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Are you old enough to remember when it was “morning in America?” In those halcyon days, Ronald Reagan was as much pitchman as president. He made a smiley face the symbol of the Republican Party. Those dour bookkeepers of the Grand Old Party were forced to toss away their green eyeshades and put on party hats. With a genial smile, Reagan made Americans feel good. He wasn’t the smartest leader, but he could sense that after the doom and gloom of the Carter Years, America needed a pep talk.
When did the Republican Party stop believing in this country? When did morning end in America? Just take a look at the vision of their super whiz-kid, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, the 41-year-old Wisconsin Republican since 1999. Last week he unveiled his party’s proposed 2012-and-beyond budget — one that is supposed to set our country on the course to fiscal sanity. Put aside the fact many financial analysts think his balancing act is all smoke and mirrors. What I find compelling is how dark the Republicans believe the future is for America.
Understand that Republicans have always wanted to get rid of Medicare. Even Reagan became Gloomy Gus when he talked about it warning Medicare was “socialized medicine” and would cost Americans their freedom. The problem for the Republicans has been that older Americans love Medicare. Even Tea Party nuts carry signs, “Don’t Touch My Medicare.” How could Republicans curry favor with voters and still get rid of Medicare? For years they have lain in wait for an opportunity, and with the deficit getting the public’s attention, they are ready to seize the moment.
For the Republicans, the budget deficit is not so much a danger, but an opportunity. The deficit provides a convenient cover for dismantling Medicare. Ryan proposes to replace Medicare with a voucher system, which is akin to Bush’s attempt to privatize Social Security by turning it into a 401(k). After the Wall Street disaster, Republicans stopped talking about privatization because they couldn’t convince the average American to trust Wall Street with their nest egg. The same marketplace vagaries should make seniors shopping for medical care with a voucher wary.
If you love your health insurance company with all the deductibles, co-pays, rising premiums and denial of claims, just imagine how much you’ll love it when you’re 80 and living under Ryan’s plan. His solution gives political cynicism a bad name since anyone 55 or older would be exempt. Guess who is behind his plan? The private health insurance lobby.
Wonder how Ryan likely came up with the exemption? Hint: Which age group has the highest percentage of voters on Election Day? Bingo. If you, like me, fall into that category, your Medicare will remain the same. Uncle Nunzi was ready to storm Washington until he heard he would be exempt. When Uncle heard the good news, he got back on the couch and resumed watching wrestling.
If you, like Uncle Nunzi, were calmed by this news, please think again if you love the younger folks in your family. Ryan Care will apply to your kids and grandkids, who will have the privilege of paying through the nose to keep you covered under the old system, but will not have your Medicare when they become seniors. I thought it was cynical when Republicans pitted private sector workers against their public sector brethren, but they have breathlessly reached new heights. In effect, they are now pitting seniors against their own kids and grandkids.
The Republicans are wagering if replacing Medicare with a voucher system doesn’t affect you, then you won’t give a damn about it affecting anyone else. They are gambling you are the same person who doesn’t feel he should pay school taxes because he no longer has kids in the education system. In short, Ryan is betting his political career and the future of the Republican Party on your selfishness.
Here is the kicker. Most non-partisan financial experts say Ryan’s plan does not have a method of reducing medical care costs, and still leaves a third of Americans without medical insurance. Guess what does? The Affordable Care Act, scorned by Republicans as “Obamacare.”
The act, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, will cut medical costs by $210 billion and increase coverage from 83 to 95 percent of Americans. The Republicans want to repeal it.
The Ryan plan aims to cut costs by cutting your coverage or not including you as covered. And it sells itself to America by exempting those who would yell the most if affected.
Republicans often pay homage to Reagan, but they have changed his message from all things are possible in America to we can’t afford it in America. Their vision is one where the middle class and the poor are exposed to the cruelties of the marketplace without a safety net.
In Ryan’s America, it is no longer morning and nightfall is descending quickly. SPR
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