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The key Medicare provision in the Paul Ryan budget recently voted for by almost every Republican in the House is profoundly unpopular with the American people, according the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll.
When simply asked whether they wanted Medicare to remain a defined benefits plan or see it changed into a voucher system to buy private insurance, a full 65 percent of Americans said they were opposed to this change, while only 34 percent supported it. After the poll explained that the cost of private insurance would likely rise faster than the value of the vouchers, causing seniors to pay more for insurance (as the CBO says would happen under the House Republican budget), the total opposed jumped to 84 percent.
Just how incredibly unpopular is this major provision of the Republican budget? With 84 percent opposed to it, Ryan’s Medicare voucher program has even less support among the American people than the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act, which the latest KFF poll found 67 percent want repealed.
I was shocked back when Democrats did something as politically stupid as actually taking a party-line vote for health care reform that still contained the mandate so deeply opposed by the American people, but this recent vote on the GOP budget has leads me to believe I’ve vastly overestimated the political savvy of almost every politician in Washington.
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If 84% of American is opposed to the plan the Republicans only need the democrats to roll over as usual and this bill will be touted as bipartisan compromise, and by definition (of hack reporters) a good thing.
Political saavy…Yep, looks like Ryan et al have forgotten the duty to
Re-pre-sent…..They just don’t get it.
Rule #1: The more unpopular it is with voters, the better it is for elected officials.
BC it means the pols will get more campaign contributions from corps. Screw the voters.
It is amazing that they can find even 1% to favor such a proposal. The reality is that probably in a poll asking if a death panel should be created to prevent grandma from collecting any social security or medicare that 20-25% would say yes. So I assume that when a stupid poll like this comes up with 30% or so approval that means there is no support.
Let’s hope the individual mandate to buy only private for-profit health insurance is repealed soon. An individual mandate without a public option is tyranny and welfare for Wall Street and the medical-industrial complex. It was put in at the health industry’s insistence. Most Dems fell for the myth that this was progressive, but Howard Dean pointed out that they have a state single-payer voluntary system in Vermont that is quite popular and so covers almost all of the uninsured at reasonable rates.
But that’s precisely the point. Why would it ever be repealed.
Not to worry. Frank Luntz and Madison Avenue hot shots are working on turning that around.
With every new poll released on just about any topic, it becomes increasingly clear that our elected representatives are bought and paid for by their corporate masters.
Public opinion is simply not a consideration.
Have I recently mentioned how much I loathe the corporate media? Whether it’s print or broadcast a complete disaster but then the Beltway boys and girls have pampered and privileged positions to protect.
It’s just too easy to excoriate the majority of white America for their criminal stupidity, and even worse, it’s just too damn tiresome, so when I see or read public opinion polls, and match it with ballot box results, I shake my head and wonder, “Whose leg is being pulled?”
Therefore, when I remember the ‘odd’ statement uttered by the Congressman from Florida for having said of Republicans, “If you’re going to die, do it quickly” and for me, even the Democrats in Congress have bought into this crappola, especially, when I look at the actualized votes for legislation being considered.
Consequently, “block grants” for states relative to Medicaid, will go out the back door as has the Community Block Grants, and when compared to Reagan’s output, Community Block Grants, have become inconsequential for municipalities, especially, here in Arizona. And as an even better exemplar, the State Legislature crafted one “block grant” and delivered it to the Sheriff of Pinal County ($5 million) to perpetuate the anti-immigration mindset. Furthermore, approved legislation now includes the Governor’s opportunity to establish a “paramilitary army” of gun enthusiasts and the opportunity to create an “Arizona Fence” at the Mexico-USA Border that can supplant or parallel the Fed’s overall efforts, will add additional Shame to Arizona’s sorry reputation.
Moreover, letting the states access fed monies, if not tightly controlled, will lead to utter diaster relative to the economic ambience for Decency. And after reading what is being said, by and about, The Tan Man, Cantor, and Ryan, their collective behavior for attempting to elevate Decency is in a downward trajectory for the political gutter.
Jaango
Yeah the media is a dissapointment but the Democrats are to blame. I have lost all faith that they will do the right thing and stand up for their base and against bad policy.
It’s only a matter of time before USG mandates that the states turn all the money over to private insurance.
The public has to keep tithing to folks like Donald Rumsfeld.
