"Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds

"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg

"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"

“If I hear ‘not allowed’ much oftener,” said Sam, “I’m going to get angry.” -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings

Friday, December 02, 2016

Looks Like Not Everyone's on Board

Paul Ryan and the teabaggers want to repeal Obamacare and gut Medicare as quickly as possible, before there's time for opponents to get their act together. Lamar Alexander is the second Republican I've seen saying "chill a minute."

A senior U.S. Senate Republican warned his party on Thursday against simultaneously overhauling Medicare and the Obamacare health insurance program, saying this would be “biting off more than you can chew.”

The cautionary comments from Senator Lamar Alexander came after House Speaker Paul Ryan, long an advocate of privatize Medicare, said Republican lawmakers would be discussing reforms of the health insurance program for the elderly with President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.

Ryan's claims about Medicare are pretty much standard GOP alarmist bullshit:

Ryan earlier Thursday said that Medicare was on a path to going bankrupt around 2028, and needed reform, a repeat of his long-standing stance. He wants to convert the fee-for-service program into a system of subsidies for seniors, to buy coverage from private insurers or a scaled-back Medicare.

I'm inclined to take his warnings about insolvency with a grain of salt, at least, seeing as how he can't submit a budget proposal in which the numbers actually add up.

Just as a reminder, anyone remember the backlash when Bush the Lesser tried to privatize Social Security? Not pretty.

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