General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsEveryone needs to take that "chill pill" the doctor ordered.
SNIP:
But here's one thing that I DO know. If the Randians in their ranks really are serious about privatizing the big three - Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security - their window of opportunity is getting smaller by the day.
That's because the one thing they've used to convince the lunatic base to screw themselves over with these programs is to scare the shit out of them by saying they are going broke and need "reform." Since doing that with Social Security went nowhere for Bush (and was further doomed with the economic collapse of 2008), they've focused mostly on Medicare and Medicaid. But as I've been saying here...that is looking like a bridge too far as well.
Along with greater coverage of low-income folks through the Medicaid expansion, these initiatives [cost controls] are what Obamacare is about. Theyre wonky, technical fixes and incentives designed to squeeze the fat out of a system that is uniquely wasteful compared to those in other advanced economies. Thats a lot less sexy than death panels and socialist command-and-control fantasies, but there it is
So my guess is theres something lasting going on here, and that means the doctor has just prescribed a very large chill pill for those who want to whack away at Medicare and Medicaid and CHIP because theyre going bankrupt bankrupt I tell you! Theyre not, and our energies would be much better spent on careful research on the factors behind these recent cost trends and how we can build on them. The goal is not to diminish these extremely valuable programs. Its to enhance their efficiency so as to ensure that they remain a solid part of American social policy.
My guess would be that at least the Republican leadership (perhaps not the actual members of the lunatic caucus) is aware that this is happening. They've got one last shot at taking a whack at these programs before having to face the fact that they'll need come up with a whole other rationale for doing so.
http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2013/03/because-of-obamacare-republicans-are.html
Linked Article:
Are Health Costs Really Slowing? And What Does it Mean If They Are?
The fact shown in the first chart belowa decline in the rate of health spending per personis becoming pretty widely known. Whats not known is whether this trend will stick. As I suggest below, based on the new ERP chapter, I think at least some of it will, and if it does, it signals one of the more important economic developments of our time, with far reaching implications for fiscal policy (and for jobs and growth too, but Ill speak to that in a different post).
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MORE HERE:
http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/are-health-costs-really-slowing-and-what-does-it-mean-if-they-are/
This good it really is!
MotherPetrie
(3,145 posts)sheshe2
(83,355 posts)So IMHO you did not read the article or go to the links provided.
MotherPetrie
(3,145 posts)sheshe2
(83,355 posts)Not conspiracy theories.
I have written to my Senators, and have posted to the White House. I now will wait and see. I will not pull out my hair, scream or cry, for an event that has not happened. I in fact trust Our President to do what is right for the American people. As yet, he has not proved me wrong. This is my humble opinion.
You, MotherPetrie are entitled to your own.
MotherPetrie
(3,145 posts)No, I am not going to provide you with links. They are all over this site, find them for yourself if you don't believe me, or simply Google it. However, I don't believe for an instant that you are unaware of this well-known by now reality.
As someone who depends entirely on the equivalent of SS -- Federal retirement -- to live on, I am NOT going to close my eyes to the very real possibility that I may be facing a reduced income the longer I live, thanks to President Obama's continuing efforts to reduce how SS is calculated. I don't trust him in the slightest.
sheshe2
(83,355 posts)Conspiracy theories run deep here. Very deep.
Yet, with eyes open, I have not seen the end results of Obama's "continuing efforts to reduce how SS is calculated".
I have not been privy to the negotiations that you have. I for one was not invited to that table that is so laden with chained CPI and the destruction of SS as we know it. I have no idea how that table can stand, with all the weight it bears. That is a heavy load.
Oh, I know that you do not trust him in the slightest, you have made that clear, many times.
That is your loss.