I don’t know about you but the politicians are starting to scare me with their inability to make progress in the federal debt limit discussions. Worse, is the apparent eagerness of some to actually take the government to default to make a political point.I know a lot of conservatives say missing the August 2 deadline isn’t a big deal but I think it is.The 2011 deficit is projected to be $1.6
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Inconvenient Facts for Both Republicans and Democrats—Neither Side’s Health Care Proposals Are Supported By Past Performance
I call your attention to Ezra Klein’s column in the Washington Post this morning.In it he cites data that has been out there for a long time but Ezra puts some perspective on it that never occurred to me before.Examining the Kaiser Family Foundation brief, “Health Care Spending in the United States and Selected OECD Countries” he points out, “Our government spends more [as a percentage of GDP] on
Earth to Republicans: You Are In Big Political Trouble Over the Ryan Medicare Plan
Update: The Wyden-Ryan Medicare Plan - Paul Ryan and Ron Wyden Blow the Medicare Reform Debate Wide Open! It should now be clear to Republicans they are in trouble over the Ryan Medicare plan.Yesterday, they lost a seat in a solid Republican New York House district. Their candidate had benefited from lots of money and House leadership attention. The big issue was the Ryan Medicare plan.All month,
The Lightweight Romney Health Plan
Mitt Romney has outlined his new health plan. He outlined five key steps in an op-ed in USAToday. Here is a summary:Step 1: Give states the responsibility, flexibility and resources to care for citizens who are poor, uninsured or chronically ill.who are poor, uninsured or chronically ill.Step 2: Reform the tax code to promote the individual ownership of health insurance.Step 3: Focus federal
Neither the Republicans Nor the Democrats Want to Face the Provider Cost Problem But Both Want to Dump the Problem on the Consumer
A key piece of Paul Ryan’s deficit reduction plan is to change Medicare as we know it. It appears his bold Medicare premium support proposal is failing to gain traction--it is dead as part of any deficit reduction deal this year. Worse, his Medicare proposal looks to be giving Democrats lots of political ammunition for the 2012 elections.What lies at the heart of Ryan’s Medicare difficulties is
There Aren't Enough Rich People To Pay For Medicare And Medicaid!
I hear more and more of my progressive friends arguing, in the context of deficit reduction, that we should be raising taxes before getting aggressive about reducing the cost of Medicare and Medicaid -- as well as Social Security.To a point, I agree.This country is in such a hole that it is senseless to deny that at least some new taxes will be needed to pay for all of the nation's bailouts and
The Budget Fight: It Will Be A Long Hot Summer, and Fall, and Winter…
The good news is that Democrats and Republicans are finally seriously engaged over the country’s fiscal crisis.And, each side is presenting a starkly different course for the voters to choose from.When it comes to the health care entitlements, Republicans want to cut the health care entitlement benefits and therefore ease the pressure on federal spending.Obama wants to largely leave the programs