Monday, April 18, 2011

Dishonesty & Ryan's Budget Plan

There is a lot of dishonest rhetoric being thrown around on the Ryan budget plan, otherwise known as lying, and it is being thrown around by both sides. I am by no means a proponent of the plan, I am seriously opposed to it, but it is not quite what it is represented to be by Democrats and liberal media.
(I know, you're asking what liberal media? I’m talking about the ones who brag about being liberal; the ones who hang out on MSNBC.)

The claim is made by liberals that it “ends Medicare as we know it,” and that under the plan government would “give you a check and throw you to the wolves to find your own insurance, if you can even find insurance.” They further claim that the check will be far too small to pay for any policy that an “85-year-old with a heart condition” might be able to find on the open market, and that no insurance company would be stupid enough to sell insurance to that person anyway.

You can read what is actually in the plan online, the Medicare part is on page 44, and the language is pretty clear and straightforward. Opponents of the plan are lying, and Ryan is being absolutely correct when he says that the plan would convert Medicare Part B to “be just like Part D is now.” Whether or not that would actually “save Medicare” I cannot say, but…

I’m not hearing any liberals saying that Medicare Part D needs to be changed or ended, that it costs too much, or that it is a horror because it is a collection of private insurance plans. I’m not hearing liberals saying that private insurance companies need to be kicked out of Medicare Part D.

There’s a lot of garbage in Ryan’s plan, a lot of nonsensical rhetoric, a lot of really disgusting rhetoric, but there is absolutely nothing about “giving seniors a check to buy health insurance.” In fact, it specifically says that it is “not a voucher plan” and that it requires insurance companies to insure all seniors regardless of health status. I see nothing in Ryan's Medicare proposal that I can specifically object to unless I object to Medicare Part D.

Ryan is lying when it comes to corporate taxes, though, because he says that in lowering the tax rate he is not reducing actual taxes, because he is also eliminating loopholes and deductions, but is "making businesses more competetive." How is he doing the latter if he is leaving their taxes at the same amount?

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