Paul Ryan Medicare Plan a Copy of ObamaCare!!! A Train Wreck for 50 Million Seniors?

Going through my old "before the election" video archive, I discovered the most amazing...really AMAZING analysis of Paul Ryan's Medicare reform plan. You can thank MSNBC's Chris Hayes for this one.

Paul Ryan plans to put seniors in Medicare exchanges, just like the Affordable Care Act's exchanges. That would mean switching over 50 million plus seniors into a subsidized marketplace of insurers, with detailed policies so convoluted they're sure to stump and frustrate the elderly. I don't even understand my own policy.

This is a report that everyone should watch and shove in the face of those lying hypocrites in the Republican Party. Trolls won't know what to Tweet. Democrats should run on it in 2016. Crap, even John Boehner came right out and said it was very similar to the presidents health care bill. You can't make this stuff up:



Boehner continued to bash ObamaCare the other day, promising to try and repeal that horrible law:

Ryan's Country Club appearance says a lot, too bad his Mysterious detailed Plan for Medicare and Taxes doesn't.

Thank god, we’re finally blessed with the presence of Paul Ryan again. He’s been away you know, licking his wounds from a tough, brutal presidential campaign. Can you image how exhausted he must have felt? Ryan’s recuperation, from November to January 13, ended when he mustered up enough strength to appear before his constituents at a town hall…I’m sorry, a country club to rub shoulders with the average working stiffs who can't seem to get enough of his anti-government rhetoric.

Journal Times: Despite voting for the contentious fiscal cliff package that raised tax rates, it was clear Sunday that Ryan’s status among his TEA Party supporters hadn't diminished. 

Because to rabid low information tea party voters, Republican fiscal policy plays second fiddle to power, guns and hating liberals. They're still not asking for a detailed plan on health care reform:

Ryan lambasted the Affordable Care Act’s complexity and effectiveness, and predicted that it would eventually fail. “I think this thing is going to collapse under its own weight because it’s not sustainable. It’s sickly, and it cannot survive because it’s such a poorly drafted law.”

Of course Ryan failed to mention the wrench thrown into the system by uncooperative Governors and Republican state legislatures who refuse to obey federal law passed by congress.

Ryan said he favors a consumer-directed health care system driven by free-market competition.

What Ryan never mentions is we already have a free market system, that’s why we’re getting crushed by the massive increases in cost. Ryan’s plan goes one step further though by removing the basic requirements of health care providers, meaning Americans will essentially be buying junk policies filled with legalese that pretty much exempts everything. Now that's competition. 

But Ryan saved the biggest load of BS for last; the promise of a detailed plan:

He has similar plans to “show ... in legislative detail” alternatives on income tax reform and Medicare reform.

Here’s my challenge; let’s see the plan, and the CBO analysis. That’s all. How easy is that? But low information tea party voters can’t be bothered with such wonkish details, after all, they’re already too busy planning their new American revolution against a tyrannical U.S. government. 

Ryan Projects the Propaganda by taking the "Moral High Ground."

Paul Ryan’s fear campaign continues unabated, obscured by the usual “I know you are but what am I” tact, and a whole lot of conservative projection. In fact projection is the GOP’s primary offensive weapon; “where a person subconsciously denies his or her own attributes, thoughts, and emotions, which are then ascribed to the outside world, usually to other people.”

While Ryan accuses the Democrats of fear mongering his cost shifting health care reform plan for Medicare, where care is controlled by insurance companies and the free market, he actually does them one better by warning typically paranoid conservatives we’re about to “lose our country.”

Big Government:“We can be like Republicans in the past–trim the edges, slow things down, make things more affordable, buy time. Or we can do what is necessary to save our country. We’ve got to understand that there are core principles involved here–that if we compromise too far, we can win but we will still lose the country.”

Scared yet? Thank god we have Ryan to ease our worries and to take the "moral high ground." He'll talk some sense into us…via propaganda. Or as Ryan puts it, “educate” the public with corporate Prosperity PAC money.

