OMG! Medicare is on the Chopping Block!

[johnaries]

Obama can't be trusted! He is going to destroy Medicare! He said it's "on the table". He is going to do what Bush couldn't do - he's going to destroy Medicare!!!!!!1111

That's what I kept reading here.

So, because Congress can't get it's shit together, he gets involved.

"He's always wanted to kill Medicare and Social Security! Look at the 'secret deals' with the Public Option! Look at the Catfood Commission!"

Like many here I would prefer a Single-Payer system. The reality is - it doesn't have the votes to pass. In lieu of Single-Payer, I really wanted a Public Option. It didn't have the votes to pass. Obama didn't betray you here, Congress did. Obama managed to still pass the ACA and all of the great things that it did. The ACA does a lot of great things, including (finally!) providing Universal Health Care. Many of us (including me) thought it could have been better and gone further, but it didn't have the votes. Don't blame Obama, blame the people sitting right next to you that voted against it. Blame yourself for not doing a better job of convincing other voters. Place the fault where it belongs.

So, then, It's finally revealed what Obama put on the chopping block! What horrible cuts has this evil anti-Progressive, Bush-clone proposed to finally kill and throughly gut Medicare????!?!!?!!!! What Evil will be wrought in the name of Obama Compromise, since we know that it will only serve the Republicans and the Corporatists! What HORROR can we expect?!?!?!?!

He offered (gasp!) to defer the eligibilty rate by 2 years, phased in over several years beginning in 2013.

Wait, my Social Security has already been deferred by 2 years. According to my last Social Security update, I won't qualify for full benefits until I'm 67, anyway. So, now, Obama is suggesting that my Medicare eligibilty match my Social Security eligibilty, like it always has in the past?

How DARE he insist that my benefits actually make sense???!?!!?!?!111

Of course, there are those who will want to divide and will use any kind of emotional spin to try and confuse you. there was a recent poll on "who will you vote for" and almost immediately there were several votes for GOP candidates.

I am not trying to "call out" any specific members. But if you read DU you should be aware that there are posters here who have ulterior motives. It is an inherent problem with any website.

So, I beseech you, inform yourself. Don't take anything you read on it's face value. Even anything I post. Google is your friend. And Google may just change your mind. But remember, just because some blogger says something you want to hear doesn't mean it's correct.

[WheelWalker]

1. All things change...

you can never step into the same river twice.

[johnaries]

12. I'm afraid that Truth will be lost on many here.

[WheelWalker]

14. If you understand, things are just as they are; if you do not understand,

things are just as they are.

[jefferson_dem]

2. Dat Obamer! He's jest like Boooooosh!

:crazy:

[girl gone mad]

3. In the face of massive bailouts for Wall Street crooks,

endless wars and tax cuts for the rich, it amounts to nothing more than a theft from the working classes.

Make no mistake. This is a continuation of the colossal wealth transfer from the middle class to the kleptocracy, now in its 3rd decade. What a shame that a supposedly Democratic President is pushing this garbage. What a disaster for the American economy. Obama the nihilist neoliberal will go down in history as one of the all time worst.

[OhioChick]

10. I agree 100% n/t

[MrScorpio]

4. If I said it once, I've said it a thousand times

It's the Fucking Republicans who are the assholes that we should all be dealing with.

Pearl clutching over Obama is an unneeded distraction

[mzteris]

7. have I told you lately

:loveya:

(and your music, too!)

[MrScorpio]

8. Huggage

:hug:

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

5. LOGIC AND REASONED THOUGHT ARE ALIVE AND WELL AT DU! K&R!!! n/t

[mzteris]

6. "Inform yourself"

you'd think we were on freaking FR the way some of these yayhoos go on...

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MadHound]

11. First of all, your characterization of the reaction around here is over the top,

It doesn't make even good sarcasm, it's just insulting.

Second of all, your reasoning and rationalization is weak. We've already gotten screwed on SS eligibility age, so what the hey, we might as well get screwed on Medicare eligibility age as well, just so your "benefits make sense"(whatever the fuck that means)"

Third of all, you rationalizing contains within it the germ of what a lot of people are pissed off about, that nice little slippery slope. Raise eligibility ages here, cut a little off the sides there, suppress payroll taxes, fuck with COLA payments, and poof, before you know it, SS and Medicare are but shadows of themselves. Get it?

Finally, in simple hard cash terms, we've paid into Medicare and SS for years and decades, and by raising Medicare eligibility age a couple of years, given that the average person gets almost eleven thousand in payments from Medicare per year, hey, that's twenty two thousand dollars of my money gone, poof, I no longer have access to it. I don't know about you, but frankly I really can't afford to watch twenty two thousand dollars disappear into thin air, especially while we continue to rain tax cuts on the rich and bleed out our treasury in illegal, immoral wars.

And trust me, I rarely take anything you write at face value.

[WheelWalker]

15. Suppose

reality is just a shadow of emptiness. If that's the way 'it is' are you still going to have a problem with it?

[johnaries]

19. Dude, I think I know where you're coming from,

I'm a Daoist, myself, But I think you're just going over the heads of most here.

The mark of a true Sage is being able to relate to non-Sages, and make them "chuckle like children."

In the words of Don McLean:

"they could not understand you
they don't understand you, still,
perhaps they never will."

