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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRepublicans Trap Themselves On Medicare, Social Security
Republicans Trap Themselves On Medicare, Social Security
Congressional Republicans' complicated -- and sometimes contradictory -- positions on safety-net programs like Medicare and Social Security have put the party in a tough predicament...The House GOP passed its sweeping vision by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to remake the federal budget in March of 2011, 2012 and 2013. But this year, a swath of election-year attacks adopted by Republicans have narrowed their policy space to write a viable budget.
Republicans have launched a party-wide attack blitz against Democrats over payment cuts to private insurers under Medicare Advantage, which covers one-third of Medicare beneficiaries. The savings were enacted under Obamacare, then included in the Ryan budgets for each of the last three years. Nearly all Republicans voted for them.
Instead of using the money to finance Obamacare, Republicans used the roughly $150 billion in savings to help cover the cost of their tax cuts and meet their deficit reduction targets. (The Medicare cuts to providers and insurers under Obamacare total about $700 billion.) Without them, it'd be harder to make the numbers add up...Then there's Social Security. Republican leaders have been attacking President Barack Obama for rescinding a provision in his budget to cut future benefits. "This reaffirms what has become all too apparent: the president has no interest in doing anything, even modest, to address our looming debt crisis," said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Speaker John Boehner (R-OH).
Notably, the provision -- known as Chained CPI, which slows the rate of inflation for benefits -- was not included in any of the GOP's own budgets, none of which touched Social Security. But if it's a mere modest step toward avoid a debt crisis, as they now say, Republicans would have a tough time justifying excluding it from their budget....if they do take up the policy, Republicans would make themselves vulnerable to attacks for seeking to cut the highly popular retirement program. Democrats would pounce, and the attacks could be especially damaging among elderly voters, who vote in large numbers and tend to prefer Republicans...It's a lose-lose predicament that reflects the GOP's competing interests on Medicare and Social Security. Their wealthy donors are eager to scale back these programs, but millions of their constituents benefit from them and voters broadly oppose any cuts. At the same time, Republicans often can't resist using the specter of cuts as a political weapon.
- more -
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/house-republicans-predicament-budget
Congressional Republicans' complicated -- and sometimes contradictory -- positions on safety-net programs like Medicare and Social Security have put the party in a tough predicament...The House GOP passed its sweeping vision by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to remake the federal budget in March of 2011, 2012 and 2013. But this year, a swath of election-year attacks adopted by Republicans have narrowed their policy space to write a viable budget.
Republicans have launched a party-wide attack blitz against Democrats over payment cuts to private insurers under Medicare Advantage, which covers one-third of Medicare beneficiaries. The savings were enacted under Obamacare, then included in the Ryan budgets for each of the last three years. Nearly all Republicans voted for them.
Instead of using the money to finance Obamacare, Republicans used the roughly $150 billion in savings to help cover the cost of their tax cuts and meet their deficit reduction targets. (The Medicare cuts to providers and insurers under Obamacare total about $700 billion.) Without them, it'd be harder to make the numbers add up...Then there's Social Security. Republican leaders have been attacking President Barack Obama for rescinding a provision in his budget to cut future benefits. "This reaffirms what has become all too apparent: the president has no interest in doing anything, even modest, to address our looming debt crisis," said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Speaker John Boehner (R-OH).
Notably, the provision -- known as Chained CPI, which slows the rate of inflation for benefits -- was not included in any of the GOP's own budgets, none of which touched Social Security. But if it's a mere modest step toward avoid a debt crisis, as they now say, Republicans would have a tough time justifying excluding it from their budget....if they do take up the policy, Republicans would make themselves vulnerable to attacks for seeking to cut the highly popular retirement program. Democrats would pounce, and the attacks could be especially damaging among elderly voters, who vote in large numbers and tend to prefer Republicans...It's a lose-lose predicament that reflects the GOP's competing interests on Medicare and Social Security. Their wealthy donors are eager to scale back these programs, but millions of their constituents benefit from them and voters broadly oppose any cuts. At the same time, Republicans often can't resist using the specter of cuts as a political weapon.
- more -
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/house-republicans-predicament-budget
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Republicans Trap Themselves On Medicare, Social Security (Original Post)
ProSense
Feb 2014
OP
elleng
(131,018 posts)1. and without repug help, Federal Deficit Falls to Smallest Level Since 2008.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)2. Republicans have nothing to offer except hate and lies. n/t
elleng
(131,018 posts)3. Its true, of course,
but Dems haven't figured out how to counter it productively.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)4. Here's an interesting piece:
Unpopular parties can still prevail
By Steve Benen
The latest New York Times/CBS News poll offers Democrats some good news and some bad news. Its worth pausing to appreciate how the former affects the latter.