Rep. Paul Ryan, chair of the House Budget Committee, also leads the Prosperity PAC, a political action committee … Prosperity Action is trying to change the premise of the debate about spending, to help educate the country, to educate grassroots activists … if we win that kind of an election, then we will have the moral authority to make the changes needed. I believe that President Obama is going to campaign on the idea that he offers the country a kind of security, that the Republicans will feed Americans to the wolves to help their rich friends. He’s going to use resentment, fear, and envy.

Ryan convincingly denies the truth by portraying the wealth disparity as resentment, fear, and envy, when nothing could be further from the truth.

Projection? Sure. The funny thing is, Ryan ignores or denies legitimate criticisms of his “free market” plan of self-rationing. The insane notion that insurance companies and hospitals will lower rates and cut their profit margins, while taking Ryan’s taxpayer premium support money in a supposed free market, is pure lunacy. To add insult to injury, Ryan also wants insurers to dump those with pre-existing conditions into a costly taxpayer supported high risk pool. Ryan socializes the risk, and privatizes the profits.

Besides appealing to conservative’s willingness to play the picked on victim of their misunderstood ideology, Ryan positions himself as one of the few wonkish numbers crunchers the party is willing to tolerate. That’s why the following string of big words sounds so impressive to Republican voters:

We must reject that substantively–statistically and quantitatively, but also seizing the moral high ground.

And when you seize the moral high ground, like Scott Walker has, you can do anything you want.

Was Paul Ryan’s Cut to Medicare relevant in the Recall Elections? Conservatives say No…and Yes. Huh?

Ah, the adoring public. Paul Ryan’s tough love against his fans future health care needs is just the discipline they needed, to make their fixed income lives a little more challenging.  

In the piece below, columnist Christian Schneider started out by saying the Democrats were wrong bringing Ryan’s plan into the Republican recall races, because Medicare had nothing to do with state politics. But as you can see by the title, and here final conclusion, Ryan’s Medicare cuts had everything to do with the elections. Doh! It’s not like state lawmakers never run for congress, or that support for an unpopular program like Ryan’s doesn’t call into question their family values.

The contradictions in this “love letter” to Ryan are too good to pass up:

National Review: How Paul Ryan Unexpectedly Won the Wisconsin Recalls By Christian Schneider: Democrats have been damaging their retinas squinting to find the silver lining in the past two weeks’ recall elections. Take congressional fiscal dreamboat Paul Ryan, whose plan to reform America’s entitlement programs became a fixture in the Wisconsin recall effort … despite the fact that these races were state and not federal contests. They tried to hang Ryan’s plan around the neck of state senators Sheila Harsdorf and Alberta Darling.

Wisconsin Democratic party chair Mike Tate “We’ve got them on camera with Paul Ryan. We’ve got them on the record saying they support the Ryan agenda. And I think it’s something that voters are going to weigh in on.”

Teachers’-union activist Shelley Moore, Harsdorf’s opponent, said the incumbent Republican wanted to “eliminate Medicare” by “standing with Ryan” — a claim for which she received a “pants on fire” rating from Politifact. 

Politifact again, had it all wrong. Medicare won’t be the same and will cost seniors more. But on the bigger point, if someone is standing with Ryan, how could they not be for his plan to end Medicare as we know it? Pants on fire Politifact.

But it is a sign that voters in swing areas looked at Ryan’s plan and shrugged.  I, for one, am trying to determine which of my children to love less in order to make more room in my heart to love Paul Ryan more. But as he (apparently) mulls a run for the presidency, he should take solace in the Wisconsin recall results — they demonstrate that the public seems to get what he’s trying to accomplish.

With contradictory thinking like this, is it any wonder why conservative voters desperately want to generalize the issues into easy, non-contradictory, talking points. Who can follow these people? Oh, and what child do you love less now...?

Ryan admits cuts to "entitlements" will lead to economic growth and tax cuts.

I understand now what Rep. Paul Ryan has been saying over and over. If the government spends less on seniors, there will be more left over for "economic growth and tax reform." It's a pure capitalistic, free market plan. Seniors are in the way with huge entitlements that pretty much keeps the government from reducing taxes. 

What else could explain his dogged pursuit to tear down the new deal? Watch the video below, he's downright obsessive. But why? After all, Ryan used his families Social Security payments to fund his education. It can't save the government money unless it shifts the costs to the individual, seniors on a fixed income. 

