Ranty ranty ranty

[malsperanza]

In case anyone thinks John McCain has become any more attuned to the urgent needs and precarious security of working people and retirees, here is an article from the WSJ from Oct. 6:

"John McCain would pay for his health plan with major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid, a top aide said, in a move that independent analysts estimate could result in cuts of $1.3 trillion over 10 years to the government programs. [...] Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Sen. McCain's senior policy adviser,* said Sunday that the campaign has always planned to fund the tax credits, in part, with savings from Medicare and Medicaid. Those government health-care programs serve seniors, poor families and the disabled."

Oh, and the other way they're gonna fund the tax credits? By taxing salaried workers' employer-paid healthcare premiums as income. So yer tax credit is paid for with yer tax increase. (Unless you're already wealthy enough to have private health insurance, in which case you get the tax credit without penalty.)

Yes, Maverick McCain is still tied buckle and thong to the GOP gospel of gutting government programs that protect the vulnerable. He wants to strip retirees of affordable health care, "reform" Head Start (i.e., slash its budget and tie it up in state mandates so the money can be "repurposed" to pay for road repairs), and privatize Social Security (because wouldn't the bailout babies on Wall Street love to get their mitts on all that cash, so they could invest it in illusory paper, charge high fees to unwitting grandmothers, and generally cash in).

Article here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122315505846605217.html#printMode

*Now that I<3Deregulation4evar Phil Gramm is hiding in the closet

Comments

[lorem_ipsum]

"John McCain would pay for his health plan with major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid, a top aide said, in a move that independent analysts estimate could result in cuts of $1.3 trillion over 10 years to the government programs. [...] Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Sen. McCain's senior policy adviser,* said Sunday that the campaign has always planned to fund the tax credits, in part, with savings from Medicare and Medicaid. Those government health-care programs serve seniors, poor families and the disabled."

Wait, so if I'm following this correctly, he's come up with a plan that will not only not help anyone, but will actually screw over both the poor *and* the middle class?!

[biomaton.livejournal.com]

The amount of money you spend on a program does not directly correlate to how much it actually helps people, nor does it directly correlate to how much you "care" for a group of people.