Are lobbyists lobbying to destroy Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security? Does anyone know?

[Sarah Ibarruri]

What is this fight to destroy Medicare, Medicaid and SS really about? Does anyone truly see the whole picture, 'cause I don't.

I mean, I know Repukes are evil pricks, but I don't even 'get' their need for destruction of these programs, rather than using any other cuts or tax increases of the wealthy to improve the situation with the debt.

Please help explain this.

[Hugin]

1. Look up Peter Peterson.

http://www.alternet.org/economy/65341/

[Sarah Ibarruri]

4. I did. I found nothing associated with this Medicare, Medicaid, SS issue nt

[Hugin]

8. That's odd... I get at least 118,000 hits on SS alone.

http://www.google.com/search?q=pete+peterson+social+security

[Sarah Ibarruri]

10. I had looked it up and found myself looking at biographies of this man. Ok, I found one

I'm reading this article:

http://www.alternet.org/economy/65341/

[Sarah Ibarruri]

13. So this asshole, Peter Peterson, is still out there doing harm? What a prick

Can't we do something?

[TomClash]

19. He's been at this for over 30 years

Moving in the shadowy corridors of bipartisan power and getting fantastically richer in the process.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

24. Pardon my French, but what the fuck for? Does he see himself as the devil and is living up to it?

What a piece of shit he is.

[TomClash]

34. Power and Prestige

A member of the "Club" once explained to me that it's a game. That's the way the very rich see it - a game. And it's a fun one at that - even when you lose, you're still filthy rich.

I met Peterson around the time he was starting Blackstone. Grandma getting $800 a month instead of $900 doesn't really matter to him. He's more enamored with the "great policy question."

[MannyGoldstein]

2. Here's what's up with Social Security

http://www.handsoffss.org/if-social-security-is-perfectly-healthy-then-why-would-anyone-want-to-cut-benefits.html">This doesn’t make any sense! If Social Security is healthy, why would anyone want to cut it?

Same basic deal with other programs.

[Tippy]

3. Why? ....Greed, drives them

[MannyGoldstein]

6. Yes. nt

[Jim Warren]

5. Plain spoken and concise

thanks for that link!

[MannyGoldstein]

7. You're welcome. nt

[Sarah Ibarruri]

9. Excellent article! Pretty much explains the pricks responsible for this destruction nt

[MannyGoldstein]

12. Thank you! nt

[Bryn]

16. I am glad you started this thread

I wanted to know, also. Great article! Bookmarked!

[Sarah Ibarruri]

18. Thanks so much! nt

[yardwork]

28. That's why Al Gore wasn't allowed to win the White House. He wanted to protect social security.

The surplus that Clinton left the nation at the end of his second term was a pile of money that greedy people had to get their hands on. The idea of leaving it with us to protect everybody in the U.S. was not acceptable.

[boston bean]

11. No Obama is! nt

[Sarah Ibarruri]

14. Lobbyists are always lurking behind politicians doing evil things

Nothing new about that.

[boston bean]

15. nothing new that politicians are bought and paid for by them. Looks like that includes Obama, huh?

Sorry the truth of the matter is coming down so hard on you.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

17. Have you instituted election reform yet? Until you do, running for office here will cost $$$$$$$$$$

Which means selling one's soul to the mega-rich, pricks as they are.

[boston bean]

20. they still need the votes Sarah. You see how bad it is, yet you still support

someone or anyone who gives up on the foundation of what you believe in.

Don't put it all on the lobbyists. Yes they are a scourge, however you do still have your vote.

When does the lesser of two evils turn into voting for the same evil. I think we're almost there.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

21. And you can think of 1 candidate that doesn't need mega-money to run? WHO? nt

[boston bean]

22. ok, we'll all be republicans sooner or later.... you win!

[Sarah Ibarruri]

23. So you can't think of 1 candidate that doesn't need mega-$$$ to run? Nice. nt

[boston bean]

25. they also need votes. our system is corrupt and a willingness to just go along

with it, is something I'm not comfortable doing.

I have been told Obama got all his $$ from small donations from the people.

Is that not true. You are telling me he is a bought and paid for corporatist?

Your vote is all you have. Time to rebuild the party. Join the side of sanity.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

30. I'm saying that the election system in this country is pure corruption, as is the lobbying system

Until we get rid of the corruption our politicians are swimming in, this country will continue to be a disaster which will benefit mega-corporations, the mega-rich, and little else, particularly with the greed trend the Repukes popularized and encouraged from Reagan to the present moment.

[blkmusclmachine]

26. Check out the DC fundy religious Cult called "The Family"

It's all you'll need to know: destruction of Fed Gov't, destruction of Unions, subversion of the Media, & capture and subversion of our education system. They believe they won't get to Heaven until the nonbelievers have been converted or exterminated. They fetishize Hitler and bin Laden. They'll try to get us to "go along" with their insanity by starving us to death and perverting our legal system. 9/11 helped. By the way, this Cult sponsors the yearly "Presidential Prayer Breakfast," since 1952. It's a big social-networking thing, aimed at getting the True Believers into state and federal Offices.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

32. This group is scum. nt

[yardwork]

27. Yes. And it has nothing to do with the debt. That is an excuse, a blind.

It's the health care industry.

Corporations that are traded on Wall Street must show increasing profits. They are required by law to return value to their shareholders, and that means that profits must go up and up, never down, never even flat.

How can the health insurance industry, for instance, keep increasing profits over time? Either they keep cutting their costs or their keep increasing their revenues. What's the fasted growing segment of the U.S. population? Older people? The aging boomers. They're all covered by Medicare. Yes, many of them also have private "gap" insurance as well, but to the insurance industry, these millions of people are a vast virtually untapped consumer pool. The industry has to get rid of Medicare first, though.

Same with the pharmaceutical companies. They're closely tied with the health insurance industry anyway, as they partner over reimbursements. Both are closely tied with Congress as they partner every year over Medicare reimbursements. What you have is an enormously powerful network of lobbies and business interests that are pressured to increase profits all the time and see a Great Opportunity to force millions of older Americans to buy their products and services. (Personally, I don't think that the health insurance industry provides a service anyway. They're the middle man that isn't even necessary. Just enroll everybody in the U.S. in Medicare and save hundreds of millions every month in wasted administrative costs such as the millions of dollars in salaries earned by CEOs of the industry. But we can't expect the insurance industry to agree with this. They're here. They're got an enormous amount of power. They want more power and profit. They're just being rational.)

I know far less about the investment industry than I do about healthcare, but I assume that investment firms would like to get their hands on everybody's social security. The Republicans have been trying to privatize this for decades.

It all comes down to two polar opposites. On the one hand we have the idea that people can pool their resources and provide a safety net for everybody without it burdening anybody very much. On the other hand we have the idea that it's everybody for themselves, pure profit motive, no safety net whatsoever, just let the strongest and most powerful win all the resources.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

33. This explains a lot. Thank you. nt

[yardwork]

29. This is an awesome thread. Enthusiastic K&R. Thank you for asking this question.

This is really the heart of the matter.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

31. Thanks! nt

[kenny blankenship]

35. They got the ball rolling with the Mandatory Insurance Mafia Profitability Act of 2010

Did anyone really expect them to quit while they were ahead?