Below, Ryan makes it perfectly clear where his focus is. 

RYAN: It all depends on the spending side of the ledger. … If we’re convincingly restructuring these entitlement programs and getting that spending line down to meet that revenue line, then can you have higher revenue growth through more economic growth and tax reform? Yes, the answer is yes.

InsurCorps Pouring Money Into Ryan's Campaign

According to this article, Rob Zerban, Democratic primary candidate for the 1st Congressional District of Wisconsin, has raised more money this quarter than any of Ryan's previous challengers since Ryan was elected. Zerban stated that the average contribution to his campaign is $42.

You can donate to Zerban's campaign to defeat Paul Ryan here.

Paul Ryan's campaign war chest on the other hand, more now than ever before, is gorging itself like a vampire squid wrapped around the face of Wall Street. Around this same period (July 2009) for his 2010 campaign, Ryan reported $1.28 million with 82 percent of his donors giving $100 or less. This year, Ryan reports $3.8 million cash on hand to date with 77 percent giving $100 or less.

Excerpt:
Ryan’s campaign said 77 percent of the individual contributions since the beginning of 2011 year were $100 or less.

During each of the last three congressional elections, I've spent hours paging through Paul Ryan's campaign reports and this is what I've found. I found when you're dealing with statements from Ryan's campaign you have to think like you're dealing with the crooked'est used car dealer in the city. They don't mean 77 percent of the $3.8 million came from individuals giving $100 or less. No-no, not at all. What they really mean by 77 percent is about 4000 individuals (apprx.) contributed around $240,000 to his campaign while the rest, $3,560,000 of the $3.8 million reported, came from about 1,300 contributions (23%) funneled from 100 Big Corps entities.

Just like dealing with a slick-shady used car salesman, it's never ever what you thought you've heard at first from Paul Ryan. It's always that initial doubt that you curse yourself for by being duped, but only after you're left stranded in the road holding an empty bag.

ADDITIONAL:

Paul Ryan's Plan Popular - with Insurance Industry

Ryan Well Compensated By Special Interests (2009)

Crony Capital Pouring Into Ryan's campaign (2009)

Milk Toast Jared Bernstein Exposes and Embarrasses Paul Ryan's Economic Voodoo.

A line that isn't used often enough by critics of Rep. Paul Ryan, but applies most of the time, is "he thinks his sh*t doesn't stink." In a recent Squawk Box appearance with Jared Bernstein, Ryan's smirks and smart asses his way through the debate. This is the real Paul Ryan, letting his guard down in a moment of unfiltered candor and narcissism.

[Bernstein, an economist, is a senior fellow at the  Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and previously was  economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden.]

While Bernstein is often a little too generic and neoliberal for me, even he sounds like a flaming progressive next to the Randian/Friedmanesque demagoguery of Paul Ryan. I swear, Bernstein was channeling every argument I've ever made against the Republican Party of extremism, proving even Blue Dog Dems are starting to get it. Oddly, Bernstein energized me...while Ryan stuck to his theories.

Ryan doesn't like criticism, or being taken down a peg! In fact, he lashes out at Bernstein with demeaning quotes like: "alright, can I get in here soon," or the surreal put down of the actual function of government, "I just don't think you can sit in Washington and micromanage the US economy." What, with regulations? The nontechnical economic term used my most Americans for Ryan would be; he's dangerously nuts. Ryan seems to be under the bizarre impression the other big economic powers in the world don't have economic regulations or any government controls.

Even Paul Ryan doesn't support his Medicare plan any more

This just in. The Hill:

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Thursday that he is open to reforming Medicare in a way that would leave a traditional fee-for-service system as an option for future seniors.

Ryan, speaking at a policy discussion hosted by The Hill and sponsored by No American Debt, an advocacy group, said that he has consistently been open to an optional version of his controversial Medicare plan, which Democrats have seized upon as a campaign issue.

“I have always said all along all of those ideas are ideas we should be considering when it comes to legislation,” the House Budget Committee chairman said. “When you are down in the details, there should be a fee-for-service option alongside premium support.

