It's Medicare, or Not
Opinion from Wendell Potter: "Let's say you have a Ford and decide to replace everything under the hood with Hyundai parts, including the engine and transmission. Could you still honestly market your car as a Ford? That question gets at the heart of the controversy over who is being more forthright about GOP Rep. Paul Ryan's plan to 'save' Medicare, Republicans or Democrats. If you overhaul the Medicare system like you did your Ford and tell the public it's still Medicare, are you doing so honestly?"
More discussion about truths and lies. Does the Ryan Plan really ruin Medicare via massive "restructuring"? Of course it does, and of course it's supposed to. Thanks, Mr. Potter, for another helpful perspective on a question on which we should not even be wasting time. (My opinion: The extent of the change proposed would have, in effect, repealed Medicare.) But Mr. Potter also is right about 401(k) plans! Please do take a read.
Ryan-Wyden Dangerous for Americans
"Medicare provides health insurance to about 45 million seniors and disabled Americans. This is an expensive population to cover and taxpayers pick up the vast majority of the cost. Any proposal to rein in government spending results in heated, partisan debates. Now a plan released by Sen Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is being celebrated by some as bipartisan success. Actually, it is proof that even a Democrat and Republican working together can chart a dangerous course for future retirees."
"The centerpiece of the lawmakers’ approach is the creation of a 'premium support' system. Seniors would be allocated a set amount of money to buy health insurance. They could use it to pay for the traditional, government-run Medicare that has been around for decades. Or they could spend it on approved private-sector insurance plans."
It's not only an unpopular idea, it just doesn't work.
The Republican Reality-Free Zone
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