Subj : Bye bye medicare.
To   : ALL
From : BOB KLAHN
Date : Tue Jun 07 2011 22:21:30


 Remember the "Makers and takers" post?

 Well, I warned you.

 If you are on medicare or social security you are now labeled a
 "Taker".

 As such you are an inferior being.

 So, just how are they going to do away with medicare? It is
 widely supported, so politicians fear to touch it. Oh, the
 answer is simple, destroy that support.

 They start by cutting just a bit, say, $500 million? Seems
 that's what the republican Paul Ryan budget will subtract. Which
 is funny since they screamed that Obamacare would cut that much
 from Medicare. Only the Obamacare cuts were from private sector
 insurance companies.

 Ok, we got medicare weakened, just a bit. Now, the next step is
 to reduce the support among those not collecting medicare. That
 is, everyone under the age of 65 without one of the few, and
 very serious, conditions medicare pays for among under 65s.

 The best way I can think of to do that is to either eliminate
 medicare for those not covered now, or to damage it so much it
 becomes unattractive to them. That won't work if you try to take
 it from those near qualifying, so just take it from those not so
 close, say those who won't qualify for ten years or so.

 Hey... they have that in the Republican plan already. Switch
 those under 55 from medicare to subsidized private insurance
 plans. (Please don't mention that that is actually more
 socialism than medicare.) That way, those under 55 will think
 they are getting the same coverage, but not realize, no private
 sector company is going to come up with anything nearly as good
 for the price they will be paid.

 Oh, you can make it look good by talking good numbers, but as
 long as you conceal the fact that inflation is going to eat up
 that subsidy the public may not catch on to how it's going down
 the tubes.

 On top of that you make the subsidy a fixed amount, not just
 specify enough to cover the insurance. So, when the cost does
 rise you can claim it's just how it was set up, so the elderly
 are going to have to come up with the money out of their own
 pockets.

 That should work, but where it will really dig in is when those
 between 55 and 65 start qualifying. Ya see, it's like this. As
 those under 65 get older, those over 65 also get older. Those
 over 65 will be dying and thus reducing the numbers of those
 eligible for the old social security system.

 Somewhere in there those not eligible will see the costs of
 their insurance going up to where they won't be able to afford
 it. Now just how much are they going to support medicare for the
 over 55s when they see nothing for themselves?

 When will they start to ask, "Why should I be paying for your
 medicare when I won't get anything near as good, if I can afford
 anything at all?"

 Yes, this is a long term plan to sink medicare, but given enough
 time it does have an excellent chance of working. Perhaps less
 than a decade.

 Now, if you are in a hurry to do away with medicare, there is
 another way. Just challenge Obamacare in the Supreme Court.

 What? You think there's no connection? Oh, but there is. You
 see, medicare and Obamacare have exactly the same constitutional
 status. Both are government programs for health care, and both
 have the dreaded mandate. Yes, remember, you have to pay into
 medicare. In fact, under Obamacare there is no actual
 requirement you pay for insurance, you can get it through your
 employer or you can buy it yourself. You are just required to
 have coverage, there is no requirement you pay for it youself.

 Medicare doesn't require you pay for it yourself, but it is
 taken out of your paycheck, so it's automatic, no choice.

 So, if Obamacare is declared unconstitutional then medicare is
 also unconstitutional. It's actually close to automatic. The
 only question left is, does all you paid in go away? Do you have
 nothing to show for all those years?

 Then again, do you really think young people who lose their
 coverage when they are pushed off their parent's plans will
 support continuing your coverage? Do you think they will when
 they realize they will never get what you got? Do you really
 believe there are enough elderly votes to outweigh all the
 younger people who are getting cut out? How long will it be
 before those shut out gather enough votes to close down medicare
 completely?

 Yes, it was a committment, but it was a committment between
 generations. If the committment is broken for the upcoming
 generations, why would they vote to continue it for the
 currently eligible generation?

 Obamacare=Medicare... equally unconstitutional.

 It's all so unnecessary, since the republican arguements are all
 so fraudulent. However, expensive medical care is, it's not as
 expensive as doing without it. On top of that, all the
 republican options to solve the problem are based on fraud and
 deceit. The right doesn't want to fix American medical care,
 they want to overturn it. If they really wanted to fix it, they
 have had 17 years since Hillarycare failed, yet they did not
 lift a finger to fix any of it.



BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

.... Don't tell me you are pro-life if you don't support health care for all.
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