Romney Comes Out For Destroying Medicare, Etc

Yeah, that's Willard front and center

The innocuous-sounding Americans For Prosperity is a Koch family front group advocating a fascist takeover of America. Virtually all of it's millions comes from various Koch-controlled organizations. It provided much of the money that turned the Tea Party into a faux-populist Koch policy arm and it embraces right-wing dirty tricks and criminal activities to further its fascist agenda. Friday the excuse for a mainstream moderate, Mitt Romney showed up at the DC headquarters to pay obeisance. And he told the Koch operatives exactly what they wanted to hear-- that he's all on board their plan to destroy, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Although some right-wing fanatics labeled his proposals "vague" and pointed out that the country's most flip-floppin'-est politician has left some critical details out, "politically, the plan allows Romney to justly claim that he is helping to lead the fight against runaway health-care spending. And that, in turn, may help Romney get a second look from the skeptical Republican base."

Romney's plan to kill Social Security comes in steps: "for the next generation of retirees, we should slowly raise the retirement age.  And, finally, for the next generation of retirees, we should slow the growth in benefits for those with higher incomes.” His plan for Medicare is to block grant it to the states, obviously catastrophic for minorities and poor people in the Old Confederacy and the other backward regions of the country, or anywhere that elects Republican governors and legislatures. His Medicare plan is basically Paul Ryan plus an ineffective right-wing version of the public option. And, of course, Wall Street's pet congressman lovesit. Ayn Rand's number one disciple of selfishness in the House was positive effusive! "Look at what he put out! This is a great development. It shows that the elusive adult conversation is taking place, but all on one side... This tracks perfectly with the House budget.” Romney:

While President Obama has been silent on Social Security, his agenda for Medicare is disastrous.  He’s the only president in modern history who has cut Medicare for seniors-- do not forget, it was President Obama who cut $500 billion from Medicare, not to preserve it or sustain it, but to pay for his vaunted Obamacare. And he put the future of Medicare in the hands of 15 unelected bureaucrats.  These bureaucrats have the power to enact further cuts to Medicare without congressional approval, even if those cuts overturn a law previously passed by Congress.  President Obama’s so-called Medicare reforms could lead to the rationing or denial of care for seniors on Medicare.

Unlike President Obama, our next president must protect Medicare, improve the program, and keep it sustainable for generations to come.  Several principles will guide my efforts.
First, Medicare should not change for anyone in the program or soon to be in it.  We should honor our commitments to our seniors.

Second, as with Social Security, tax hikes are not the solution.  We couldn’t tax our way out of unfunded liabilities so large, even if we wanted to.

Third, tomorrow’s seniors should have the freedom to choose what their health coverage looks like.  Younger Americans today, when they turn 65, should have a choice between traditional Medicare and other private healthcare plans that provide at least the same level of benefits. Competition will lower costs and increase the quality of healthcare for tomorrow’s seniors.

The federal government will help seniors pay for the option they choose, with a level of support that ensures all can obtain the coverage they need.  Those with lower incomes will receive more generous assistance.  Beneficiaries can keep the savings from less expensive options, or they can choose to pay more for a costlier plan.

Finally, as with Social Security, the eligibility age should slowly increase to keep pace with increases in longevity.

These ideas will give tomorrow’s seniors the same kinds of choices that most Americans have in their healthcare today.  The future of Medicare should be marked by competition, choice, and innovation-- rather than bureaucracy, stagnation, and bankruptcy. Our path for the future of Social Security and Medicare is honesty and security, theirs is demagoguery and deception.

And, as the new Pew study of generation voting shows, the Silent Generation-- angry, bigoted old people in their 60's, 70's and 80's, will be firmly behind Romney next year. These are the people who are angry about Social Security and Medicare.

[T]he Silent generation-- whose members reached adulthood between the late 1940s and early 1960s and now make up over 80% of Americans age 65 and older-- has held relatively conservative views on social issues and the role of government for most of their lives. Their growing unease, and even anger, about the direction of the country in recent years has moved them further toward the GOP, largely erasing the Democratic Party’s advantage in affiliation.

...Silents-- particularly those who affiliate with or lean to the Republican Party-- are far more engaged in the presidential campaign than they were at this point in the contest four years ago. While Silents support Romney over Obama by a wide margin, they express highly unfavorable views of both the GOP and the Democratic Party.

Silents prefer the Republican Party on most issues, with Social Security a notable exception. Silents are about evenly divided over whether the Democrats or the Republicans can better handle Social Security. If debate over Social Security and Medicare comes to the forefront, it raises potentially significant cross pressures for Silent generation voters, who rank Social Security among the top issues affecting their 2012 vote.

...Silents increasingly call themselves conservative and they hold the most consistently conservative views about government, social issues and America’s place in the world. Unlike other generations that in recent years have become more supportive of smaller government, they have held conservative views about government for years.

Today, an overwhelming majority of Silents are either angry or frustrated with government. They are the generation that is most strongly disapproving of Barack Obama, for whom a majority did not vote. Silents also are the most politically energized generation, as they demonstrated in the 2010 midterms.

More often than the younger generations, Silents take the American exceptionalist view that the United States is the greatest nation in the world. But fewer older people than young people think that “America’s best days are ahead of us.”

The political discontent of the Silent generation is not economically based. A greater proportion of Silents than younger people say they are financially satisfied, and Silents are less likely to say they often do not have enough money to make ends meet.

Race is a factor in their political attitudes. Silents are the whitest of the generations and are the least accepting of the new face of America. Compared with younger generations, relatively few Silents see racial intermarriage and the growing population of immigrants as changes for the better.

As was the case in 2008, racial attitudes are associated with views of Obama and voting intentions. And while there is racial intolerance in all generations, it is more prevalent among older than younger age groups.

While Silent generation voters say they are solidly behind Obama’s Republican challengers, there are some signs of potential opportunity for the Democrats. Silents cite Social Security as often as they name jobs as their top voting issue. And while seniors tend to favor the Republican Party on most issues, they are as likely to favor the Democrats as Republicans on Social Security.