Tea Party To Push Paul Ryan Medicare Plan In Town Halls

[J.E.D]

The Tea Party is giving a big gift to Democrats this Summer. Tea Party organizers are planning on pushing Paul Ryan's hated Medicare-killing budget in town hall meetings in swing states. I guess the backlash they got a few months back and the NY election that Republicans lost because of the Ryan budget wasn't enough to convince the highly intelligent Tea Party that their plan to dismantle Medicare don't sit well with voters. I can't wait for the town hall videos of Republicans getting yelled at by constituents.

Tea Party To Push Paul Ryan Medicare Plan In Town Halls

WASHINGTON -- With Medicare at the top of lawmakers' fall agenda, Tea Party movement leaders hope to ignite support for Republican plans to transform the popular federal healthcare program for the elderly.

Thousands of Tea Party movement activists are expected to descend this month on town hall meetings across key battleground states as part of an intensifying campaign ahead of the 2012 presidential and congressional elections.

Their priority is a plan to slash Medicare costs proposed by House of Representatives Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, which could gain momentum now that a debt-limit deal between President Barack Obama and Congress has made potential Medicare cuts a centerpiece of the deficit debate.

........

The gambit poses risks for Republicans in swing states including Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio, which FreedomWorks is targeting.

At stake is the support of senior citizens, a powerful bloc of swing voters who broadly oppose the Ryan plan and could punish its supporters in Congress if Republicans fail to turn the debate in their favor, according to analysts.

The Ryan plan -- which the House approved in April but which went nowhere in the Democratic-led Senate -- would preserve Medicare for current beneficiaries but transform it for future retirees from a system that provides guaranteed benefits to one that gives the elderly financial assistance to buy private insurance.

Polls point to broad public support for preserving Medicare in the deficit debate, with majorities favoring higher taxes for the wealthy over program cuts.

Still, a June CBS poll showed that nearly 60 percent of Americans know little about the changes proposed by the Ryan plan, suggesting that many voters have yet to form an opinion.

FreedomWorks faces a daunting challenge from Democrats and progressive groups including the coalition Health Care for America Now, which pushed for healthcare reform in 2010 and intends to defend that new law and Medicare against Republican attacks through the 2012 election.

 

[Baruch Menachem]

They want to talk about it, let them. If it is as bad an idea as you seem to think it is, it will dish them.


If it is as good an idea as I think it is, it will get them larger majorities.

Either way, the people decide. Which is the way it is supposed to work. Which is cool.


And as the Mencken said, Democracy is founded on the idea that the people know what they want and deserve to get it .......



good and hard.

 

[J.E.D]

They want to talk about it, let them. If it is as bad an idea as you seem to think it is, it will dish them.


If it is as good an idea as I think it is, it will get them larger majorities.

Either way, the people decide. Which is the way it is supposed to work. Which is cool.


And as the Mencken said, Democracy is founded on the idea that the people know what they want and deserve to get it .......



good and hard.

I guess you haven't been paying attention. Republicans got major backlash from constituents over Paul Ryan's budget. This isn't a theory. It's a fact. Republicans also lost a district seat in NY over Ryan's budget. A seat in a district that has been heavily Republican for decades went to a Democrat, all thanks to Ryan's budget. Good luck.

 

[Baruch Menachem]

That seat in NY was a three way election and the democrat got a plurality and the second Republican was a stalking horse. There was more going on there than just the Ryan plan as an issue.

If it is good, it will get support. If it is an unpopular and bad idea, the town halls will demonstrate that fact and the Republicans will learn to leave the third rail alone. And if they don't, there is an election in 15 months so they can learn to listen better. That is the way it is supposed to work

 

[initforme]

Yes I am sure senior citizens across this nation would just LOVE to slash medicare for future senior citizens. TEA MAKES YOU WEE. Just a cover for the rich trying to keep their tax breaks and loopholes.

 

[Zona]

This is great news. The elder voters just love when you threaten medicare, so I say go for it.

Woohoo. (Dont worry republicans, the elder vote is not that important, righty)?

 

[Zona]

Yes I am sure senior citizens across this nation would just LOVE to slash medicare for future senior citizens. TEA MAKES YOU WEE. Just a cover for the rich trying to keep their tax breaks and loopholes.

As long as boner and mcchinless are around, those tax braks and loopholes are just fine.

 

[Full-Auto]

Yes I am sure senior citizens across this nation would just LOVE to slash medicare for future senior citizens. TEA MAKES YOU WEE. Just a cover for the rich trying to keep their tax breaks and loopholes.

