Rob Zerban Isn't Afraid To Stand Up To A Rogue Democrat Like Ron Wyden

Over the weekend Paul Krugman gave Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden a name that will probably stick for the rest of his career, useful idiot. He and Ezra Klein explained how Wyden gave "cover to the fundamental fallacy of right-wing attempts to dismantle Medicare: the claim that market competition is the key to reducing health care costs." That's been proven demonstrably false and Wyden should know better. In fact Wyden does know better.

Patients by and large don’t have the information to evaluate medical treatments; in any case, they mainly buy insurance rather than medical care directly; and insurers profit not by providing the most cost-effective care, but by trying to insure people who won’t need care.

And it’s not as if market competition hasn’t been given a try; in this country it has been tried over and over, by politicians who won’t take no for an answer.

Oh, and if someone starts talking about how the Affordable Care Act relies on private insurers, give me a break; the reason the ACA works the way it does is the raw power of the insurance industry, which forced advocates of universal coverage to settle for an inferior system. I still think that deal was worth doing, but there’s no reason to take Medicare, which does it right-- or at least closer to right-- and degrade it into a worse system.

So why would anyone who isn’t a right-wing ideologue propose that kind of degradation? Inquiring minds want to know.

I don't know any progressives who aren't hopping mad at Wyden, who has always put his own career calculus ahead of principles, or ahead of what's best for his constituents and America. But most people, unlike Krugman, are biting their tongues and hoping Wyden's lamebrained Medicare publicity stunt with Paul Ryan just quietly self-destructs. Rob Zerban, the Democrat taking on Ryan next year-- whose meteoric rise in the polls has Ryan reconsidering his plan to kill Medicare-- is hopping mad at Wyden for throwing Ryan a lifeline. And he's savvy enough to understand that Wyden's and Ryan's careers are being financed by the same corrupt one-percenters who are intent on dividing up America among themselves. Zerban:

Paul Ryan just announced he is taking a second swing at Medicare! His "new" plan is devastating to Medicare as we know it, but the big difference is that he found one Democrat to help him!

Here is what has been happening-- Paul Ryan has introduced a new plan to start the privatization of Medicare. He convinced a "Democrat," Ron Wyden, to join in this effort. Ron Wyden, like Paul Ryan, has raked in an alarming amount of lobbyist money from the health insurance industry.

Make no mistake-- this is no bipartisan effort! Almost all Democrats, including President Obama, are strongly opposed to this plan.

Here is what the White House Communications Director had to say: [this scheme could] "cause the traditional Medicare program to "wither on the vine" because it would raise premiums, forcing many seniors to leave traditional Medicare and join private plans. It would shift costs from the government to seniors. At the end of the day, this plan would end Medicare as we know if for millions of seniors." You can read the rest here.

It is clear what this plan is designed to do. Both Paul Ryan and Wyden admit that it will likely not save anyone any money! The only upside is a big giveaway to private insurance companies at the expense of our seniors. This is sham bipartisanship and the voters of Wisconsin are not fooled!

Blue America has never endorsed Wyden, of course, and never would. We are, however, working hard to defeat Paul Ryan and replace him with Rob Zerban. We can use more progressives in Congress who aren't afraid to publicly call out a lousy Democrat like Wyden who oversteps his bounds in the war against the American people. If you'd like to help, you can do so here at the Stop Paul Ryan page.