g********d
发帖数: 4174 | 1 WASHINGTON -- In his jobs speech before Congress Thursday night, President
Barack Obama appeared to call on congressional Democrats to cut Medicare, a
politically toxic proposal that undercuts a previous Democratic campaign
strategy.
Obama pushed to cut Medicare during the debate over raising the federal debt
ceiling, urging lawmakers from both parties to accept a "grand bargain"
that involved cutting both Social Security and Medicare. Obama's move upset
congressional Democrats, who saw a proposal from Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to
radically cut Medicare as an attack ad opening going into the Nov. 2012
elections. House Republicans voted for the Ryan proposal en masse, just
months after hordes of GOP freshmen were swept into office amid
advertisements vowing to protect the hugely popular entitlement program.
Democrats won an unexpected special election in New York earlier this year
by attacking the Republican candidate, Jane Corwin, as an enemy of Medicare,
based on her views on the Ryan budget plan.
"Now, I realize there are some in my party who don’t think we should make
any changes at all to Medicare and Medicaid, and I understand their concerns
," Obama said during his speech Thursday. "But here’s the truth. Millions
of Americans rely on Medicare in their retirement. And millions more will do
so in the future. They pay for this benefit during their working years.
They earn it. But with an aging population and rising health care costs, we
are spending too fast to sustain the program. And if we don’t gradually
reform the system while protecting current beneficiaries, it won’t be there
when future retirees need it. We have to reform Medicare to strengthen it. "
Medicare faces long-term problems due to the rising costs of health care, a
uniquely American problem sparked by protections the U.S. government
provides for health insurance companies and drug manufacturers. Obama's
health care reform bill attempted to lower those costs, but his call now to
"reform" Medicare is sure to be interpreted as a call to raise the
eligibility age for Medicare, something Obama urged during the debt ceiling
debate to no avail.
As Ezra Klein reported for the Washington Post on Wednesday, Obama is
planning a separate deficit reduction package that liberal groups expect to
include raising the eligibility age. Making this change for both Medicare
and Social Security hits poorer participants in the programs hardest, since
they are more likely to die at a younger age.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/08/obama-medicare-cuts-jo | g********d
发帖数: 4174 | 2 本来保护MEDICARE和SOCIAL SECURITY是民主党对付GOP最好的卖点，现在OBAMA也要拿
MEDICARE开刀了，这样是能争取中间偏右派，还是连左派都跑了？我们等着瞧。 | p********i
发帖数: 1963 | 3 不错，支持把ｍｅｄｉｃａｒｅ坎为０。。
a
debt
upset
to
【在 g********d 的大作中提到】
: WASHINGTON -- In his jobs speech before Congress Thursday night, President
: Barack Obama appeared to call on congressional Democrats to cut Medicare, a
: politically toxic proposal that undercuts a previous Democratic campaign
: strategy.
: Obama pushed to cut Medicare during the debate over raising the federal debt
: ceiling, urging lawmakers from both parties to accept a "grand bargain"
: that involved cutting both Social Security and Medicare. Obama's move upset
: congressional Democrats, who saw a proposal from Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to
: radically cut Medicare as an attack ad opening going into the Nov. 2012
: elections. House Republicans voted for the Ryan proposal en masse, just
|
|
