IPAB in GOP Trouble, Hoyer Hurts Party

Cutting the Cutter

"House Republicans are poised to advance legislation this week to repeal President Obama’s Medicare cost-cutting board, a provision enacted in the health care reform law.  The Energy & Commerce Committee is set to mark it up this Wednesday, and the repeal bill already has enough cosponsors to pass the House.  It’s not expected to survive the Senate or Obama’s veto pen, but the debate over this provision cuts to the heart of the battle over how to save Medicare in the long run."

"The question now is: Why is the party that’s hell-bent on reining in Medicare pushing to repeal this powerful tool for doing just that [cutting costs]?  Part of it is to score political points by slicing off a key piece of the Affordable Care Act.  But more importantly, Republicans don’t want to keep Medicare in its current form."

We began talking about this months ago, and now that some other issues have quieted down, it's back again.  Conservative Republicans don't mind if Medicare appears to be failing or if its cost rise.  Why?  Because it gives them an excuse to attack and kill it.

Grand Bargain Not So

"While most political eyes are fixed on Romney's primary results, the middle class faces a threat to its financial security right in the heart of the Capitol.  The Democratic Party does, too.  House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, who is the living embodiment of Washington's corporatized politics, is once again pushing a 'Grand Bargain' that would cut Social Security and Medicare -- and result in more electoral losses like the ones he helped bring upon his party in 2010."

"Hoyer is the Lobbyists' Legislator, the Revolving-Door Representative, the Minority Whip who really drives floor votes for the Corporate Party rather than the electorate.  Hoyer's pseudo-centrist deficit pitch will please the rich individuals and corporations that have given him one of the biggest campaign war chests in Congress. "

The Republican Reality-Free Zone

Gingrich Silent On Bush Apology For 2008 Quran Desecration: ‘I Wasn’t A Presidential Candidate’ Then

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