Senate Dems Work with Repubs to Throw Medicare Under the Bus as Part of TPP FastTrack Sausage-Making

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Senate Democrats Work with Republicans to Throw Medicare Under the Bus as Part of TPP Fast Track Sausage-Making

Posted on May 17, 2015 by Lambert Strether
By Lambert Strether of Corrente.


I got an email blast on Medicare and TPP from Democracy for America, so I immediately discounted it because DFA, and besides, there wasn’t any linky goodness, but then I thought “This could be really bad,” so I looked into it. Here’s the paragraph in question from DFA:

There’s a big — brand new — attack on Medicare that’s just been added in the Senate to the Fast Track bill for the TPP. The bill would cut a whopping $700 million from Medicare, hurting seniors who need access to health care.

That’s right, Republicans insisted on cutting Medicare spending to pay for a Trade Adjustment Assistance program that Democrats got added to the bill in order to support workers who lost their jobs due to trade deals like the TPP.

This would be execrable sausage-making for both Democrats and Republicans. For Democrats, Medicare is one of the remaining reasons to think they’re committed to social insurance; and for Republicans, their base — remember “Keep your government hands off my Medicare”? — skews old.

So my questions are:

1) Has Trade Adjustment Assistance been added to the TPP Fast Track bill?

2) Has $700 million been cut from Medicare as a result?

3) Does Trade Adjustment Assistance serve any public purpose? ...................(more)

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/05/senate-democrats-work-with-republicans-throw-medicare-under-the-bus-part-tpp-fast-track-sausage-making.html