As long as boner and mcchinless are around, those tax braks and loopholes are just fine.

We know all about the sacred cows dont we.

 

[Greenbeard]

Good, no pussyfooting around the agenda this election cycle. Embrace it.

 

[WillowTree]

yes i am sure senior citizens across this nation would just love to slash medicare for future senior citizens. Tea makes you wee. Just a cover for the rich trying to keep their tax breaks and loopholes.

as long as boner and mcchinless are around, those tax braks and loopholes are just fine.

we know all about the sacred cows dont we.

eat yer peas

 

[oreo]

The Tea Party is giving a big gift to Democrats this Summer. Tea Party organizers are planning on pushing Paul Ryan's hated Medicare-killing budget in town hall meetings in swing states. I guess the backlash they got a few months back and the NY election that Republicans lost because of the Ryan budget wasn't enough to convince the highly intelligent Tea Party that their plan to dismantle Medicare don't sit well with voters. I can't wait for the town hall videos of Republicans getting yelled at by constituents.

Tea Party To Push Paul Ryan Medicare Plan In Town Halls

WASHINGTON -- With Medicare at the top of lawmakers' fall agenda, Tea Party movement leaders hope to ignite support for Republican plans to transform the popular federal healthcare program for the elderly.

Thousands of Tea Party movement activists are expected to descend this month on town hall meetings across key battleground states as part of an intensifying campaign ahead of the 2012 presidential and congressional elections.

Their priority is a plan to slash Medicare costs proposed by House of Representatives Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, which could gain momentum now that a debt-limit deal between President Barack Obama and Congress has made potential Medicare cuts a centerpiece of the deficit debate.

........

The gambit poses risks for Republicans in swing states including Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio, which FreedomWorks is targeting.

At stake is the support of senior citizens, a powerful bloc of swing voters who broadly oppose the Ryan plan and could punish its supporters in Congress if Republicans fail to turn the debate in their favor, according to analysts.

The Ryan plan -- which the House approved in April but which went nowhere in the Democratic-led Senate -- would preserve Medicare for current beneficiaries but transform it for future retirees from a system that provides guaranteed benefits to one that gives the elderly financial assistance to buy private insurance.

Polls point to broad public support for preserving Medicare in the deficit debate, with majorities favoring higher taxes for the wealthy over program cuts.

Still, a June CBS poll showed that nearly 60 percent of Americans know little about the changes proposed by the Ryan plan, suggesting that many voters have yet to form an opinion.

FreedomWorks faces a daunting challenge from Democrats and progressive groups including the coalition Health Care for America Now, which pushed for healthcare reform in 2010 and intends to defend that new law and Medicare against Republican attacks through the 2012 election.

And your solution IS? Do we continually need to REMIND everyone that OBAMA cut MEDICARE by 500 BILLION dollars to pay for Obamacare--and not a single one of you liberals were screaming about that!

 

[oreo]

as long as boner and mcchinless are around, those tax braks and loopholes are just fine.

we know all about the sacred cows dont we.

eat yer peas

Here's a good one too--wish I could make the picture bigger. Just double click on it.

 

[Greenbeard]

And your solution IS? Do we continually need to REMIND everyone that OBAMA cut MEDICARE by 500 BILLION dollars to pay for Obamacare--and not a single one of you liberals were screaming about that!

That one lost its bite a bit when Ryan preserved the ACA's savings in his budget to make the numbers look better and virtually every Republican in Congress voted for them.

Which just leaves the small task of defending the Republican push to dismantle Medicare.

 

[oreo]

And your solution IS? Do we continually need to REMIND everyone that OBAMA cut MEDICARE by 500 BILLION dollars to pay for Obamacare--and not a single one of you liberals were screaming about that!

That one lost its bite a bit when Ryan preserved the ACA's savings in his budget to make the numbers look better and virtually every Republican in Congress voted for them.

Which just leaves the small task of defending the Republican push to dismantle Medicare.

Ryan's plan is not trying to dismantle medicare--he's the ONLY one that has come up with a solution to save it.

 

[Greenbeard]

Ryan's plan is not trying to dismantle medicare--he's the ONLY one that has come up with a solution to save it.

Medicare is a public health insurance program for the elderly. Under the Republican budget, it will be phased out and ultimately it will no longer exist. With it will go the guaranteed health benefit enjoyed by seniors for the past 45 years.

Quite the save.

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

They want to talk about it, let them. If it is as bad an idea as you seem to think it is, it will dish them.


If it is as good an idea as I think it is, it will get them larger majorities.

