By William L. Garvin
By all estimates, the Medicare trust fund will be exhausted within ten years. Given the huge numbers of retiring Baby Boomers, it is likely that the end will come sooner than estimated. Despite the political risk, Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) submitted a budget proposal that addressed this problem. What did we get from the Donkey Party? A commercial!
Rather than addressing the impending demise of Medicare, the Donkeys brayed their usual ad hominem attack, misstated the Ryan proposals, and made a commercial. In it, they had a Ryan look-alike pushing a struggling grandma in a wheelchair up a mountain where he predictably threw her over the cliff. That’s what passes for intelligent political discourse in the corrals of the Donkey Party.
I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that the Dems don’t have any substantive solutions to the Medicare dilemma. After nearly 800 days, they still haven’t submitted a budget proposal and Harry Reid does not seem inclined to do so. The President’s feeble offering was rejected by a 97-0 vote; he couldn’t even get a single Donkey vote! Also keep in mind that ObamaCare was funded by the Obama-Reid-Pelosi combine by cutting Medicare by $500 billion in “waste and fraud.” Why didn’t we see commercials of Pelosi and Reid throwing Grandma off the cliff? Maybe it’s because it boggles the imagination to even consider the diminutive Nevada waif pushing an empty wheel chair up a hill, let alone one containing a struggling senior citizen.
Another of their ad hominem attacks is to mock the “death panel” phrase that was popularized by Sarah Palin. When will you Donkeys explain exactly how the Independent Payment Advisory Board is a) constitutional and b) not a potential death panel? You passed it so explain it. This atrocity of ObamaCare is specifically chartered to contain costs by promoting “efficiencies.” Given the presidential appointees’ predilection for “comparative lives systems” (rationing) and their charter to determine which procedures will be authorized, how much physicians will be compensated, and whether or not hospitals can continue to participate by having “reduced spending,” expect the current exodus of physicians from Medicare and Medicaid to become a flood of Biblical proportions!
Donkeys will attack the Ryan budget proposal. They will not offer one of their own. Donkeys will attack the Ryan Medicare proposal. They will not offer one of their own. Donkeys will say they have “saved or created” 2.5 million jobs; the Bureau of Labor Statistics says this Administration has lost 2.5 million jobs. Donkeys will tout the economic recovery when there is no such thing. Donkeys will ignore the fact that nearly 15% of the country is on food stamps. Donkeys will ignore the fact that there is over 9% unemployment. Donkeys will lie about the success of Government Motors and the pathetic Volt.
Don’t expect any substantive problem solving from the Donkey Party because they think this is a winning strategy. Their template was made clear in the New York 26 race. Republican Chris Lee resigned after posting a shirtless photo and sexy message on Craigslist (take a lesson Anthony Weiner!). Then the deep pockets Democrat Kathy Hochul mercilessly misrepresented the Ryan plan and lied about Republicans ending Medicare with no replacement. Furthermore, Jack Davis (who had run for the office three times as a Democrat!) spent $3 million of his “own” money to pretend to run as a Tea Party candidate. It is clear that the Ruling Class has no sense of decency or fair play in their ruthless quest to retain power at any cost. Davis, a big government, big spending liberal, pulled enough votes away from the Republican candidate to toss the election to the Donkey. Now they have a national game plan. If they have enough voters who are too ignorant to look at the facts or the history of the candidates, they can elect even a radical politician who intends to fundamentally transform America and who thinks government has all the answers. It happened in 2008 and it can happen again.
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