Wednesday, May 25, 2011

G.O.P. on the Defensive as Voters Resist Medicare Plan

WASHINGTON — When they proposed just last month to overhaul Medicare, House Republicans were confident that the wind of budget politics was at their backs and that the country’s looming fiscal problems provided justification to begin reshaping the increasingly costly social welfare system.

But the last six weeks have left Republicans pointed into a stiff headwind. With polls and angry town hall meetings suggesting that many voters were wary if not opposed to the Medicare overhaul, party unity and optimism gave way to a slow-motion backtracking in the House and, in the Senate and on the presidential campaign trail, a bit of a Republican-on-Republican rumpus.

Even before the Republican loss Tuesday night in the race for a vacant House seat from New York — a contest fought in large part over the Medicare proposal — Democrats were clinging to the developments like koalas to eucalyptus trees, hoping that the plan’s toxicity among many voters would give them a shot at retaining control of the Senate and, in their most vivid dreams, taking back the House majority.

Eager to press their advantage, Senate Democrats will stage a vote on the Medicare plan as soon as Wednesday, forcing Senate Republicans into a yes-or-no choice that both sides know will become the basis of countless campaign commercials over the next year and a half.
Read the rest here.

5 comments:

The Anti-Gnostic said...

If the government promises people it will be the medical insurer of last resort, then it will just have to find something else to cut when people hold it to its promise.

rabidgandhi said...

Great. Might I suggest starting with cutting the 700b War Budget?

The Anti-Gnostic said...

Not related to Medicare exactly, but personally, I'd just implement the Thirty Day Plan.

rabidgandhi said...

Yeah when I was in high school I used to like libertarian and communist fantasy worlds. Super Mario was fun too.

The Anti-Gnostic said...

Government profligacy must eventually end. If the political process doesn't end it, then reality will. The methods reality uses are harsh.