“They are all good ideas,” Ryan said.

Really? Even President Obama's?  Even the Democrats' ideas?  Ryan and the GOP majority in the House were in a no-amendment, no-compromise, take-no-prisoners mode when they passed the budget.

The fact is that the House Republicans voted for Ryan's plan to end Medicare and replace it with a voucher system -- although he denies that's what it is, that's what it is. But the GOP has been taking a political beating ever since.

Nancy Pelosi's office got it right:

"Republicans are not fooling anyone. They voted to end Medicare and now they can’t take the heat,” Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami said. “The only plan Americans want is called Medicare and we must strengthen it, not weaken it. What you’re hearing now is a lead balloon crashing to the ground.”

Paul Ryan’s Cheap Parlor Tricks of Last Resort: Bring out the clichés and Stereotypes.

In an avalanche of desperation, Paul Ryan has reduced himself to a fumbling “sky is falling” demagogue. Check out this recent attempt to avoid this one hard question; If your plan saves the government so much money, who’s picking up the difference? 

Newsmax: The political left is “coming unglued a bit,” embattled Wisconsin GOP Rep. Paul Ryan tells Newsmax … in which he also criticizes a recent CBO analysis of his plan as “deeply flawed.” Ryan also contends that the AARP retiree organization has been “frightening seniors” over his proposals to fix Medicare; “Yes, I think they are, I think they’re frightening seniors. And I think [they] are showing their political stripes a little bit more.

In a down the rabbit hole twist in logic, Ryan’s plan can’t be compared to Medicare benefits because in the future, Medicare won’t exist. Nothing to compare it too. My head is hurting:

Ryan (says the CBO) compares his plan with the level of benefits a recipient would receive under the current Medicare system… “So it’s really sort of a fiscal fantasy to compare any plan against some future that everybody says will not exist.

He’s completely lost his mind.

Ryan Medicare plan so toxic GOP are censoring Dem mailings about it

Paul Ryan's plan to end Medicare -- and that's what it is, despite all the spin he and the Republicans want to apply -- is so toxic that the GOP is trying to censor newsletters and mailings from House Democrats who call it what it is.

Roll Call reports:

Democratic House Members are lashing out at Republican leadership over rejected mass mailings, saying their messages lambasting the GOP budget plan and its effect on Medicare are being censored...

They say Republicans on the House franking commission, which screens the content of mass mailings paid for with Congressional funds, have become more sensitive since the May 24 special election in New York. Democrat Kathy Hochul made opposition to the plan authored by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) a central element of her successful campaign for the New York seat...

The commission returned a flier to Rep. Gerry Connolly on May 29 over objections to language stating that the GOP budget would “end” Medicare. The commission asked the Virginia Democrat to rephrase the passage to say the plan could “change” or “could privatize portions” of the federal health insurance program for seniors and the disabled.

Connolly called the action “Orwellian in nature.”

“It is the most extreme censorship I have ever encountered,” he told Roll Call. “And it’s all because they have been taking heat on Medicare.”

Similarly, the commission asked Rep. Ed Perlmutter to strike the words “eliminate” and “dismantle” in favor of the word “change” in a flier about the Medicare proposal. The commission also asked the Colorado Democrat to remove references to Ryan, replace “voucher” with “premium support system” and change “privatize” to “revise government program with support from private insurance companies.”

The Maddow Blog says: Paul Ryan's Medicare plan is 'sweetness,' 'light,' 'rainbows' and 'kittens' and offers this video of Congressman John Yarmouth, Democrat of Kentucky, talking about it on the House floor.
.



Hat tip: Barefoot and Progressive

Ryan budget committee colleague: Ryan plan would kill Medicare

Paul D. Tonko (D-NY), a House Budget Committee member, on Politico:

Even the Wall Street Journal admitted that the Republican plan would kill Medicare.

It would turn over seniors’ health to bureaucrats at profit hungry insurance companies. It would ask seniors to pay more for their health care benefits while receiving less and less. According to the Congressional Budget Office, it would more than double out of pocket expenses.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research suggests that for those under the age of 55, they will have to save an extra $182,000 for retirement to pay for their health care costs if the Republican plan is enacted. For those in their thirties, they will have to save an extra $400,000, on top of regular retirement savings, to pay for health insurance in their golden years.