Have you heard what the new Republican governor is doing in Michigan? Taking over “troubled” cities and installing “Emergency Managers” to rule over the communities. Elected bodies in those cities can only approve the “minutes” of council meetings, that is all. Elected officials have been stripped of all power. Power rests solely in the hands of the governor’s appointed czars. It’s a growing industry in Michigan and soon to spread like a cancer throughout the country.
Here’s the problem. The whole scheme is usurious. But people are resistent to fighting it because health care (and therefore, health insurance) is “necessary.” The system will only fully break when the cost becomes unsustainable (which under current circumstances will happen sooner rather than later) and people just HAVE to stop paying the ‘tribute’ because they simply do not have the money. People do not see stopping paying as an option until they are almost bankrupt … but it’s coming. At that point the exploitive scheme will fall apart. Mercifully.
IMOHO: All insurance is a scam … or a gambler’s game (see AIG, 2008).
In the word of Dick Cheney, “So?”
They don’t care what Americans think. They don’t care whether or not it’ll hurt Americans, either.
One instant reason I can think of for such high negativity about the voucher scheme is that people can compare the relative cost of the supplemental insurance to Medicare instantly;
My mother-in-law’s plan is $6k per year with $2k out of pocket = $8k. We know damn good and well that $15k would never ever be sufficient for any primary plan, and so does everybody else.
Medicare vouchers are toxic – Mr. Obama: Are you in?
why the need to be savey when your pockets are being lined by the Koch bros and Pete Peterson?
I agree; plus it would make a great issue for massive civil disobedience:
“We won’t buy your crap private insurance, and we sure as hell won’t pay your fines!”
(a bit long for a bumper sticker, but…. ;o)
OBAMA: Well, medicinecat, while the notion of medicare vouchers is legitimate and its contribution to the discussion is constructive if we’re going to find a way out of this crisis through shared sacrifice, I don’t think it’s right for the country. Yes, we can. Hope. Change.
[Obama exits, supports medicare vouchers behind the scenes, and returns before the cameras in order to sell it as part of "reform."]
Republicans are over-reaching; the pendulum is about to swing the other way
The anti-union, anti-abortions rights, anti-medicare, anti-social security, anti-middle class, anti-science, anti-due process, pro-white-collar crime, pro-war, pro-pollution, flat out crazy, greedy and misanthropic Republican party is about to face a backlash. After they were assumed dead for a generation after the 2008 elections, they got a last gasp as the swing voters (the same simplistic sort who punished Reagan in 1982 for a recession that was not his fault) punished Obama in 2010 for a recession that was not his fault. The Repugnantcans (sic) remember that Reagan bounced back in 1984 when the economy recovered and they are not going to risk that happening in 2012, even though the recovery this time is much, much slower than back then). They are going all-in and appear to be holding a bad hand.
Back in the 1950′s and 1960′s, the Democrats had big majorities in Congress, controlled the White House for most of that time, and the trade unions were at the peak of their power. Those two things (union power/Democrats in power) are very related. However, the unions were not satisfied with success. They reached for excess. Rather than tying wage increases to productivity increases, the unions simply tried to grab too big a piece of the pie. The economy went into a price-wage spiral starting in the late 1960′s that led to high inflation through-out the 1970′s. It also led to a backlash that resulted in anti-union legislation (right-to-work) being passed in many states, especially those in the South. The decline of the unions led to the decline of Democratic power, the ascendancy of Republicans, the concentration of wealth and the decline of the middle class.
By attacking the sacred cows of medicare and social security (that they tried to privatize in 2005), the Repugnantcans have crossed the Rubicon. However, rather than it being the end of the democratic republic and the beginning of their empire, the Republicans will not find Rome but Waterloo.
Greed is a deadly sin.
I’m beginning to see Democrat politicians as even more vile than Repugs. At least Repugs tell you to your face they want to steal your money and kill you. Democrats lure you into electing them, then find the most creative way to screw you without saying it to your face. It’s amazing to watch Obama speak, he’s so seemingly measured and thoughtful, yet you’re looking at a man who’s been cramming his fist up his base’s ass for two and a half years.
Medicare with Vouchers? Hey, that sounds a lot like . . . . Zeke Emanual.
I remembered that clearly, and so do lots of other folks if you google Ryan Medicare vouchers and Emanuel. This article in Forbes is linked to all over the place.
http://blogs.forbes.com/davidwhelan/2011/04/05/paul-ryans-medicare-plan-sounds-just-like-zeke-emanuels-voucher-system/
But, the article puts a devious slant on the comparison – “if you liked it when Zeke Emanual suggested it, why do you hate it when Ryan suggests it?” Ignoring the fact that not everyone loved the Emanuel plan when it came out in the first place PLUS
The author conveniently IGNORES the basic fact that Emanuel (former healthcare reform top poobah at the White House and brother to Rahm “FU” Emanuel)funded the vouchers with a Value Added Tax.
