Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

27 Oct 2011 15:24

tags

Politics: Wide gap between Democrats, Republicans on deficit cuts

  • $2.2 trillion in cuts offered by super committee GOP source
  • » Cut spending, or do a little of everything? The above figure is, in fact, about $800 billion less than the deficit reduction the Democratic plan would have achieved, which relied on a nearly even mixture of spending cuts and tax increases (including some politically tough cuts to Medicare). The GOP plan, conversely, offers no such tax increases, instead relying on heavier spending cuts to Medicare, Social Security, and low-income welfare programs such as food stamps, along with lowering tax rates which they’re claiming will stoke hundreds of billions of extra economic activity. So, basically, the same argument is playing out exactly like it does every time, though now there’s only twelve people instead of a full Congress.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Sep 2011 17:24

tags

U.S.: Government files charges over millions in Medicare fraud

  • 91
    people     charged with Medicare fraud by the U.S. Justice Department, doctors and nurses among them
  • $255 million the value reaped from the alleged frauds — another crackdown in the hundreds of millions this year source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jul 2011 14:52

tags

U.S.: Obama puts Medicare means-testing on the table for debt limit compromise

  • Medicare Means-testing on the way? President Obama is eying this common Republican policy idea as a means to a big debt limit deal. As the White House was careful to point out, for the benefit of a liberal base dim on imposing costs on low-income recipients, the Affordable Care Act has already resulted in slightly higher premiums for couples earning over $170,000, or singles earning $85,000 — his ideal would be to raise these further, to “modestly higher premiums.” The question is, would it work? The GOP has been abandoning their own policy proposals when Obama gives them a thumbs up since the health care debate; modest as this is, and we don’t see why that would change. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jun 2011 01:47

tags

Politics: Republican budget plan falls flat with the public

  • Is it just us, or was Paul Ryan foolish to start using the word “Mediscare” to describe the Democrats’ opposition to his plan? Because when you hear “Mediscare,” you don’t think, “Oh, the Democrats are just trying to scare me. I’m sure the Ryan budget is perfectly innocuous.” No; you think, “Oh no! Someone’s trying to take my Medicare away, and I’m scared!” Anyway, this is a shocking, rare PR victory for the Democrats, so let’s let them cherish it for the ten minutes it’ll take before they inevitably blow it and do something stupid. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 May 2011 10:31

tags

Politics: Paul Ryan doesn’t care if Medicare leads to his political downfall

  • I don’t care about that. Now is not that time to be worried about political careers. Sincerely, I will be fine if I lose my House seat because you know what? I will know I did what I thought was right to save this country from fiscal ruin.
  • Rep. Paul Ryan • Saying he’s more concerned about the future of the country than his own political career. Dude … cut with the theatrics. You’re a rising star in your own party. And your district is in a conservative part of Wisconsin. The odds you’ll get voted out of office for this mess — even after it dive-bombed in the Senate for going too far/not far enough (if you’re Rand Paul)? Slim to none. So, we’re glad that you’re at least owning the consequences of your Medicare plan, even if it is controversial. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 May 2011 16:12

tags

Politics: Kathy Hochul’s NY-26 win a big deal for Democrats?

  • Harbinger or happenstance? It’ll be curious to see how last night’s upset win by Kathy Hochul is received and interpreted by political media, and by the parties themselves. (We’ve already seen a bit of it from man of the hour Paul Ryan.) You may remember back when Scott Brown defeated Martha Coakley to become a Senator from Massachusetts, for example — his win in a traditionally Democratic stronghold was seen as an early signal the Democrats were in trouble in the 2010 mid-terms, a special election turned bellweather. With evidence now that Ryan’s Medicare plan is a huge political liability, will it cost the GOP in 2012? And should they be verbally flogging their only candidate who came out against it? source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 May 2011 10:19

tags

Politics: Paul Ryan: This special election not a referendum on my plan

  • I saw the ads. I saw burning people’s Medicare cards. If you can scare seniors into thinking that their current benefits are being affected, that’s going to have an effect. And that is exactly what took place here. So yes, yes, it’s demagoguery, it’s scaring seniors.
  • Rep. Paul Ryan • Blaming Democrat Kathy Hochul’s win in New York’s 26th House District on scare tactics, rather than the New York Times’ line (“a referendum on the Paul Ryan Medicare plan”). Ryan also blamed Jack Davis, a third-party guy that siphoned votes from the GOP’s Jane Corwin: “When a Democrat runs as a third party, tea party candidate and spends a couple million dollars, it’s going to have an effect,” he says. A few things here:  Remember how the guy in this district — a Republican, mind you — resigned, leading to the special election? You don’t think that could’ve had an effect on things? That’s a question for both Ryan and the NYT. Also, to Ryan’s point about Davis: There were four candidates in this election, and we’re sure Ian Murphy (while a minor candidate) siphoned some votes from Hochul as well. (Also, we’re sure this stunt of Murphy’s hurt Corwin’s election chances too.) Either way, Paul kind of has a personal stake — Jack Kemp, who gave Ryan his first job, long represented this district. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

24 May 2011 23:17

tags

U.S.: Upset: Dem Kathy Hochul wins GOP House seat in special election

The NYT portrayed her win in a conservative NY district as a statement on Paul Ryan’s Medicare plan. They didn’t mention Scott Walker prankster Ian Murphy’s 1 percent of the vote. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 May 2011 14:59

tags

Politics: Rep. Rob Woodall uninterested in woman’s health care woes

  • Hear yourself, ma’am. Hear yourself. You want the government to take care of you, because your employer decided not to take care of you. My question is, ‘When do I decide I’m going to take care of me?
  • Rep. Rob Woodall • Responding to a constituent who opposes Paul Ryan’s plan to end Medicare as a guaranteed program, on the basis that her employer doesn’t offer medical benefits to retirees. Woodall’s response gets credit for exactly one thing, which is that it would seem to be an honest answer. However, that honesty underscores the callous hand-washing inherent to the Ryan plan that’s made it such a lightning rod for criticism. The basic premise of what Woodall and this constituent said to each other was “I can’t get medical coverage in this scenario,” to which Woodall essentially replied, “well, sorry, not my job.” This is, it seems to us, not hyperbolic, but the core subtext of Paul Ryan’s plan, and the incredibly callous nature of it is what’s handed the Democrats one of their signature, winning issues back to them on a shiny silver platter. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 May 2011 10:33

tags

Politics: Shocker: Scott Brown doesn’t support the Paul Ryan Medicare plan

  • Thumbs-up to photo ops, thumbs-down to the Ryan plan. Sen. Scott Brown got into office largely on the promise he’d vote against the health care bill. Since then, he’s followed a strongly moderate path, reaching out to the other side of the aisle more than any other GOP senator. So, it’s with that in mind that you should read the op-ed Brown wrote for Politico, which claims that Medicare has already been weakened by Obamacare, and that at large, the focus should be on removing waste in Medicare. “While I applaud Ryan for getting the conversation started,” he said, “I cannot support his specific plan — and therefore will vote ‘no’ on his budget.” If only Newt Gingrich had this script to read from a week ago. (photo via Flickr user dianezink1021) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
top tags
older >>