First, consider the news Dems will be eager to hear. The public generally agrees with Democrats on the major issues of the day immigration, minimum wage, health care, and marriage equality and on more general topics such as compromise, economic inequality, how best to reduce the deficit, and the value of social-insurance programs like Medicare and Social Security. The same poll found Democrats are more popular than Republicans and more in line with voters priorities.
Then consider the news Democrats wont like at all.
I imagine Democratic officials would find this quite frustrating. They enjoy the edge on pretty much every possible question, right up until poll respondents were asked who they intend to vote for and the answer is, the more unpopular party, which the mainstream disagrees with on nearly everything, is the one with more support...it leads to a fairly obvious question: if Republicans are more unpopular; voters disagree with them on nearly everything; the GOP has no accomplishments or agenda to speak of; and theyre responsible for the ridiculous government shutdown just a few months ago, how is it that they have the edge over Democrats when it comes to the midterm elections?
The obvious answer is that voting isnt always rational trying to make sense of folks political decision-making process can be an incredibly frustrating experience, regardless of party or ideology...more substantively, looking at this new poll in particular, theres also reason to believe voters are unsatisfied with the status quo and theyre blaming President Obama even if they agree with him on the issues that matter most; even if its congressional Republicans blocking the policy agenda the American mainstream wants to see implemented.
This has long been part of the GOP calculus. Many voters have no real sense of how federal policymaking works and have no use for things like filibusters or discharge petitions. Much of the country has no idea whos in the majority of which chamber and/or whether theres a division of power...What they do know is that Washington is a dysfunctional mess in which nothing is getting done. The American mainstream may not know who, exactly, to blame and why, but they seem inclined to blame the president because, well, hes the president.
- more -
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/unpopular-parties-can-still-prevail
By Steve Benen
The latest New York Times/CBS News poll offers Democrats some good news and some bad news. Its worth pausing to appreciate how the former affects the latter.
First, consider the news Dems will be eager to hear. The public generally agrees with Democrats on the major issues of the day immigration, minimum wage, health care, and marriage equality and on more general topics such as compromise, economic inequality, how best to reduce the deficit, and the value of social-insurance programs like Medicare and Social Security. The same poll found Democrats are more popular than Republicans and more in line with voters priorities.
Then consider the news Democrats wont like at all.
Those stances among voters have not translated into support for the presidents party, as 42 percent say they will back Republicans in November, and 39 percent indicate that they will back Democrats, a difference within the polls margin of sampling error.
I imagine Democratic officials would find this quite frustrating. They enjoy the edge on pretty much every possible question, right up until poll respondents were asked who they intend to vote for and the answer is, the more unpopular party, which the mainstream disagrees with on nearly everything, is the one with more support...it leads to a fairly obvious question: if Republicans are more unpopular; voters disagree with them on nearly everything; the GOP has no accomplishments or agenda to speak of; and theyre responsible for the ridiculous government shutdown just a few months ago, how is it that they have the edge over Democrats when it comes to the midterm elections?
The obvious answer is that voting isnt always rational trying to make sense of folks political decision-making process can be an incredibly frustrating experience, regardless of party or ideology...more substantively, looking at this new poll in particular, theres also reason to believe voters are unsatisfied with the status quo and theyre blaming President Obama even if they agree with him on the issues that matter most; even if its congressional Republicans blocking the policy agenda the American mainstream wants to see implemented.
This has long been part of the GOP calculus. Many voters have no real sense of how federal policymaking works and have no use for things like filibusters or discharge petitions. Much of the country has no idea whos in the majority of which chamber and/or whether theres a division of power...What they do know is that Washington is a dysfunctional mess in which nothing is getting done. The American mainstream may not know who, exactly, to blame and why, but they seem inclined to blame the president because, well, hes the president.
- more -
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/unpopular-parties-can-still-prevail
Yup, it's about what voters know, and they're being fed a lot of misinformation. The majority of voters agree with Democrats on policy, but the GOP media shills tell them constantly that both sides are at fault. The pundits love to push false equivalencies, and they know Republicans benefit from it.
I mean, Republicans are the ones obstructing, but then they turn around and complain loudly about the problems created in the aftermath of their obstruction.
Reminds me of this Krugman piece from 2012:
Obstruct and Exploit
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/opinion/krugman-obstruct-and-exploit.html