GOP braces for Medicare blowback

reply to post by whaaa

My elderly, Baptist, rightwing conservative mother just used words I've never heard her use in describing the new Republican party that has emerged.

I'd love to hear that!

Originally posted by David9176
My father votes Republican straight down the line every election....he is also on both Social Security and Medicare. He's told me numerous times if they touch it he won't vote for them again. It's all he has to live on.

My father watches nothing but Fox News and is very conservative...and if he's turning on Republicans then I'm guessing many will.

Bingo!

It seems that the GOP is forgetting that a strong portion of their base relies on both of these programs to survive. The most vulnerable of our society should not have to choose between life-saving medication or food. You can't cut the safety net for those who truly need it and not expect them to raise hell -- especially, if that group makes it a point to vote.

It's going to be interesting to watch how this ultimately plays out.

reply to post by maria_stardust


This seems to be similar to the moment Scott Brown won Teddy Kennedy's old seat...which afterward came big wins for Republicans. The seat that was won in upstate New York tonight by the Dems has only had 2 Dems in that seat since WW2! That's big.

The pendulum turned already I think...didn't take long did it?

And they can't deny it...all but 4 Reps in the house voted for it....they are going to get hammered to no end all the way up to election day and there isn't much they can do about it.

reply to post by David9176


They are not going to get hammered at all. Like every election, there will be seats lost on both sides and the morons in the media will take an issue of the day and use it as an explanation for the election outcome."he got tossed out because of his position on Medicare". BS. Ever notice that the media never just says "the folks in that district are tired of Him/Her". or "looks like folks want some new blood" or "someone younger" or "he comes off like a wanker and folks are tired of hearing him speak". something like that? Political notions aside, those banal, obvious, non-political reasons are major factors in voting. Unfortunately its no different than picking a horse in a race because his name 's cool or a team because you like the colors. Unfortunate, but true. Now folks want to look informed and thoughtful and will tell someone they based their vote on medicaid, tax policy or some other lofty issue. They will do that because they are embarrased to say, "I just don't like that guy".

They won't get hammered because it is a line in the sand. Its a start. You always begin to negotiate from an extreme position, hoping to get to the middle. Thats the way it works in any effective negotiation.

The democrats are now in a position of countering the republican proposal and to date all they have to say is that the republicans are being too extreme. Thats not a counter proposal. What is the counter proposal? They have done nothing but talk about tweaking the edges.

The systems as they are currently constructed are unsustainable and everyone who has an ounce of knowledge about the situation knows that. Folks also understand that the system as it is constructed has an unlimited demand curve which is juxtiposed against a relatively fixed or at least stable supply, driving the costs to extremes. It can not be fixed in its current form. No level of taxation, no amount of BS about rooting out waste and abuse, nothing. Medicare and Medicaid need to be completely overhauled and what Ryan did with his proposal and ultimately what it will be seen as is a step to having a rigorous debate on the issue. My father is just like yours. He will vote on the issue, but when asked what they are going to need to do long term he will tell you that they need to blow it all up. There are ways to construct programs that deal effectively with different demographic (age) groups.

The republicans need to hold firm. They need to play brinkmanship on this proposal and if we are lucky enough to have a few political leaders who will stick to their guns regardless of what it means to their political futures, we actually might begin to make some reasonable reform.

nevermind, I was a bit late.

Originally posted by dolphinfan
You always begin to negotiate from an extreme position, hoping to get to the middle. Thats the way it works in any effective negotiation.

The democrats are now in a position of countering the republican proposal and to date all they have to say is that the republicans are being too extreme. Thats not a counter proposal. What is the counter proposal? They have done nothing but talk about tweaking the edges.

That is interesting... Apply the first to sentences to the healthcare debate, went from universal care (socialism) to Obamacare (socialism)... what is interesting is that Obamacare and its construct is purely a capitulation for the benefit of conservatives, that debate, if you'd call it that, was a one way, monkey, rock toss. I really think it was disgusting actually, there is indeed, a crisis of cost in healthcare, of rescission, of preventable suffering, instead of debate, we drug out the ghost of the USSR, that was truly shameless. I am under the impression that conservatives get sick, get cancer, fall off ladders too, yet conservatives did not offer any substance or suggestions less tort reform, which helps the insurance companies (imagine that) and fundamentally discharges a form of recourse for the individual.


Against everything unless it is a tax break for
Mega corporations and/and rich people.

For extending the bush tax cuts

Against the interests of

teachers
policemen
firemen
patients
students
fixed income seniors
pretty much anyone who does not meet the standards of; Mega corporation and/and rich people
is garbage. Union thugs, wealthfare queens, lazy no good useless Americans. Seniors get a job,
retards, cancer patients and teachers get a real job. It is not what is said, it is what is conveyed,
bad will has been invested in these last two years. Unfortunately the GOPs real beneficiaries make up
a very small portion of the electorate.

The GOP wants everyone to be cut, slashed, rolled back, unless you are a billionaire, Saudi Prince or fictitious entity. It is not like they proposed cutting the lower tax rates, they could have... did they?

I think the message will be the "GOP is against everything and stands for tax cuts, for billionaires"

EVERY SINGLE SOLUTION is a way concentrate wealth, privatize social security, privatize medicare, privatize
student loans, privatize schools, privatize police, privatize regulation, privatize the elections.

YOU LIKE THE DIALOGUE? It's based on the Obamacare wonder

If I were a pro I would clean the GOP out, mop them up with my ads, I would apply the same will they have shelled out with glee.

The DEMS could catch a fire, but they will probably crap on their shoes and accidentally eat it

Originally posted by Janky Red










The DEMS could catch a fire, but they will probably crap on their shoes and accidentally eat it

Exactly, that's a well established pattern that has worked in the past. There is absolutely no reason to fly off half cocked and change a tried and true tradition that has come to symbolize the Democrats.