The new twist offered this year is a promise to also keep traditional Medicare as an option. Unfortunately, what that really means is private insurers will siphon-off younger-healthier seniors while older and sicker patients remain in traditional Medicare which will increase the programs costs, potentially limit doctor participation, and create a death spiral to the Medicare?s demise. Ultimately, the ideological goal of getting the government out of the business of providing healthcare for seniors will be achieved. The American Prospect offers this description:
?Most Republicans really do believe that Medicare is a vile, socialistic cancer on the American system, and things would be much better if it were privatized. The fact that Medicare works so much better than private insurance (it has far lower administrative costs, and its overall costs have been rising at a slower rate than those of private insurance), and that it’s so popular, is just all the more reason why it’s so hateful to them. Medicare validates the idea that government can do something better than the private sector, standing as a living rebuke to arguments they make in so many areas.?
And maybe this also explains while Congressman Ryan continues to conflate America?s retirees with the poor and welfare with Medicare. By lumping these programs together he attempts to paint a picture of Americans simply milking the system, which conveniently ignores the fact that workers contribute to Medicare. He did it again in yesterday?s budget news conference (25 minutes into this video):
?but we don?t want to turn this safety net into a hammock that lulls able-bodied people into lives of dependency and complacency, that drains them of their will and the intent to make the most of their lives.?
Now, Congressman Ryan knows that Medicare isn?t welfare. He knows that American workers help fund Medicare throughout their working lives. Still?the hammock analogy remains one of his favorite talking points. Now, consider the fact that on the flipside there were very few details offered yesterday describing the huge tax cuts proposed in this GOP/Ryan budget. This plan would provide even more tax cuts to the wealthy, an average of $150,000 for the richest among us, while also protecting tax breaks and giveaways to corporations reaping huge profits. The National Journal reports:
The fiscal 2013 House Republican budget proposal contains a tax-code overhaul lowering corporate and individual tax rates, eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax, and repealing taxes associated with the health care reform law. This would result in $4.6 trillion in lost revenue over a 10-year period, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. That?s on top of the estimated $5.4 trillion lost by extending the Bush-era tax cuts. House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., on Tuesday called his plan revenue-neutral, saying eliminated loopholes and tax shelters would pay for the cuts. Pressed at a news conference for specifics, he declined to say which tax breaks he?d like to forgo. Ryan said he would leave that decision to the House Ways and Means Committee.
Simply put, this GOP budget proposes tax cuts for corporations and billionaires and benefit cuts for everyone else.Speaking of billionaires?One of Mitt Romney?s top economic advisors , Greg Mankiw, proved that what?s funny for the 1% isn?t quite so humorous for the rest of us. Mankiw posted this ?joke? on his blog under the headline: ?A Fiscal Solution?.
|
| Romney?s staff says ?obviously it?s not serious?. We say obviously it?s not funny either — especially when you know that Governor Romney supports the Ryan/GOP budget which is a fiscal plan that threatens the health and security of millions of American seniors. That?s certainly no joke. |