Jackson - the cost of US health care pre-Obama
Don't you wish, in 2003, Bush and the Republican Congress had refused to pass a plan that added "one dime" to the deficits then and into the future?
But they didn't. Instead Bush, Lott, Delay, et al, created the first big entitlement plan since LBJ was President.
The Republicans with control of the White House, the Senate and the House could do whatever they wanted. And what did they do, you ask?
They passed the $400 billion Medicaid Prescription Program without any way to pay for it.
Mind-fucking-boggling, as we say in Boston!
Looking back we know that fiscally irresponsible act is the major reason Medicare is in trouble.
Who would have thought with all their talk of conservative values, the Texas cowboys without a second thought would add $8.7 trillion to Medicare's $21 trillion worth of unfunded future liabilities. That's 42%!
I am sure that when you think of this your blood pressure spikes.
No way that you are ROTFLMAO now for sure!
Can't believe I agree with Ricardo! But
[QUOTE=Ricardo]The Republicans with control of the White House, the Senate and the House could do whatever they wanted. And what did they do, you ask?
They passed the $400 billion Medicaid Prescription Program without any way to pay for it.
Mind-fucking-boggling, as we say in Boston![/QUOTE]Absolutely right. Should never have been enacted. The Republicans did us all a disservice by abandoning the conservative principles of smaller government and less government in our lives.
[QUOTE=Ricardo]Looking back we know that fiscally irresponsible act is the major reason Medicare is in trouble. [/QUOTE]I knew our harmony couldn't last. It wasn't meant to be. BUSH DID IT ALL!
He also killed Jimmy Hoffa and was on the Grassy Knoll and Van Jones was right about him too.
Come on, Medicare has been bankrupt for 20 years. It has never worked as promised and is financed based on redistribution.
[QUOTE=Ricardo]Who would have thought with all their talk of conservative values, the Texas cowboys without a second thought would add $8.7 trillion to Medicare's $21 trillion worth of unfunded future liabilities. That's 42%![/QUOTE]Must be Jesuit math. When you add 8.7 to 21 that equals 29.7. 8.7 is approximately 29% of 29.7.
But wait, if one accepts your 8.7 number (which I do not) and that the republicans added 29% to the unfunded liabilities, you just defeated your previous argument that it is all Bush's fault since he only added 29%.
[QUOTE=Ricardo]I am sure that when you think of this your blood pressure spikes.
No way that you are ROTFLMAO now for sure![/QUOTE]It has pissed me off for years so no spiking for me. Not ROTFLMAO, just bemused with you.
Wild man - pretty good response but Bush did not kill JFK
And I never said he did! And just because he was President in 2004, he isn't responsible for the Red Sox winning the World Series. (If he was I'd love him!
I don't say Bushie – that coke snorting, Jack Daniels swilling, spoiled, two-faced frat boy (I sound like an Obama hater here) - must be held responsible for all that ails America - just for what he is responsible for.
His fiscal disasters pale, when measured against his handling of two wars. His bad policy decisions and inept execution put too many fine US troops, innocent Iraqis and Afghans in their graves or left them suffering from physical and psychic wounds that they will carry the rest of their lives - all to no good end. Add to the human suffering, the trillions we have spent and will be paying interest on for the next few decades. Now that I blame him for.
My math statement was clumsy (I should only do numbers in the light of day) The total unfunded Medicare liability is estimated at $21 trillion, $8.7 (42%) of which is a result of the Bush drug benefit. Sorry for the mix-up.
I cite the drug program and the fact that during five Republican presidencies a total of $1.7 trillion has been spent on bailing out private corporations versus a total of $10 billion under two Democrats to offer some useful fiscal history. It all started when Nixon got the US government in the bailout business.
I typically draw the AP readers to information on the role the Republicans have played in creating our serious and deep-rooted economic travails come from so as to counter the foolishness I read here about Obama - the evil socialist out to destroy America.
I don't insist people like Obama or that they just shut up. But the temper tantrums that characterize how his detractors attack him makes them look and sound deranged. (And some of them are!
You may be surprised I blame my friends on the Democratic side for many things, mostly for getting in bed with corporate interests almost across the board and helping to create the conditions that brought down the global economy.
Years of fiscal lunacy and the implosion of the US economy created the huge deficits now facing the US.
The recent $2 trillion dollar jump didn't fall out of Obama's overcoat on inauguration day. The deep recession that started under Bush accounts for about 37% of the $2 trillion swing. About 33% stems from Bush year tax cuts and the drug benefit, which dramatically increased interest payments on the national debt. While, 20% is the result of Obama extending Bush policies on bailouts and the two on-going wars. About 7% comes from the Obama's stimulus and tax cut bill. A mere 3% comes from Obama's domestic reform agenda. (These numbers are based on data from the non-partisan, respected CBO)
As for Medicare, it certainly needs adjustments to better reflect the shifting demographics and aging of the public. I am sure the actuarial tables used to establish spending projections missed the fact that medicine and life-style changes would make people live longer. More money will be needed. So?
Does a civilized society have a responsibility for its elderly? What's wrong with a little income redistribution to meet that responsibility?
Keep smiling! And pay your taxes!
Congressman Joe Wilson - class act
I don't remember anyone getting this angry in Congress when the President wanted to kill lots of Iraqis, but now that the President wants to save the lives of more Americans....'