And to suggest that the Republican budget will offer the same health plan that Members of Congress receive to seniors is simply untrue. As a member of Congress, I know that members of Congress have 72% of health insurance premiums that can be paid for by the federal government. Meanwhile, the Ryan plan would only cover 32% of the costs for seniors. This simply is not the same level of coverage.

Why you can't afford Paul Ryan's Medicare plan

Let me make this simple for you: the Ryan plan will leave you paying for at least half of your health care costs – via insurance or out-of-pocket – in your golden years, when your income is lowest and your health care costs are highest. If you don’t have an extra $182,000 to throw at these new costs that will be factoring in over the course of the average retirement span, then you are going to be in deep kimchi.

Jim Rosenberg has more.

Who had worst week in Washington? Paul Ryan

Chris Cizzilla in the Washington Post:

Democratic strategists can barely contain their glee that Republicans have handed them such a golden goose of a political issue barely six months after the GOP retook control of the House.

Paul Ryan, for ensuring that you will be a Democratic whipping boy all the way until Nov. 6, 2012 — 527 days, if you’re counting — you had the worst week in Washington. Congrats, or something.

Ryan's wrong; We need 'Medicare for all'

John Nichols in the Capital Times:

House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan proposes to undermine the integrity of the Medicare and Medicaid programs, with an eye toward enriching the insurance companies that so generously fund his campaigns.

The American people are not amused. They have sent clear signals that they want to maintain Medicare and Medicaid.

Read the rest

Ryan trying to bring back death panel scare

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan is sharpening his attack on President Barack Obama’s Medicare board as a plan “to give government the power to deny care to seniors,” in an attempt to retool Republicans’ Medicare message, Politico reports. 

It's back to trying to scare seniors.  The phony "death panels" worked once, but it's a new ball game now.

Under the Ryan plan, of course, seniors would have vouchers to pay for their coverage --until the money runs out. Then seniors could deny themselves care. That apparently is different from and preferable to the "rationing" Ryan is trying to scare seniors with.

The Paul Ryan All -Stars

This is cross posted from Blogging Blue but since I fell victim to the Blogger war on Ann Althouse's free speech, my first post on this important site went missing. It shows a nice cross reference of nine different people from all spectrums who call out the incompetence of Paul Ryan!

Paul Ryan is battling Scott Walker for who can get in front a camera quicker. Unfortunately, while he is all over the news, the news has not been all over him. They have even called him "courageous". Let's take a look at a few people who have actually pointed out how foolish ryan actually is.

First we lead off with former Reagan budget director David Stockman:

It doesn't address in any serious or courageous way the issue of the near and medium-term deficit. I think the biggest problem is revenues. It is simply unrealistic to say that raising revenue isn't part of the solution. It's a measure of how far off the deep end Republicans have gone with this religious catechism about taxes.

Batting second we have Paul Krugman of the NY Times:

Anyway, no, I don’t think the plan goes too far. I think it’s disingenuous and fraudulent. And the reason I think that is that I have actually done the math.

Batting third is political prognosticator Bill Maher:

It irks me to no end that people keep calling him ‘courageous,’ the way the media never really looks into anything very deeply, they hear a buzzword, like ‘courageous’ attached to Paul Ryan, and now it’s conventional wisdom that Paul Ryan is courageous. Really? Courageous would have been going after defense and farm subsidies and corporations and rich people. His budget doesn’t do any of that, it goes after children, the poor, the jobless, the people who had the least and could least defend themselves, who had no lobbyists, this is courageous? This is picking on the weakest, smallest kid on the playground and getting called courageous for it.

Batting clean up is Wisconsin\'s own John Nichols. Nichols story is exceptionally important in popping the ryan love bubble. He tried to pretend to pass a "tea party" type budget bill that included cuts to sweeping government programs WITHOUT passing that money on to his corporate masters. Well he got played by the democrat members of the house who refused to play his game and the "tea party" budget almost passed. Paul Ryan(R-Wall St) proved who he represents when, as Nichols pointed out, ryan panicked when the vote was taken:

When it was clear there were enough Republican votes to block the bill—at a point where 120 GOP members have voted “no” to 119 who had voted “yes”—Ryan started screaming to the presiding officer: “Shut it down!”