I personally bet that President Obama is more for Medicare vouchers than he presently indicates since it was the brainchild of his own former adviser. How shocked will we all be when he suddenly “compromises” and cedes Medicare vouchers in the future? BOHICA
And he’s still at it. His fist lodged pretty good already, he’s started sending out requests for the American people to send him what little they’ve got left – their nickels and dimes – to help him win in 2012 so he can go on screwing us over and telling us it’s ok. I got my first mailing from his reelection campaign about a week ago. Shameless.
Sadly, he’s done so right by the corporations that they’ll be funding his reelection campaign. How much $ does he have already?
Vile revolting disgusting putrid … just to add my 2 cents worth about the Great Pretender… ;-)
You took the words right out of my typing fingers! The PTB don’t give a shite what the serfs think or feel; we are less than nothing to them.
I no longer pay attention to almost any polls. They full of it. There’s *always* at least 27% (duly noted that it’s always over 25%) who are purported to “agree” with whatever nefarious rip-off scam is being proposed by the egregiously greedy upper 1%. It’s just a joke to even publish polls anymore; waste of time; all made up stuff; meaningless. JMHO, of course…
Yes!
History Channel The Seven Deadly Sins Greed! Time to pour some gold down throats…..lol!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shtxkmb5gt0
We need a Theodore R. or a Thaddeus Stevens.
“I’ve vastly overestimated the political savvy of almost every politician in Washington.”
I am a fan Jon. I read everything you post here. It is with respect that I suggest to you that “political savvy” is a thing of the past. Public opinion doesn’t matter any more. Getting reelected doesn’t matter any more. If a politician loses his/her seat while advancing the interests of the Oligarchs he/she will be taken care of and replaced by another corporatist pol. Arguments between D’s and R’s are more apparent than real. They are political theater. That Obama’s mandate and Ryan’s vouchers are unpopular is irrelevant. What matters is they are the will of the Oligarchy.
It’s just not about voting for D’s and R’s any more. The link between the people and the government, always tenuous at best, has been severed. The question now is how do we defeat the Democrats AND the Republicans when they are the only parties on our ballot. The answers may or may not involve voting.
Now add to the $8.000 cost $5.00 gasoline and the increase in cost of living. We are all looking at servitude to corporations, now enabled under fear of tax penalty, concerning healthcare. Just bring back slavery, but not to people, masters! To corporations….
As I recall the 13th Amendment precludes coercion via a punitive financial penalty forcing people into contracts or involuntary servitude, by any entity in the United States including government. In fact the Amendment is a restriction on what government can do, because if government can utilize a tax penalty for failure to essentially pay a “life tax,” there is no limit on government! Now government colludes with corporations who pay campaign contributions to the law makers to pass unconstitutional law and the American people have no mechanism to seek review in the courts! Only state AG’s have standing! Obliterate judicial review for the individual. “Dred Scott! Round II” Nice job Mr Constitutional law scholar!
It will be a part of us “all having to take a haircut”. A “bold” haircut.
A more appropriate name for what Rep. Ryan and the Republicans are proposing would be “Medi-SCARE,” not Medicare.
Take a look at some facts. The Founding Fathers, who put the Constitution together, were all men of wealth and land owners. In the beginning only they were allowed to vote. They never wanted the masses to vote at all and that is why they made the Constitution so difficult to change. We are continuing down that path without any recourse for change. You can vote all you want but the facts will never change. The Plutocracy owns the government and the serfs that go with it.
The US Constitution never restricted suffrage to men nor to landowners. It allowed states to set their own voting qualifications (article 1, section 4). The 15th amendment prohibited the states from denying the right to vote based on race. The 19th amendment prohibited basing the right to vote on gender.
Those are the facts. my friend.
State single-payer is not a bad idea at all, especially in less-populated states who don’t have incompetent legislators.
Federal single-payer would be a disaster.
Howard Dean also helped propagate the myth that the health care law was progressive. In addition, Dean said the law (with the individual mandate without a public option and without antitrust control over the health insurance industry) should be supported simply because the GOP were against it (despite the law having eerie similarities to Republican ideas like Romneycare and Chafeecare — and now, Congressman Ryan’s medicare voucher proposal).