Political Curiosities

[dgs49]

Well, based on the roaring silence (other than rubato's idiotic suggestion about the minimum wage) in response to my question about the Democrats' plans for creating jobs, I think it is fair to say that the Democrats have no plan for improving the private sector employment picture - at least as far as those Libs who post here are aware. I think it should be clear by now that Barry & the Progressives were depending on the normal recovery after a recession, so that they would be able to point to an improving economy this year as a reason to vote to re-elect this President. Now, they actually have no talking points on the economy other than blatant distortions of reality ("...the private sector is doing fine!").

But there is something else that is troubling me about the national Democrat Party: They similarly have NO PLAN to address the tandem train-wrecks of Medicare and Social Security.

It is universally known, without any dispute whatsoever, that neither Social Security nor Medicare are sustainable in their present form. They MUST be structurally changed. Both will be annihilated by demographics, and Medicare will additionally be pummelled by the costs of advancing technology and its effects on longevity.

Ignoring the politics of the matter, there are some solutions to both programs that might be proposed. Eliminate the cap on FICA contributions, means test benefits, raise the retirement age, expand the VA health system for universal use. All are politically "sensitive," and I don't think anybody expects any truly bold proposals by anyone running for re-election this year.

But the Democrats are completely AWOL on these issues. The Senate, which is required by law to present a budget each year, has - under the leadership of Harry "Light-Brain" Reid - refused to submit one for three years, because submitting a budget going forward would require that Medicare and SS be addressed. The President's budgets make no serious attempt to address the critical issues, and have been rejected by both parties in Congress, almost unanimously.

And yet rank and file DEMOCRATS (like the people who post here) give them a pass. They allow them to propose NOTHING, and simply wait for any Republican to propose ANYTHING, so that that Republican can be castigated as stealing Granny's pension or health care or killing her doctor, or whatever.

Paul Ryan's modest proposals to reform Medicare were BI-PARTISAN, not particularly controversial, and certainly not "conservative." They would affect no one under 55 years of age, and allow everyone else AT LEAST ten years to plan for their own medical care and coverage in retirement, based on plans that might be created by state governments, the federal government, or the private sector independently. And yet we see these modest proposals intentionally characterized in an inflammatory way, in a blatant and false attempt to frighten people who are currently relying on their Medicare coverage.

So I ask you libs, have you lost the ability to be embarrassed by those who represent you? Are you content to be represented (and to vote for) people who are so cowardly that they refuse even to address the most pressing economic issues of our generation? Or are you so (a) brain dead that you think "everything with be fine," or so (b) partisan that you simply don't care what the Democrats do or fail to do, as long as they remain in office?

It is a puzzle to me.

[Big RR]

so are you saying Romney has embraced Ryan's position in this regard? And the repubs as a whole? I hadn't heard. Somehow I thought they would have had problems forcing the people to buy medicare insurance on the private market--after all they went to court over Obamacare on the same issue.

[Sue U]

Well, based on the roaring silence (other than rubato's idiotic suggestion about the minimum wage) in response to my question about the Democrats' plans for creating jobs, I think it is fair to say that the Democrats have no plan for improving the private sector employment picture - at least as far as those Libs who post here are aware. I think it should be clear by now that Barry & the Progressives were depending on the normal recovery after a recession, so that they would be able to point to an improving economy this year as a reason to vote to re-elect this President. Now, they actually have no talking points on the economy other than blatant distortions of reality ("...the private sector is doing fine!").

That's pretty disingenuous, and patently false, since the information is readily available to anyone who actually cares to look. But that obviously does not include you.

Paul Ryan's modest proposals to reform Medicare were BI-PARTISAN, not particularly controversial, and certainly not "conservative."

Bwahahahahahahahahaha! Ryan's plan is a radical scheme to do away with Medicare entirely and instead funnel government money to insurance companies through a "voucher" system that guarantees no one actual coverage, nor does it do anything at all to control medical costs. It is not "bi-partisan" in the least and elicited a giant shitstorm of protest when he proposed it a year and a half ago (or don't you remember the commercial featuring Granny in her wheelchair being pushed off a cliff?).

So I ask you libs, have you lost the ability to be embarrassed by those who represent you? Are you content to be represented (and to vote for) people who are so cowardly that they refuse even to address the most pressing economic issues of our generation? Or are you so (a) brain dead that you think "everything with be fine," or so (b) partisan that you simply don't care what the Democrats do or fail to do, as long as they remain in office?

It is a puzzle to me.

There is plenty I dislike about the way this Administration has handled any number of issues. (And I regularly let Barry, my congressional represenative and my Senators know it.) But that hardly means I'd be willing to vote for the sheer lunacy of the GOP.