As Republicans target America's social safety net, a top Democrat is now urging colleagues to join the fight, describing Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security as "winners."
Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Co-Chair of the House Task Force on Seniors, spoke with reporters today to mark the 47th anniversary of Medicare. She said, "If everybody took a deep breath and looked at the reality of how this is going to help them and their families, this is a great issue for us to campaign on."
Schakowsky is spot on. And it's refreshing to see at least some Democrats paying attention to the intriguing special election results last month in Arizona. Democrat Ron Barber focused hard on protecting social programs and easily fended off a strong Republican challenge in the swing district previously represented by Democratic Congresswoman Gabby Giffords.
The backbone emerging in the Democratic Party comes at an important time. It was 47 years ago this week when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare into law. The legislation represented a monumental leap forward in how Americans treated one another. At the time, half of seniors did not have any health insurance. And those seniors who did have insurance paid three times what younger people paid for their care despite having, on average, just half as much income.
This week, in honor of Medicare's birthday, a coalition of 300 national and state organizations known as the Strengthen Social Security campaign announced the release of a new series of reports, "Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid Work for America." The reports show the clear value and benefits these programs provide in every state, as well as the raw numbers and demographics of people whose lives have literally been saved thanks to America's social safety net.
Thankfully, the "Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid Work for America" reports aren't getting overlooked. The data are being released in over a dozen states where seniors' groups, such as the Alliance for Retired Americans, have events planned in honor of Medicare's birthday, including in the election battlegrounds of Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Reports for the remainder of the 50 states and the District of Columbia will be released on or before Social Security's 77th birthday on Aug. 14. "These are issues that should be front and center in Democratic campaigns," said Schakowsky. "Republicans want to weaken or end all three programs.
Schakowsky insists that running as defenders of Medicare and Social Security does not contradict the politically popular message of fiscal responsibility. "Social Security ... everyone acknowledges has absolutely nothing to do with the deficit," she noted.
On Medicare, Schakowsky urged Democrats to tout the cost-saving Medicare reforms in the Affordable Care Act as evidence of fiscal responsibility that also improves the quality of and access to health care. "We made many improvements in Medicare that are going to save lots of money, something the Republicans do not want to acknowledge," she said. "This is a golden moment for people to take another look at the new health care proposals that are done under the Affordable Care Act." Indeed, the ACA makes prescription drugs more affordable for seniors and allows preventative care without co-pays, just one of the many crucial improvements that will also save the system money.
And yet, many Democrats are still convinced that electoral success requires a "grand bargain" with Republicans on social programs, such as the "Simpson-Bowles" plan. I don't think it's an election winner to embrace cutting Social Security benefits for today's young and middle-aged Americans by 19 percent, as Simpson-Bowles would do, according to estimates by the Chief Actuary of the Social Security Administration. And never mind the cuts to younger Americans -- the plan would also cut the Social Security COLA (cost-of-living adjustment) for current beneficiaries through the adoption of the chained CPI (consumer price index).
Congresswoman Schakowsky was a member of the Simpson-Bowles Commission and voted against the co-chairs' plan. She knows that it would be bad policy to cut Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare, and even worse politics. Democrats should follow her lead: Instead of running away from Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, they should run toward the programs and vow to protect them. It's an approach that will win in November and strengthen our society.
Follow David Shuster on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@davidshuster
Sen. Harry Reid: Republicans Renew War on Women
 |
 |
|
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral Votes (270 to win) |
332 | 206 |
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 65,899,660 | 60,932,152 |
| Percent | 51.1% | 47.2% |
| Democrats* | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Senate | 53 | 47 |
| Seats gained or lost | +2 | -2 |
| New Total | 55 | 45 |
| Democrats | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats won | 201 | 234 |
Congress and the American people will have to make a choice. Medicare’s current course is disastrous, for seniors and taxpayers alike. There are finite resources available to reverse the current course, but the faster that policymakers act, the less difficult the task will be.
There is a better alternative. That alternative rests in harnessing the market forces of choice and competition, and making them the centerpiece of reform, while targeting aid to those who need it most.
http://www.medicarealabama.com/
Medicare and Medigap keep a lid on the charges we have to pay for medical care except for prescriptions. They cannot bid for lower prices for medicine needed by the elderly in Medicare.
