Democratic Convention: Social Security and Medicare

Keep on it Ronni! We wish we could trust our pols -- but we need to verify and our pressure is the verification!

FWIW -- I really like your language about the Romney/Ryan plan for Medicare -- "give us coupons." Indeed; give us pieces of paper that are deliberately designed to be worth less and less.

Great post!!!! I saw all of these videos last week and each of them were awesome and they reminded me how important this election is.

I'm spending most of my time at our local Obama HQ because I like my Medicare and Social Security and their loss would be a death sentence for me and many (most?) other elders.

I don't understand? You know that Obama/Biden is going to gut Medicare & Social Security yet you will vote for him anyway thinking you can push back against him. Really? Talk about hope & change. We all know that Medicare & Social Security is on a collision course and that if nothing is done, they'll crap out. Then no one will have them. That's what you want? I don't get it.
I'd rather have a politician who states they have a plan and will do something. I see nothing wrong with the voucher system. And as far as worthless money, the dollar comes to mind. How much has the dollar shrunk in value? Been to a grocery store lately? Or bought gas? You need more and more of those worthless paper dollars. And in QE3 is released by Bernanke, those paper dollars will be worth even less.
I don't get it? You know that Obama is wrong, yet you will vote for him? I wonder who is stupid over here?

Alicia, your first paragraph would be correct if you substituted the names Romney/Ryan for Obama/Biden.

Don't you realize that Ryan's voucher plan would be the first step in the death of Medicare? Pay attention to what the voucher plan would do - it would put you right back at the mercy of the insurance companies. Do you really want to be denied coverage if you have a pre-existing condition? Or be kicked out of your insurance plan if you became ill with an expensive malady like Cancer? Without ACA you can be. A voucher will only cover you for a certain amount and when that amount is used up, you're on your own. I have yet to hear how much that wonderful (not) voucher would be worth.

What Ronni is saying is that Obama will not turn we elders over to a greedy insurance company, but that all politicians must be watched to keep them from weakening the coverage we now have.

I, too, wonder who is stupid over there. Do your homework, please, so you will know wherefore you speak.

Well, Obama needs to be called on this deceit, if that's what it is. Do we have someone who can question these people and get a straight, really straight answer?

Let's get Obama elected before the well-deserved critiques of his positions. We know if he loses, Medicare and Social Security as we know it will be totally dismantled.

When we vote this November, we will be voting on what kinds of values we want our country to be governed by. Obama is not perfect, and he will have to find ways to get things done with a Congress that will continue to be obstructionist. There are times that he will have to compromise to get any of our hopes even partially manifested. But I value the values that his politics and policies reflect. Romney's and the GOP's extreme right values are opposite to everything I believe and hope for. And I think that's why people like me will vote for Obama.

Alicia says, “You know that Obama/Biden is going to gut Medicare & Social Security yet you will vote for him anyway thinking you can push back against him. Really?”

Actually we don’t know that “Obama/Biden is going to gut Medicare & Social Security” and neither does Alicia. Ronni’s remarks were simply saying that even if Obama/Biden get four more years there will be some efforts to reduce benefits for beneficiaries through increased retirement ages and “a disproportionately small amount of tax hikes.” This has no resemblance to what Romney/Ryan propose that will ultimately allow both social security and medicare to wither away by making it more difficult to fund these programs through privatization efforts. And though seniors may have to “push back” to prevent any adverse changes to SS and Medicare, it will be better able to so with an administration more friendly to their concerns than anything the GOP offers. With Romney/Ryan, there would in effect be a wall built over a short period of time to prevent any “push back” from concerned citizens on SS and Medicare

In Romney/Ryan’s Medicare voucher plan that will kick in about a decade from now, people will have the choice to choose between traditional medicare coverage and private plans with at least one that is equal to traditional medicare. Anything with added coverage would be at the added expense to the beneficiary. Such higher premium plans would of course be sought out by wealthier retirees. However:

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that Ryan’s proposal from 2011 would require a typical 65-year-old person to pay thousands of dollars more for Medicare by 2030 than would be the case under its current structure. [It would also] give future seniors the option of remaining in the traditional, government-run Medicare program, it would have to compete with private plans. Critics predict that traditional Medicare could become unaffordable if it attracts the sickest people while private plans lure the healthiest. They also say that beneficiaries might have trouble finding physicians if they abandon the program because their rates are cut. source

But even sooner, current elders will suffer if Romney/Ryan do get elected and are able to repeal Obamacare, which they have promised to do. The biggest ill-effect will be prescription drug increases that return by re-instating the “donut hole”.

Don’t be deceived Alicia. You may think that Romney/Ryan will save what they have projected to be a doomed program but what they ultimately have plans for is what corporate interests have wanted for years, to privatize it all and allow the “free-markets” to make it competitive. And as we all know, the free-martkets really aren’t and are quite capable of failing as they have demonstrated just afew short years ago.

Social Social Security is Not Headed for Disaster

Truth and Lies about Medicare

Assuming President Obama wins in November, the future of Medicare and Social Security are wholly dependant on what happens with the Bush tax cuts that are set to expire on 31 December of this year. Let me explain.

