GOP's Paul Ryan Doubles Down on Medicare Rationing

Paul Ryan Wants to End Medicare As We Know It, While Lying About It
On Friday, for some reason the custodians of the Washington Post’s op-ed page decided to let Paul Ryan write the following in their paper: Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the Democrats’ political machine has attacked my contribution to this debate, making the false claim that the only solution put forward to save Medicare would “end Medicare as we know it.” As Ezra Klein, previously a defender of Ryan’s integrity, observes people are accusing him of...

Ezra Klein on Paul Ryan
Ryan’s proposal is an admission of the reality. And so now we get to have a conversation. How would you prefer to see growth slowed? Medicare becomes a private program and you have to buy your own private Insurance with checks that pay for less and less? Or Medicare puts you and 40 million of your closest demographic friends into a big pool and goes to the medical industry and says that if they want access to these millions and millions of customers, this is how much they can charge? This...

Paul Ryan's plan would end Medicare as we know it
"The Democrats' political machine has attacked my contribution to this debate," wrote Paul Ryan, "making the false claim that the only solution put forward to save Medicare would 'end Medicare as we know it.'" This is a baffling line of argument. There's nothing false about the claim that Ryan's plan would end Medicare as we know it. In fact, it's unambiguously true. Currently, Medicare is a government-run insurer that pays the Health-care Costs of all Senior Citizens. Under Ryan's plan,...

"Paul Ryan will need all the friends he can make."
said... I agree. They should all sign onto Paul Ryan's plan to destroy Medicare and Social Security. Go for it! It's funny to hear people whine after one critical column was published about Paul Ryan's skeezy plan. That's the Krugman column, here: The FlimFlam Man But it’s the audacity of dopes. Mr. Ryan isn’t offering fresh food for thought; he’s serving up leftovers from the 1990s, drenched in flimflam sauce. And this post on Krugman's blog , about...

Paul Ryan getting defensive about his "road map"
More evidence of the popularity of Social Security and Medicare: Paul Ryan's denial that he's trying completely rehaul Medicare . "The Democrats' political machine has attacked my contribution to this debate," wrote Paul Ryan, "making the false claim that the only solution put forward to save Medicare would 'end Medicare as we know it.'" This is a baffling line of argument. There's nothing false about the claim that Ryan's plan would end Medicare as we know it. In fact, it's unambiguously...

The Persecution Of Paul Ryan
The Wall Street Journa l has an editorial today whose headline, "Washington vs. Paul Ryan," captures its basic contention that the the poor Right-wing congressman is being ganged up on and maligned by the establishment. It's a fairly odd premise. Ryan has been riding months of slobbering praise from the Conservative press. I realize that doesn't count, because "Washington" in Conservative-speak is an epithet that by definition excludes Conservatives. So, working within...

Scaring Seniors
In the 1930s, Liberals (not all of whom were Democrats) passed Social Security over conservative objections.  In the 1960s, Liberals (not all of whom were Democrats) passed Medicare over conservative objections. In the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s Democrats ran on Social Security and Medicare.  They claimed that if conservative Republicans ever took over Congress, those Republicans would slash or dismantle programs that benefited older Americans.  Republicans responded by...

Daily Kos: Paul Ryan getting defensive about his "road map"
More evidence of the popularity of Social Security and Medicare: Paul Ryan's denial that he's trying completely rehaul Medicare . "The Democrats' political machine has attacked my contribution to this debate," wrote Paul Ryan, "making the false claim that the only solution put forward to save Medicare would 'end Medicare as we know it.'" This is a baffling line of argument. There's nothing false about the claim that Ryan's plan would end Medicare as we know it. In fact, it's unambiguously...

Remarks by the President at Luncheon Reception for Governor Ted Strickland
1:18 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, everybody!  Thank you, Ohio!  (Applause.)  Please, have a seat, have a seat.  Thank you so much.  It is great to be here. There are a couple of People I want to make sure to acknowledge -- they may have already been acknowledged, but not by me.  So I'm going to acknowledge them because they are doing outstanding work.  First of all, the mayor of the great city of Columbus, Michael Coleman.  (Applause.)  A...

Obama's new slogan for the GOP
President Obama has a new political slogan -- for Republicans. "No, we can't." The man who made "yes we can" a winning theme in the 2008 Presidential Campaign is telling Democratic contributors that Republicans just want to say no to things like Health Care, Clean Energy, and Wall Street Reform. "This year, their slogan is 'no we can't,''" Obama said today at Ohio Fundraiser, echoing a riff he has used throughout the week. "It's catchy," the president said mockingly. "It's really inspiring. It...

Richard (RJ) Eskow: Republicans and the "Left" Agree: Defending Social Security Is a Political Winner
Here are two numbers that should warm the heart of anyone who wants to end sectarian bickering and build a Bipartisan consensus for change: 68% of Likely Voters polled believe that we should not cut Social Security and Medicare to reduce the Deficit. 60% of Republicans agree. These figures are from a new poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner on behalf of the Campaign for America's Future and DemocracyCorps, with support from MoveOn.org. They tell us that the Democrats have a winning...

Why I Don't Believe The Republicans Are Serious About Small Government
Nick Gillespie counts the ways: 1. All this Mosque madness . Sweet fancy Zardoz ! Whatever else you can say about the Cordoba Initiative (not to be confused with the Chrysler Cordoba and one wonders just what sort of Muslim triumphalism itsseats of rich Corinthian leather were meant to symbolize), if this is where the leading lights of the GOP are flying like moths to a flame before the big election, you know they are ready to bullshitrather than Cut Spending. Gingrich, Palin,...

Earl Ofari Hutchinson: How the Democrats Blew Their Mandate
President Obama's biggest worry should not be that his Approval Ratings hit a new low in July (says Gallup). Or that nearly forty percent rate him as worse than average as a president. That's just a paper figure and it can change at any time. The big worry should be that more people disapprove of his performance on the following issues than approve: the federal Budget Deficit, Unemployment, Health Care, taxes and Immigration. The blame for this is not Obama's, it's the Democrats. They have...