Either way, the people decide. Which is the way it is supposed to work. Which is cool.


And as the Mencken said, Democracy is founded on the idea that the people know what they want and deserve to get it .......



good and hard.

I guess you haven't been paying attention. Republicans got major backlash from constituents over Paul Ryan's budget. This isn't a theory. It's a fact. Republicans also lost a district seat in NY over Ryan's budget. A seat in a district that has been heavily Republican for decades went to a Democrat, all thanks to Ryan's budget. Good luck.

I guess you haven't been paying attention, we're BROKE.

 

[J.E.D]

And your solution IS? Do we continually need to REMIND everyone that OBAMA cut MEDICARE by 500 BILLION dollars to pay for Obamacare--and not a single one of you liberals were screaming about that!

That one lost its bite a bit when Ryan preserved the ACA's savings in his budget to make the numbers look better and virtually every Republican in Congress voted for them.

Which just leaves the small task of defending the Republican push to dismantle Medicare.

Ryan's plan is not trying to dismantle medicare--he's the ONLY one that has come up with a solution to save it.

By "save it", he means, turn it into a voucher program and throw seniors to the mercy of the private insurance market - which just looooves insuring old people (for a whole lot of money).

 

[J.E.D]

They want to talk about it, let them. If it is as bad an idea as you seem to think it is, it will dish them.


If it is as good an idea as I think it is, it will get them larger majorities.

Either way, the people decide. Which is the way it is supposed to work. Which is cool.


And as the Mencken said, Democracy is founded on the idea that the people know what they want and deserve to get it .......



good and hard.

I guess you haven't been paying attention. Republicans got major backlash from constituents over Paul Ryan's budget. This isn't a theory. It's a fact. Republicans also lost a district seat in NY over Ryan's budget. A seat in a district that has been heavily Republican for decades went to a Democrat, all thanks to Ryan's budget. Good luck.

I guess you haven't been paying attention, we're BROKE.

I guess you ran out of pertinent one-liners and recycled one from another thread.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

Of course the issue isn’t one for seniors per se – they’ll realize no effect.

Those effected will be around 52 years old. He’ll have lost all his savings from being unemployed for 18 months, a consequence of the December 2007 recession. He was able to keep his house but it has zero equity now, due to the housing market crash. He’s employed now, making ends meet, living paycheck to paycheck – with little if anything left over.

Thank goodness for Social Security and Medicare – at least he’ll be able to retire around age 68 and have medical insurance.

Or so he though, until RyanCare.

 

[Greenbeard]

Of course the issue isn’t one for seniors per se – they’ll realize no effect.

I agree with most of your post, in that folks in their mid-50s and younger will be the ones affected most by RyanCare--they are, after all, the ones who won't be permitted to enroll in Medicare, thereby setting up the phaseout of Medicare by attrition.

But it's not correct to say that current seniors (or near-seniors) aren't affected by it. There are the more obvious impacts: re-opening the donut hole, Medicaid cuts that impact the 9 million seniors who get help from Medicaid in paying their Medicare premiums and health expenses, the elimination of recently established benefits like the annual wellness visit, and so on.

But more importantly, the consequences of RyanCare for them that aren't so obvious are worth considering. As I said, the Republicans would phase Medicare out of existence by refusing, after a certain point, to allow anyone new to enroll. That removes the influx of relatively (by Medicare standards) healthy premium payers, and instead sets up a dynamic wherein you have a slowly dwindling pool of increasingly sick seniors. Seniors who are grandfathered in can remain on Medicare but they're encouraged to opt out and go into the private market, which is obviously an option that would be taken up predominately by the healthier and wealthier seniors in the pool. Given that Medicare premiums bring in about a third the revenue that the Medicare payroll tax does, what Ryan does with the payroll tax will be very important for what grandfathered-in seniors' premiums look like.

Further, seniors left in the Medicare pool are increasingly likely to face access issues. Medicare's strength when it comes to providers is its size. It may not pay as much as other payers, but it's still good business by virtue of its vast number of clients. Once new enrollments are halted and the Medicare pool is left to dwindle by attrition, that advantage begins to erode. Presumably Ryan doesn't intend to increase Medicare reimbursements to try and compensate for this. Thus seniors in Medicare are going to be gently "encouraged" to ditch Medicare and look for a private plan as Medicare's provider network begins to shrink. The ones who can't ditch Medicare will be the ones who simply can't afford the private coverage.

So no, it's far from clear that current seniors are "safe" from anything under the Republican plan.