Mitt just introduced Ryan as the next US Pres

[_Doctor Steuss]

I caught only part of the interview on 60 Minutes last night. It felt like I was watching two men who had been trained by Hillary Clinton (circa 2008) on how to talk a lot without actually saying anything.

[_beastie]

I caught only part of the interview on 60 Minutes last night. It felt like I was watching two men who had been trained by Hillary Clinton (circa 2008) on how to talk a lot without actually saying anything.

Good to see you, Steuss!

[_BartBurk]

So Obama is the only Protestant of the Pres/VPres candidates. I am filled with great lolz about this nomination. I'm sure the Republican base is turning out for this ticket; that's going to transform Medicare and Social Security while giving a huge tax cut to the rich.

The only one cutting Medicare is Obama through Obamacare. $700 billion in cuts beginning Jan. 1, 2013 when doctors will see their reimbursement go down 31%. Ryan's plan doesn't change Medicare at all for people over 55. People under 55 will still have the Medicare option, but will also be able to enroll in private plans. Don't let the Democrats lies about this influence you.

[_BartBurk]

So Don Draper picked Pete Campbell. (I stole that from a random Internet yahoo).

Seems Romney has conceded Florida with this. I thought he'd go with Portman, and probably wanted to. But the bad polls this week forced him into a "bold" pick. And "bold" to Romney apparently is a white male conservative who won't upset the base.

Rubio ran on the same kind of thing in Florida and won. Romney didn't concede anything.

[_Bond James Bond]

The only one cutting Medicare is Obama through Obamacare. $700 billion in cuts beginning Jan. 1, 2013 when doctors will see their reimbursement go down 31%. Ryan's plan doesn't change Medicare at all for people over 55. People under 55 will still have the Medicare option, but will also be able to enroll in private plans. Don't let the Democrats lies about this influence you.

Wrong. Although the Republican revisionism is a decent try. From Ryan's own "Path to Prosperity" of 2011:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Path_t ... id_changes

Medicare and Medicaid changes

Medicare: Starting in 2022, the proposal would end the current Medicare program for all Americans born after 1956 and replace it with a new program (still called Medicare) which uses a voucher and would increase the age of eligibility for Medicare:[9]

Starting in 2022, the age of eligibility for Medicare would increase by two months per year until it reached 67 in 2033.

After 2022, the current Medicare program ends for all people who have not already enrolled. People already enrolled in the current Medicare program prior to 2022 would continue to receive the program. New enrollees after 2022 would be entitled to a voucher to help them purchase private health insurance.

Beneficiaries of the voucher payments would choose among competing private insurance plans operating in a newly established Medicare exchange. Plans would have to insure all eligible people who apply and would have to charge the same premiums for enrollees of the same age. The voucher payments would go directly from the government to the private insurance companies that people selected.

The voucher payments would vary with the health status of the beneficiary. For the average 65-year-old, payment in 2022 is specified to be $8,000, which is approximately the same dollar amount as projected net federal spending per capita for 65-year-olds in traditional Medicare in that year.

Each year, the voucher payments would increase to reflect increases in the consumer price index (average inflation) and the fact that enrollees in Medicare tend to be less healthy and require more costly health care as they age. They would not increase by the higher, healthcare inflation rate.

The voucher payments to enrollees would also vary with the income of the beneficiary. The wealthiest 2% of enrollees would receive 30 percent of the premium support amount described above; the next 6% would receive 50 percent of the amount described above; and people in the remaining 92% the income distribution would receive the full premium support amount described above.

Eligibility for the traditional Medicare program would not change for people who are age 55 or older by the end of 2011 or for people who receive Medicare benefits through the Disability Insurance program prior to 2022. People covered under traditional Medicare would, beginning in 2022, have the option of switching to the voucher system.

The proposal would modify Medicaid as follows:[9]

Starting in 2013, the federal share of all Medicaid payments would be converted into block grants to be allocated to the states. The total dollar amount of the block grants would increase annually with population growth and with growth in the consumer price index (average inflation).

Starting in 2022, Medicaid block grant payments would be reduced to exclude projected spending for acute care services for elderly Medicaid beneficiaries.
States would have additional flexibility in designing their programs.

Now it's a wonderful ( ) idea to privatize Medicare but I want to see the insurance company that will provide health care for 8000$ a year to a 70 year old cancer survivor or diabetic. More importantly I have to ask if Ryan's plan is such a great deal why not switch to it for all people?

[_Bond James Bond]

The best part about the Ryan Budget is that even with shrinking spending we wouldn't reach a balanced budget for 20+ years which will be aided when tens of millions of baby boomers will pass and move off the Medicare/SS rolls.

[_BartBurk]

Now it's a wonderful ( ) idea to privatize Medicare but I want to see the insurance company that will provide health care for 8000$ a year to a 70 year old cancer survivor or diabetic. More importantly I have to ask if Ryan's plan is such a great deal why not switch to it for all people?

The alternative is Medicare going bankrupt coupled with Obamacare's rationed care for older people which would allow an unelected board to determine what care is available for you. The system is going to change, but Obamacare starts cutting care in 2013 for current Medicare enrollees. I have a son on Medicare because he is on disability who would immediately lose benefits because of Obamacare.

[_krose]

Ryan's plan doesn't change Medicare at all for people over 55. People under 55 will still have the Medicare option, but will also be able to enroll in private plans.

If that's really such a great idea, why not allow those of us who are over 54 get in on it too?

The only one cutting Medicare is Obama through Obamacare. $700 billion in cuts...

You're talking about getting rid of the unnecessary Medicare Advantage, which Ryan's plan also cuts. The big difference is that with the ACA, the savings go toward general health care. In Ryan's plan, they go toward subsidizing more tax cuts.

At any rate, you might think conservatives would applaud cutting wasteful spending instead of criticizing it. I wonder why?

[_krose]

I have a son on Medicare because he is on disability...

This is not really that uncommon, right-wingers taking advantage of programs they claim to hate. I have several relatives who have been on food stamps and Medicaid (not to mention all of the older ones on Medicare and Social Security). Yet they loudly rail against "socialism" and welfare, and unfailingly vote Republican. I sometimes wonder how they deal with the cognitive dissonance, but then I remember that, as Mormons, they're used to it.

[_krose]

... rationed care for older people which would allow an unelected board to determine what care is available for you.

Are you saying that Medicare currently has no coverage limits for treatment?

By the way, who are the elected people who determine who gets what treatment now? We're talking about insurance company employees who tell doctors what they will cover. Great system.