The conventional wisdom leans toward the Republican party keeping control of the House in November, and a more than even chance that they will win the Senate. If this occurs, Obama will again experience a congress of obstruction and bottleneck sure to thwart his every proposal.

To protect the economy while also keeping his word of not increasing taxes on the middle class (but simultaneously increasing tax rates on the wealthiest of us), he would then be forced to deal with John Boehner and Eric Cantor in an effort to resurrect the "Grand Bargain" that crashed and burned last year.

Without an agreement, the expiration of the Bush tax cuts will go into effect. Taxes will increase across the board and result in a slowing of our moribund economy even further. To achieve success, Obama will be forced by Boehner et.al. to negotiate away features of Medicare and Social Security.

There is only one way around this scenario. Although it is absolutely imperative that Obama be re-elected, the real stakes of this election lie in the congress. We should all treat the congressional races as a do-or-die event, with each of us spending whatever time we have not only to get the vote out, but also to deny the House and Senate to right wing functionaries intent on killing Medicare and Social Security as we know it.

Regarding Alicia's comment ... Obama/Biden have made it pretty darn clear that SS & medicare are "on the table" - but it is also clear that Romney/Ryan will be much worse.

On most issues (military budget, domestic surveillance, social issues,) since the advent of the DLC the Democrats are far too conservative for my taste and represent "the lesser of two evils". In my case I choose to vote my conscience by voting for third parties.
To some degree it may depend on whether you live in a swing state. If you are a conservative in a republican state why not vote for Virgil Goode (constitution party) or Gary Johnson (Libertarian) ? If you are a progressive in a "blue" state - why not vote Green (Jill Stein seems to be an excellent candidate).

Alicia is a troll. I know who she is and have banned her from my blog.

Excellent article from the Atlantic on the fallacy of treating health care as an industry:

http://atlanticfood.livejournal.com/624300.html

ps. I'm glad that Alicia has been banned; that kind of name calling has no place in this discussion.

“And we will keep the promise of Social Security by taking the responsible steps to strengthen it – not by turning it over to Wall Street.”
This is typical of the entire Obama convention speech - a lot of fluff but no substance. He doesn't give any clue as to how he'll keep the promise of Social Security . In fact, he never says how he'll fulfill any of his promises. Can we/should we trust him to do the right thing? Remember 2008?

Bermie Sanders was on Bill Moyers' Show on Saturday. Bernie tells it like it is and provides clear ideas about how his goals can be achieved. Obama needs to take a leaf from Bernie's book

To me the most compelling reason to vote for Obama is the Supreme Court. Up to 3 of the Justices may retire during the next 4 years. I definitely do not want a Republican choosing the replacement justices, do you?

Obama is too far right for me as well, but I am terrified that R/R may win the election. Please vote for Obama!

Alicia is indeed a troll. She's none other than Morrison, and she's written about this post specifically, plus a couple of others where she's dropped her venom recently on her current blog post for 9/10/12 at www.mylifeinfocus.wordpress.com.

Ironic that in her post follow up comments she accuses liberals of twisting and turning the truth, and showing hatred when that's the only thing she seems capable of putting out herself.

Yep! That's her all right. She is quite the head case.

There surely are some significant differences between the major political party candidates and their plan for resolving the problems of this nation.

Personally, I think both of the primary parties have changed considerably in terms of their philosophy and governance, compared to how I recall them, beginning when I was a teenager who enjoyed listening on the radio to the conventions.

The Democratic Party seems to have mellowed, with their extreme elements -- sometimes referred to as extremely liberal -- much less influencing, with more moderates.

The Republican Party seems to have been taken over by their extreme elements -- sometimes referred to as extremely conservative -- that dictate to their Party with moderate views and candidates rejected.

From my perspective, there's no question but what I want my future, that of my children and grandchildren, and this country directed by returning our current administration to office.

As others have said, what is also critical is who I want nominating candidates for possible vacancies on the Supreme Court -- hopefully, individuals who realize that a corporation is not a person.

Extremely vital, too, are the Congresspersons we send to the House of Representatives and the Senate. The last people I want in those positions are those who will perpetuate extremely radical conservative positions. Most of that ilk already in office have demonstrated repeatedly they are incapable of effectively governing this nation, or we wouldn't have so many unresolved problems today -- despite their ridiculous efforts to lay all the blame at the feet of the current administration. We should not be so stupid as to not realize the problems were created during years long before this current administration took office.

Once we have our candidates in office, we would all be naive to not recognize the necessity to continue monitoring, directing, and expressing our expectations for how we want to be governed. I think the current administration is much more likely to recognize the needs of the average and middle class citizen, who are the real foundation of this nation, and will be less prone to respond to the dictates and manipulations of the monied minority.

As for the social issues that divide so many in this nation. I would much prefer too much individual liberty (if there is such a thing)to being deprived of my basic human rights because some group, (somewhat reminiscent of the Taliban,) decide I shouldn't have those rights.

Ronni -- I can no longer download/see the John Lewis speech, wanted to forward it to a friend, came online, still nothing but the blank space that is also on the email that I received. Was it removed?? It is so special, and not available elsewhere, as far as I can tell.