In the so-called budget plan named for him, Paul Ryan was
sure not to immediately gut Medicare. Have no doubt, if he could end it
tomorrow, he would. But as one of the “thinkers” of the Republican party, he
just would not want to lose the geriatric vote for the Republicans the way
Civil Rights lost the South for Democrats. So his solution was to phase it out
eventually. Very courageous.
Why wouldn’t Democrats make commercials showing a presumable
Paul Ryan throwing Granny off a cliff? Medicare serves a need and the Paul Ryan
plan does not take that need seriously. Tax cuts for the rich, another main
component of Ryanomics did not make it easier for the aging workforce to save
for their retirement. As a matter of fact, the last installment of tax cuts
ended up with a good chunk of the middle class getting their retirements
decimated in the Great Recession. The good news is that rich people continued
to get richer!
The con of Ryannomics is the stuff of good fiction. The
economy collapses under his product with the middle class taking the brunt and
he keeps on selling that product with new and improved features to screw those
who are not wealthy.
The flow of old people is not going to stop. The fact that
middle class retirees need government assistance isn’t going to change by
killing Medicare. If Paul Ryan gets his way, people of his generation who were
not fortunate enough to have been elected to Congress (or pay for college with
their dead Dad’s social security benefit) will not get the care they need and
die in their children’s homes in droves, if they are lucky. Otherwise they will
die alone. Perhaps in the street. If it’s good enough for North Korea, it seems
good enough for Kim Jong Paul.
If the
Republican Party thinks they can avoid Democrats creating an Elderly Strategy centered around Paul
Ryan’s Ayn Rand philosophy, they are huffing. You can’t just put an expiration
date on Medicare and think no one will notice. First of all, Medicare
recipients of today don’t appreciate anyone else’s lack of appreciation of a
program on which they depend. Even if they’ll be dead by the time Ryan’s end to
Medicare as we know it arrives, they still get the feeling that Ryan sees them
as worthless leaches he would throw into the streets if he didn’t need their
vote.
Second, Even if Paul Ryan gets his way, people under the age
of 55 will be 65 soon enough. It won’t take long for them to realize their
Ryan-style vouchers do not cover their health costs. If Democrats are smart,
they will let no one forget what Republicans have done (or tried to do) to
Medicare. Republicans can claim that these are only scare tactics, but just
because they are scare tactics does not make the charge false. Paul Ryan’s zeal
for prioritizing the wealthy who can take care of themselves while eliminating
the social compact has blinded him to the fact that people who have worked hard
all their lives will not get the health care they need when they need it most.
As a result, many will die.
And the Elderly Strategy is born. Thanks Paul Ryan. Enjoy
your career as a Fox News Commentator.
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