They can raise the amount of payroll taxes a few pennies and solve the problems if they also force the drug companies to bid on purchases by Medicare patients.
It is improving. This year you pay half of the cost of Brand Name drugs when you get in the doughnut hole. I don't know who pays the other half. If government is paying the other half from Medicare, it will soon bankrupt Medicare.
The money was also used to find fraud in Medicare.
It is so clear that the Medical insurance and big pharma owns congress and many of our lawmakers.
You're telling Democrats (the "neo" Democrats, that is) not to be Democrats! The neo-Democrats (Clinton, Obama, et al) are all about whacking what's left of the American Safety Net. The main difference between the neo-Democrats and Republicans is that the neo-Democrats do it sneakily, usually blaming Republicans for their never-ending 'helplessness' to do anything to help the average American. Obama has been on a crusade since the day he took office to seriously undermine both Social Security and Medicare and put them on the path to privatization - same as Romney! - per the wishes of his corporate benefactors - in particular, the right-wing hedge-fund billionaire Pete Peterson, whom Obama made the keynote speaker at his 2009 Fiscal "Responsibility" Summit. Peterson wants to do away with SS altogether and is richly rewarding those like Obama who help him in his quest. Obama has already let slip out that he will continue his quest even more vigorously should he be re-elected.
He is a little less threatening. I am very aware of what he does and I don't like a lot of it.
Good one, doodlefer!
No system is perfect especially our social services. But where do you draw the line? Mix a little of Romney and a lot of Obama into the system and maybe we would have a better system. Add one more idea into the mix and start educating the people that having more children then they can afford would be a start, add birth control and nutrition would be a big help. The number of families receiving Medicare would be better spent on education to reduce the propensity for large families.
1. Health insurance premiums double every few years. THIS IS FACT.
2. Medicare payroll taxes (which is the premium) hasn't gone up in ages.
3. FACT: If Health insurance premium increases were as low as Medicare tax increases (virtualy non existent), health insurance would be dead.
So tell me Mr and Mrs (very bad at math) Republicans: Please TELL ME: Why are you OK with health insurance premiums doubling all the time, but you think Medicare is in trouble when there are no tax (premium) increases?
I think ALL Republicans have it backwards. Health insurance is a scam for fools, while our existing medicare system is 10000% better. Even if we had a slight (oh my god) tax increase (premium increase like health insurance companies do yearly), medicare would be solvent for years.
This is so friggin simple, even a tea partier should understand it.
Furthermore, how can we continue as a nation if this problem is not regulated so we can all be proud to pay our taxes knowing that our government on all levels is going to take care of the citizens instead of pumping up the arms race and killing people all over the world including a huge percentage of civilians? Planting mines all over the farmlands and forests of the third world while teachers stateside are fired and police are used to suppress freedom of speech is a poor use of our taxes monies. The media is misinforming the people and the corporations are buying elections. Every point you made is brilliant. Why can we see this but government not our leaders?
By allowing the very wealthy to not contribute, by not applying our very good anti-monopoly laws to break up these huge multinationals, by not breaking up the monopoly control of media, and by not revising the ridiculously complex and contradictory tax code we will not get sorted out. This is fixable, but it is a systemic problem, the system needs a humanistically motivated and ethical revision.
SO WHY DO I HEAR SO LITTLE ABOUT THESE THREE SAFETY NETS. What I always hear is cut, cut, cut.
This falls under the category of "duh!" if _anything_ ever did.
The name brand Dems need to get it together and speak for the President, they can't expect him to do it alone against Citizens United attack ads and 24/7 hate radio. The Republicans have Zero to sell policy wise other then anything but Obama, yet none of Dems are exposing this. Ryan's budget to privatize Soc security and Medicare and Medicaid is the perfect target to put the Repubs on the defensive. Add Obama's accomplishments versus Republicans just say no and it's a win win. Wake up Plouf and Axelrod and recruit Clinton and Gore and Kerry and Dean etc to attack.