The GOP's Top Chef Starves a Beast and Poisons a Debate

The New Republican Plan to Bankrupt America?

Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, this week revealed a secret Republican plan that would end up eliminating all federal farm subsidies; closing down Yellowstone and Yosemite national parks; selling off the interstate highway system; and canceling Head Start, subsidized school lunches and the entire college loan program.

The plan came to light as a result of an op-ed piece this week in The Washington Post in which the party chairman committed the GOP to spending an ever-increasing share of the federal budget, and the national income, on Medicare. When combined with other Republican promises -- to balance the budget, protect defense spending and never, ever raise anyone's taxes -- the inescapable inference is that the government would run out of money for every other domestic program sometime around 2035.

Steele's stunning announcement brings the conservative strategy of "starving the beast" to a new level. Under the guise of protecting the elderly, Republicans hope to realize their dream of eliminating half a dozen Cabinet agencies, firing tens of thousands of government workers and ending government regulation as we know it.

Steele's op-ed was the latest salvo in his party's campaign to defeat President Obama's health-care reform effort at all costs and build public support for a Republican alternative that remains, to this day, a closely held secret. The new Seniors' Health Care Bill of Rights, however, hints at the outlines of the GOP domestic strategy.

Steele promised that under the Republican health plan, runaway Medicare spending would continue unabated. Not only would that mean no cuts in benefits, but it would ensure that reimbursement rates to doctors, hospitals and drugmakers would continue to rise faster than inflation, regardless of how much they earn or how unnecessary or wasteful the services they provide. Any effort to contain future spending growth, Republicans now believe, is nothing more than a "raid" on Medicare, the government-run health plan that Republicans were against before they were for it.

The country's top Republican official also vowed to cut off all federal funding for research to determine what are the most effective treatments for heart disease, cancer, diabetes and even that new scourge, restless leg syndrome. Left unclear was whether he prefers to have such research done by the pharmaceutical and medical-device industries, but one suspects that is the case.

On the issue of end-of-life care, Steele was uncompromising: In a Republican world, no government funds could be used to pay doctors to provide information about living wills, hospices or palliative care, whether seniors and their families ask for it or not.

"Government programs that seem benign at first can become anything but," Steele explained in articulating the new philosophy. Once back in power, look for Republicans to apply the same approach to issues such as flu vaccinations, disaster relief and air traffic control.

According to Steele, Republicans will also seek to outlaw "any effort to ration health care based on age." You don't have to be a lawyer like Steele to understand that would effectively make it a federal crime for any hospital to refuse a heart transplant to a 95-year-old, or for any doctor to refuse to prescribe Viagra to a sexually precocious seventh-grader. Although Steele did not indicate what the penalty would be, he did not rule out the death penalty.

If all that sounds spurious and unsubstantiated, it is. And like many of the overstated claims in this column, its purpose is to highlight the lies, distortions and political scare tactics that Steele and other Republicans have used to poison the national debate over health reform.

www.washingtonpost.com...

When politics turn into a slap-fest.
Pass the popcorn!

Looks like someone's been reading a little Jonathan Swift, eh?
I knew there was no way any of that stuff was true. It sounded just like the lies, exaggerations, and misinformation that some "news" sources are spreading, and seeing as how I routinely attack them for that, it seemed like a good opportunity to attack the Dems for turning around and using the same childish tactics as the Republicans. Then I read the last sentence and realized it was satire. Too bad to, I was looking fwd to defending my Republicans on this one. Good find, star and flag!

*edit to add: You're right about this though. Even if it is meant to point out what the other side is doing in a satirical way, it is childish and adds very little to the conversation. "A Modest Proposal" aside, these attempts at Juvenalian Political Satire are usually not very well written and only serve to point out the contemptuous nature of the author. Full Disclosure: That's likely why my similar attempt, www.abovetopsecret.com... a few days ago on this very site was roundly rejected. Oh well, can't blame a guy for trying.

[edit on 26-8-2009 by Artephius Abraxas Helios]

Liberal Republicans and Socialist Democrats...

Not much of a difference.

Geez, WB. There aint NOTHING like making us read the whole dang thread, huh?

I was getting so furious.

When he says it THAT way, it does seem sort of silly.