Bush, after 'phase out' comment, says Medicare needs reform

[jpak]

Source: USA Today

Jeb Bush, under fire from Democrats for saying he would “phase out” Medicare, said Thursday the program has to be reformed because of unsustainable costs in the long run.

“It’s an actuarially unsound health care system,” Bush told the crowd at a town hall in New Hampshire, adding that “$50 trillion dollars of debt has been accrued and if we do nothing, that’s the burden that we’re going to place on your children and grandchildren.”

Bush spoke a day after making Medicare comments at another town hall: “We need to figure out a way to phase out this program for others and move to a new system that allows them to have something — because they’re not going to have anything.”

Democrats pounced on the “phase out” comment, saying Bush wants to gut the old age health insurance program that has been around for half a century.

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Read more: http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/07/23/bush-clarifies-claim-to-phase-out-med

[TwilightGardener]

1. Hmm, I didn't hear "reform", I heard "phase out".

Same as a few weeks ago, I didn't hear that people who want more than part-time work should be able to work more, I heard that we peons all "need to work longer hours" to be more productive. He is as gaffe-tastic as his brother.

[Gman]

15. He forgot to use the code word for phase out

Which is "reform".

[Faygo Kid]

2. He said "phase out" except for those NOW getting it. Good luck, 64 year olds.

This guy may be more dangerous than any in the GOP field, including Cruz, Walker, et al. Plus, he loves war, except for his family.

"We need to make sure we fulfill the commitment to people that have already received the benefits, that are receiving the benefits," Bush said.

Anything there about those close to receiving the benefits? No!

No more Bushes!!

[Fritz Walter]

3. Is that the whiff of desperation I'm detecting?

James Ellis BUSH is declining (losing?) in the polls, so he's clutching at straws to try to regain popularity among the Repuke base.

[Historic NY]

12. Wait until his base of old farts wake up...

and find he want to reform their medicare

[DesertFlower]

24. i was just thinking that. will

they vote against their own interests like so many repubs do?

[LiberalElite]

36. I do really wish there weren't ageist posts on DU.

Do you really think there aren't people older than you who are members here?

[Duppers]

40. Poster was referring to the fact that

Most influential rethugs are aging old farts.

This old gal is not in the least offended because I know that too many of my southern peers are idiots.

[LiberalElite]

42. Good for you

[Scarsdale]

23. Poppy Bush

What needs to be "phased out" is the retirement plans, and medical coverage of the millionaires who retire from politics. His father will live to be 110 with the Cadillac insurance he has, plus the generous pension from TAXPAYERS. Why are we saddled paying pensions, plus yearly increases to millionaires, who lined their pockets screwing taxpayers during their terms? The worst president EVER (W) now pgets $400,000 a year, plus a million more for office expenses, He gives speeches, which are closed to journalists, with fees of up to $250,000. Even bland, boring Laura charges $50,000 a speech, plus private jet travel expenses. I worked 25 years at the same company, my pension is $400 a month, no healthcoverage. No raises, it will be the same for the rest of my life. I am glad to get it, but why do these crooks retire in luxury, after not even working a full week, going on vacations paid for by lobbyists. Rember Trent Lott? He said he could not remember EVER paying for his own lunch while he was in office!!

[LiberalElite]

37. ^^^^THIS^^^^

[Scuba]

4. "Unsustainable costs" sounds more like our defense budget to me.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

5. Tomato, tomahto.

[YOHABLO]

6. How about a real national healthcare system Jeb? Huh? We need Medicare for EVERYBODY.

[DesertFlower]

25. exactly. that would save medicare

because young people would be paying into it.

[jtuck004]

7. The fiscally responsible thing to do, then, is to raise taxes on your rich buddies to get out of

debt, and then come up with a cooperative program, maybe a single-payer sort of thing, or maybe even just health care because it is the smart thing for a nation to do? Take it out of the hands of health insurance companies who only take a profit and add nothing of value, out of the hands of the billionaires who suck excess profit from Oxycontin and other pharmaceuticals.

Put it back in the hands of working people.

[flamin lib]

8. Instead of shifting all that debt to our kids,

how about shifting it back to the very wealthy and corporations?

[steve2470]

9. No, you LIAR, you want PHASE-OUT....

Stick to your guns. I'd have more respect for you if you did. Scum.

[Enrique]

10. did I say phase out?

I meant "save"!

[oldandhappy]

11. Just wrote (hand wrote on note card) a note

to say I am 76 years old, I vote, I like Medicare.

Please join me.

[whathehell]

31. I'll definitely join you.

[oldandhappy]

39. Thanks

This gives me an idea to put it in under activism.

[subterranean]

13. $50 TRILLION of debt? WTF is he talking about??

