Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Politics Congressional elections and Paul Ryan's Medicare plan
Posted by Max Brantley on Tue, May 24, 2011 at 6:41 AM
Everybody's watching that special election in a solidly Republican district in New York where a Democrat may win on the strength of her opposition to the Republican budget plan to end Medicare as a single-payer health system and convert it to a privatized system with vouchers.
A third Tea Party candidate for Arkansas U.S. Reps. Rick Crawford and Tim Griffin would complicate their lives, but, alas, the South preserves runoff elections. So a third-party candidate couldn't do the same mischief that one is doing to the Republican candidate in New York.
But the Ryan plan to kill Medicare — and any other number of popular government programs — still should be a heavy burden for Griffin and Crawford, who voted for it. The Third District? Lost cause.
MORE HERE from Nate Silver on the damage to Republicans in their unified vote to end Medicare.
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Comments (14)
Showing 1-14 of 14
Organizations serve the people who own them.
Medicare is owned by and serves the people.
Privatized care is owned by and serves the stockholders.
The "changes" Crawford and Griffin support to Medicare are like changing the Second Amendment so that the point is not the security of a free state but the right to hunt on a deer lease with a rented rifle.
The words "general welfare" are not followed by the phrase "of corporations."
Which society is more free? One in which all seniors have a decent level of health care or one in which they die for lack of it? One in which your rights are granted by God, or one in which they are dependent upon the amount of corporate profit you represent?
I think if the founding fathers had wanted to establish a right to die for those who don't create enough profit for a corporation to justify their continued existence, they would have written it in.
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You keep telling yourself and telling yourself, the American voters can't really be THAT stupid, can they?
Had Democrats been sincere about the health of the nation... including fiscal health.. they would have at least tried in earnest to pass a better health looting reform bill. ANd they would have instantly pivoted with plans to dramatically improve said bill, including its current disastrous form - still most expensive (privateer ins, and pharma costs) in the world for least number with access to care.
The head fake theatre by Dems pretending that standing in place and saying i am not a republican is good enough.. should not work... fiscally it will not work for long.
If Ryan's plan didn't exist... Dems would be paying someone to create this poison pill of a non debate. Because Dems sure aren't arguing to do what's urgently needed.. and already done by dozens of other countries around the world.
Leftist Peter Fonda calls Obama a traitor.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/ca…
Max,
Arkansas preserves run-offs for Congressional primary voting, but we would not have run-offs for general election campaigns where third parties may run.
I wonder if when people voted for the Tea Party they realized they were voting against democracy?
When the Tea Party says "republic" what they mean is a nation ruled by corporations and the wealthiest 1%.
The idea that the people aren't smart enough to govern themselves is certainly nothing new. What is new is calling a lack of representation in government "freedom."
Thinking Dem,
Right you are. I just think the likeliest Teabagger candidates would run in the Republican primary, since they are interchangeable terms. Green, Libertarian and Independent candidates haven't made much of a scratch here before.
How Republican is District 26?
Since 1953 seven of the eight Representatives have been Republican.
District 26 has a median income twice that of Arkansas.
The district is 93% white.
.
>>Green, Libertarian and Independent candidates haven't made much of a scratch here before.<
Mother's milk. Now I think times have changed. Libertarians attract more people with more money. Those dudes running petitions around my neck o woods were driving and dressing fine. We've entered the Age of the True Believer.
>>Democrat may win on the strength of her opposition to the Republican budget plan
Plus, she's attractive. Here's the link I posted last night to NY Times pre election coverage of the race. According to NY Times Demo Kathy Hochul is a come-from-way-behind candidate in a very traditional Repub district.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/nyregion…
Plus, if you follow the links the T'bagger, Davis came within 48% on his last attempt to win the seat. Seems he was pissed at Dick Cheney over the export of American jobs so he ran as Demo.
PLUS, Americans across the nation are not buying Ryan-Griffin-Womack-Crawford's plan to jerk the rug from under the feet of the old and impoverished.
"WASHINGTON – They're not buying it. Most Americans say they don't believe Medicare has to be cut to balance the federal budget, and ditto for Social Security, a new poll shows."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110523/ap_on_…
Glen Greenwald, who can sometimes drive me up all 4 walls of any room I am in, has a marvelous take down of David Brooks' latest column in which Brooks longs for a ruling elite who have know each other since prep school. Being one of the rabble, the great unwashed, the little people, GG's essay was a tasty treat for the anarchist that lives within. Brooks fancies himself a public intellectual. Reading excerpts from his latest book, "The Social Animal", almost sent me to the white throne to hurl. Why does the NY times give him a platform for his pseudo-intellectual clap-trap? Here it is for you to revel in if, like me, you are part of the rabble.
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_gr…
I've watched Brooks several times and read columns. He seems like he always needs to go potty, that strained look about him, non-relaxed.
Viper,
If you could only find one, you must suffer from a "censorious firewall." If that's the only leftist or liberal you could find criticizing Obama, you aren't really trying or did you limit yourself to people who will gain by the publicity generated by their public criticism? Inquiring minds want to know.
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