Rediculous Reporting on the Ryan Plan

Well Jacob Weisberg of Slate, who normally seems like a reasonable intelligent person has gone off the deep end on the Ryan Proposal, calling it “brave, radical and smart”.

http://www.slate.com/id/2290509/

Well, Ryan certainly gets the “Radical” tag.  Of course, the fact that the report details no major programs, does not identify the tax provisions that would be changed and requires that the President, not the Republicans to come up with changes to Social Security kind of  negates the “brave” part.  And smart, yes, if your goal is to spin Radical Conservative Philosophy, but not very smart if your goal is a serious policy discussion.

Weisberg’s main issue is Medicare.  Of course, since the changes in Medicare in the Ryan proposal won’t take place for at least 10 years, the proposal does nothing during the 10 year focus of the policy.  Weisberg also alleges that Medicare pays 100% of doctor and hospital bills, conveniently forgetting about deductibles and co-pays.

In truth, the Ryan Medicare proposal does not cut or reduce the growth in health care.  It is a cost cutting measure only for the Federal Government, shifting health care costs from the government to individuals.  The Medicare proposals should never become law, but if they do one hopes to live to see Mr. Weisberg at age 75, trying to get private health insurance even with his government voucher.  The health insurers of the world are not going to be lined up to get his business.

The Ryan Plan

Republican War on Poverty

In the 1960’s Democrats under the leadership of Lyndon Johnson declared a war on poverty, its goal being to remove poverty and its corrosive effects on American lives from society.  The war has been partially successful, and millions of Americans, particularly the elderly have been rescued from a life of suffering by government programs.

Now the Republican party has declared a war on poverty.  Except this is not a war to end or reduce poverty, it is a war on the poor, the sick, the elderly and those individuals who through no fault of their own do not enjoy the blessings of a prosperous society.  Their plan would devastate social programs.  And to what end?  To preserve current tax reductions for the wealthiest Americans and to reduce those taxes even further.

Reporting on the Republican Plan

What is truly remarkable is the seriousness with which the national media is reporting on the Ryan Plan.  If one reads the document, it is clear it is not a fiscal plan, but a political fantasy.  As Paul Krugman and others have pointed out, the economic assumptions and results are ludicrous, http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/  The document is a political document, and if its policy recommendations were implement the U. S. economy would tumble into recession and depression.

Social Security Recommendations

For those who complain that the Ryan Plan does not address Social Security, it does.  It requires the President to come up with a proposal.  He should do so, right after Romney, Palin, Pawlenty, et. al. come up with their plans.

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