[murielm99]

20. Don't worry. The way I see it, a Random One may have

risen out of the grave.

[WheelWalker]

25. Good enough.

[johnaries]

16. Really, "over the top"? Hardly. Have you been reading DU posts

lately? If anything, I would say that I have understated the situation.

As for "we've already been screwed", many of us would disagree with the "screwed" description. This argument has been re-hashed many times - I don't wish to re-hash the same argument over again. The bottom line is, if we as a Country have decided that the retirement should be raised, then why shouldn't other retirement benefits match?

As for the "slippery slope" argument, I have used it many times myself. The difference is knowing when the slope is slippery and when it is not. I more than "get it". My whole point is that it doesn't apply here. Which is obviosly something you don't "get".

And, trust me, I don't take anything that you - or anyone else - says at "face value". In fact, if you accepted anything I have said based on "who I am" then I have lost a lot of respect for you. I expect you to read what I wrote, and base your opinion on what I say, not who I am.

Now, that being said, I will admit that there are some sources that I will reject out of hand because in my experience they have distorted the truth repeatedly. Because I am a Seeker of the Truth.

I am sorry if the Truth does not match your preconceptions. I don't give a shit about preconceptions - I want to look at the Truth. And so I will continue to post Facts, whether they fit your preconceptions or not.

[MadHound]

18. A Seeker of Truth, all capitalized and everything

:rofl:

Seriously, you expect yourself to be take seriously with that kind of grandiose bullshit?

Thanks but no thanks grasshopper, I will continue my search for the truth in this world, but it certainly won't be down the deluded path you've taken, I don't need that kind of grandeur.

"Seeker of Truth" *snort*:rofl:

[johnaries]

23. Well, you could laugh, or you could actually search for the

truth yourself. Google is your friend. shouldn't all of us be Seekers of Truth, or are we all just kool-aid drinking a*holes?

Laugh all you want, can you prove me wrong? Whose laughing, now?

:rofl:

[Mojorabbit]

21. It is your perception you are calling truth I think

My perception re the public option was that it was never on the table. Backroom deals were made ahead of time so that big lobby's would go along with the plan. It was never fought for, he never used his position to rally the public, and the whole mess was a big piece of theater. That is the truth as I perceive it. Because I perceive it this way, the rest of your OP goes by the wayside.

[johnaries]

24. And you nailed it. None of us were there. We don't know what

happened.

The Truth is, no one knows what happened.

[Honeycombe8]

27. I think the OP's characterization is pretty accurate. Maybe because you agree

with the posts, your view of them is softened?

But you're right in saying that the OP's characterization of two years' dely in getting Medicare is not a big deal is wrong...that it is a big deal...what you said about that is right.

I am 57. In a perfect world, I will stay healthy, my firm will want to keep me forever instead of replacing me with a lower paid younger worker, and birds will always sing and the sun will always shine. But the world is not perfect. If I lose my job in my early 60's, will I be able to afford to buy health insurance on the open market? I shudder when I try to guess what that would cost...someone at that age, who will no doubt have SOME physical ailment(s), as most seniors do.

I would be hoping to hang on until I get Medicare at 65, and even then, unless I get supplemental coverage, that wouldn't cover that much. But it's something.

So to ask me, and others in that age range, to wait until 67 to get partial health coverage, when they've paid in all their working lives....WHEN THE RICH ARE RAKING IN TONS OF MONEY DUE TO LOWER TAXES...that just isn't right. AND WHEN THAT PROVISION IN MEDICARE ACT STILL EXISTS, THE ONE WHERE WE CAN'T NEGOTIATE PRICES FOR DRUGS....that is unconscionable.

It's wrong. It's cruel. It's asking the most vulnerable to sacrifice, when the least vulnerable refuse to. Even if the wealthy lose a couple of tax loopholes...like that is the same thing as going without health care for two more years?

It makes me sick just thinking about it.

[dsc]

13. One very simple reason

You can currently take reduced benefits at an earlier age if you so choose. there is no equivalent thing for medicare. Life expenctency hasn't gone up for those who make age 65. It is a robbery of benefits that we have paid for.

[Aerows]

17. I'm sure I can get some recipes to make an economical dinner

It doesn't have to be this way, you can take pleasure in poverty! One can of "real pate" 9 lives, and a pack of ramen noodles creates a pleasant meal for your family to enjoy.

I hope I don't have to include the sarcasm tag.

[johnaries]

22. I would hope that you include some kind of tag,

because your post makes absolutely no sense.

Let me clarify my post:

Obama; "we need to make some minor adjustments to MedCare if we want it to be strong"
ChickenLittle "OMG! he's going to destroy Medicare!"

Obama: "we are willing to adjust the eligibility age, by 2 years, under certain conditions."
ChickenLittle: "OMG! This will destroy Medicare!"

No, it won't. But if you are already anti-Obama and you want to recruit others to be anti-Obama, well, of course you would want to expand this out of all reality to spread your anti-Obama rhetoric - despite the Truth.

I prefer the Truth.

[Maru Kitteh]

26. K & R.

[provis99]

28. I agree. We should admit Medicare is no longer viable.

It was a useful program once, but its time has passed. Social Security is unsustainable too. Let us look forward, not to the outdated New Deal past!

[inna]

29. lulz. some pretty hilarious - despite being utterly pathetic - "stuff" here.