[Recursion]

41. That was the projected combined SS and Medicare gap if you projected the programs into eternity

And that was 11 years ago.

http://www.mcknights.com/news/medicare-and-social-security-trustees-forecasts-50-trillion-gap/article/100760/

[NCjack]

14. "Quick Draw" Jeb has already shot off all his toes. Wonder what's

next? Maybe a shot into his genitals? The DEMs will feast on his "mis-speaks".

[Helen Borg]

16. Work harder until you die.

And you'll die when you are older and cannot afford any health care.

[Botany]

17. Scrambles McScrambles

"Did I say phase out?" Jeb bush

“We need to figure out a way to phase out this program for others and move to a new system .... " Jeb bush

[Astraea]

18. oh but 20, 40% yearly increases in premiums

and higher and higher deductibles are right where it's at.

Fuck you and the silver spoon you rode in on, troll.

[DebbieCDC]

19. And he's supposed to be the smart one

[The_Casual_Observer]

21. Sad part is that he's IS the smart one in that bunch.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

20. It needs reform all right

reformed to pay better and serve more illnesses or conditions, like mental and dental health......

[DesertFlower]

26. i agree. my grandmother

was one of the first recipients of medicare. we were shocked when we found it didn't cover eye glasses or new teeth.

[ion_theory]

22. Amazing how this man thinks he can get away

with trying to get rid of Medicare. The more he opens his mouth, the better it looks for Walker.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

27. yes Bush privatixation

He can explain to all seniors ehy they should pay for their own health insurance.

[Gothmog]

28. That is a weak walkback

[silvershadow]

29. The Bush political dynasty needs to be phased out at the ballot box. nt

[whathehell]

30. In Repuke Speak, Reform = Cuts.

[Judi Lynn]

32. Incredible he would even bring up the word, "Medicare," after his friend ripped it off.

Absolutely astonishing!

From Bush Family Value$

The Bush clan's family business

—By Stephen Pizzo

| Tue Sep. 1, 1992 3:00 AM EDT :

Jeb and Miguel Recarey
With Miami awash in empty office space in 1986, it was no small event when bagged International Medical Centers as a key tenant for Padreda's HUD-financed building. IMC, which leased nearly all the space in Padreda's vacant building, was at the time one of the nation's fastest-growing health-maintenance organizations (HMO) and had become the largest recipient of federal Medicare funds.

IMC was run by Cuban-American Miguel Recarey, a character with a host of idiosyncrasies. He carried a 9-mm Heckler & Koch semiautomatic pistol under his suit coat and kept a small arsenal of AR-15 and Uzi assault rifles at his Miami estate, where his bedroom was protected by bullet-proof windows and a steel door. It apparently wasn't his enemies Recarey feared so much as his friends. He had a long-standing relationship with Miami Mafia godfather Santo Trafficante, Jr., and had participated in the illfated, CIA-inspired mob assassination plot against Fidel Castro in the early 1960s. (Associates of Recarey add that Trafficante was the money behind Recarey's business ventures.)

Recarey's brother, Jorge, also had ties to the CIA. So it was no surprise that IMC crawled with former spooks. Employee résumés were studded with references to the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the Cuban Intelligence agency; there was even a fellow who claimed to have been a KGB agent, An agent with the U.S. Office of Labor Racketeering in Miami would later describe IMC as a company in which "a criminal enterprise interfaced with intelligence operations."

Recarey also surrounded himself with those who could influence the political system. He hired Jeb Bush as IMC's "real-estate consultant." Though Jeb would never close a single real-estate deal, his contract called for him to earn up to $250,000 (he actually received $75,000). Jeb's real value to Recarey was not in real estate but in his help in facilitating the largest HMO Medicare fraud in U.S. history.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/1992/09/bush-family-value

[lobodons]

33. Tea Party not going to like this idea

After all, they are the ones who protested for the Government to keep their hands of their Medicare!!

[itsrobert]

34. This is supposedly the "smarter brother"?

[TexasBushwhacker]

35. Sorry Jeb! Backpedaling isn't an Olympic event n/t

[TheNutcracker]

38. How many misspeaks/passes does Jeb get? He clearly is not up to speaking in these times.

And he forgets that most of the voters are seniors.

I'll bet poppy is on Medicare. I'll bet he just doesn't go buy his own private insurance, because he can....oh no, I'll bet he's on Medicare. Kick off the 1%. Start there Jeb.

[whathehell]

43. His dad, Poppy Bush, called it "Socialism" at its start in the 1960:s..

when he was in Congress, and of course, voted against it.

[jpak]

44. A blast from the past

[whathehell]

45. One might almost view it as a "famiy tradition".