Web content for Friday, June 3rd, 2011
First Guess: Medicare Reform: Running From Ryan
Video via Current.com
via YouTube, h/t fferkleheimer
Transcript:
Well, technically, mutilating something beyond all recognition **is** reforming it.
From the Countdown Newsroom at Current, I'm Keith Olbermann with a First Guess.
The key issue in the special upstate New York Congressional election at the end of last month was Medicare and the Republican plan to "reform" it. It is so popular that the voters decided to "reform" a staunch Conservative district into the home of the newest Democratic Congresswoman.
Having practiced hastening the demise of their own functionary, the Republicans return to the task of wiping the rest of us out rather than honor the government's promises and obligations. The easiest means, naturally: turning senior citizens over to the whims of the insurance companies. And you know how much fairness you can expect from insurance companies who make huge profits by limiting what they cover. The Paul Ryan plan put forth by the Republicans would give coupons to the people in most need of medical care. Go buy your own medical insurance, gramps. Even if it works, it will cost a lot more than seniors pay now. And good luck if you get sick.
A reasonable Republican might run in the opposite direction, but good luck finding one. Congressman Phil Gingrey of Georgia - who once had to apologize to Rush Limbaugh - said "To back away from this or to get skittish for fear of losing a few seats would be pretty irresponsible."
His words were echoed by Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who leads the Republicans in the Senate. And Mark McKinnon, the Republican strategist, may have said more than he intended when he told The Hill: "Republicans should not run from the Ryan plan. That is a lose-lose proposition. We're tagged with it anyway, so running doesn't help."
He's got part of that right: It's a lose-lose proposition - - except for one group that you haven't heard mentioned as much it should have been mentioned during all this: The insurance companies.
The Insurance Cartel is used to win-win propositions and Republican flunkies who do as they are told. The Republican strategy is like that of the British cavalry in 1854 during the Crimean War. In the poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade," Alfred, Lord Tennyson, honored the valor of the doomed men who attacked the Russian forces in a battle they could not win. He wrote: "... Someone had blundered. "Theirs not to make reply. "Theirs not to reason why. "Theirs but to do and die."
So, keep it up, Republicans! Don't reason why. Don't ask why. Obey your leaders. Charge!
See you on Current on June 20th.