Suddenly Paul Ryan became Big Brother.

The Budget Committee chair was desperate to close the vote before any more Democrats could switch from “no” votes to those declarations of “present.” (Sixteen Democrats were finally record as voting “no.” If just two of them had cast mischievous “yes” votes while the rest switched to present, the Republicans would have been stuck with a plan that made drastic cuts to government programs, but that did not so smoothly implement Ryan’s scheme for a further redistribution of the wealth upward.)

Next up is the father of the true \"tea party\" Ron Paul:

He said the budgets proposed by Rep. Ryan and President Obama wouldn't put Washington on a path to limited government.

“Neither of those budgets will solve our problems, or even come close," Paul said.

Next up is The non partisan congressional budget office. They said the $8000 voucher, in lieu of Medicare is great, but what do the people do from February 14th through the rest of the year?

Followed by economist Dean Baker. who points out:

CBO projects that Ryan's plan will add $30 trillion (that's trillion with a "T," as the budget hawks always say) to the country's health care bill due to the fact that private insurers are less efficient in providing health care than the Medicare system. (in case you are wondering, $30 trillion equals $100,000 for every man, woman and child in America right now).

Then we have President Obama speaking truth to power on Ryan's hypocrisy and insincerity.

"Eliminating the health care bill would cost us $1 trillion dollars," the president said. "It would add $1 trillion to the deficit. So when Paul Ryan says his priority is to make sure, he's just being America's accountant and trying to you know be responsible, this is the same guy that voted for two wars that were unpaid for, voted for the Bush tax cuts that were unpaid for, voted for the prescription drug bill that cost as much as my health care bill -- but wasn't paid for. So it's not on the level. And we’ve got to keep on you know, keep on shining a light on that.”

Finally the damage that Ryan has done to the 1st congressional district has not gone unnoticed. Local Businessman and county supervisor Rob Zerban has declared his candidacy against ryan for the 2012 election. Zerban has also started a new website:hands off my grandma.com.

Captain Courageous is really Mr. Outrageous!

Paul Ryan: Shooting Star To Flame-Out

A prediction from Jim Rowen of The Political Environment:

Paul Ryan: Shooting Star To Flame-Out

By the end of the federal budget debate, colleagues and voters will have abandoned supposed fiscal wizard Paul Ryan, with the next victims of the Republicans' draconian Medicare/Medicaid program cuts being the reputation of their House leader, John Boehner and their party's chances in November, 2012.

Ryan's $34 Trillion Folly

Paul Ryan's Medicare plan would indeed save some tax dollars, David Cay Johnson says, writing at Tax.Com. In fact, he estimates that Ryan's voucher plan could save $4.9 trillion (with a T) in taxes from 2022 through 2084.

There's a catch, of course. Trouble is, for every $1 "saved" in taxes, health care consumers would spend $5 too $8 more for their care. Depending upon whose figures you use, the Ryan plan would cost people as much as $39-billion more for health care. Subtract the $5-trillion in savings (we can round it off to the nearest $100 billion), and the net cost is a mere $34-trillion.

Such a deal. Says Johnson:

Hardly anyone knows about the gargantuan added costs because of the way Ryan is marketing the plan...Ryan is looking out for his agenda and being deceptive by omission.

The idea -- promoted by Ryan as inherent truth -- that market forces will cut costs is absurd. No one lying on a litter in pain from an accident or who was just told they have a cancerous tumor is going to start negotiating price any more than airline passengers are going to cross-examine the pilots on their skill and training. Even if you did, do you have the technical knowledge to compare physicians?

There is a smarter path, one that saves taxpayers money and reduces healthcare costs. That is to junk our taxpayer-subsidized model in favor of a modern healthcare system.

It's government that has the power to ratchet down prices, not the person lying on the litter, Johnson says. But you won't hear that from Paul Ryan. He's a man on a mission.