01
Sep
Republicans: Staunch Defenders of Medicare
Excellent:
Man, I bet if I were a libertarian who spent the last couple of months defending teabaggers and pimping every Republican lie about fiscal responsibility, I’d feel pretty damned stupid right now. I wish there was some way I could put this on infinite loop in Reason HQ so they would have something to watch in between Fox News appearances and watching PJTV.
But don’t you dare call them Republicans.
Keith
What’s with that awesome background music?
Jim
Every person over the age of 65 ate breadcrumbs and rat tail during the Depression and then immediately enlisted after Pearl Harbor. Of course they’ve earned unlimited health care, no matter how badly their quality of life sucks now.
Trollhattan
Who’d have guessed Michael Steele would be the second coming of Claude Pepper?
Keep you gummint hands off my Medicare!
cleek
must be fun to be a Republican: your principles are issue-specific and subject to change on a moment’s notice, if the RNC deems it necessary.
joes527
So…. no role whatsoever for government in end of life care.
He seems to be advocating that anyone with a life threatening condition should automatically lose their Medicare coverage.
The Grand Panjandrum
Wow. What planet is the GOP operating from these days? But this should help a little—Kos retweeted a gem this morning.
arguingwithsignposts
You’re assuming McMe-again feels shame or remorese. To do so, one must be able to acknowledge that one was wrong.
flounder
This is going to turn out badly. Badly hilarious.
AW
Am I missing something?
It’s stupid, yes, but it’s not amazingly stupid.
Comes off as the Diet Coke of stupid, to be honest. Was expecting Nuka Cola Quantum stupid when I saw the title and description.
kay
They’re freaking terrified the wasteful boondoggle know as “Medicare Advantage, 2003” is going to get cut, because it’s profitable, although it’s a complete taxpayer rip-off.
Steele should tell people how much extra his sacred cow subsidy to private insurers is costing every single taxpayer. Lots.
Keith
I give Steele another week before he’s insisting that health care reform includes incentives for reverse mortgages and chairs that lift you to a standing position.
Bill Rutherford, Princeton Admissions
I wonder what percentage of Red Eye’s viewership consists of Reasonoids hoping for a Kerry Howley nipple slip.
Demo Woman
John, I noticed that you have a category called clown shoes and Doug has a category called assholes, shouldn’t this be filed under assholes with clown shoes?
@The Grand Panjandrum: Sadly that’s true.
Sloth
You know you are winning an argument when your opponent is taking your side.
Demo Woman
uh oh… I just used the banned s*ho*es word… Sorry mods
CapMidnight
We are at war with Euthanasia. We have always been at war with Euthanasia.
MobiusKlein
Ugh, how about a children’s bill of rights, guaranteeing them the same coverage as anybody on medicare?
Surely if we have a program to pay for drug costs for folks over 65, no kid who needs his asthma medicine to live should be treated any different?
Oh wait, children can’t vote. Never mind.
Aaron
@AW:
AW, a Fallout fan, I am guessing? :-)
And being a Republican means never having to say on Wednesday what you fought to the death for on Monday
AW
@Aaron:
I like think of the Fallout as a simulation of the world after a century of continuous Republican rule.
I know I’LL be ready.
Graeme
Too right, John. I’m getting to the point where I’m excited to vote against the Republicans again.
And I’m one of those libertarian independents they lost during the Bush Administration.
The stupidity and incoherence of their message is nothing short of a galling insult to our collective intelligence.
Michael
Libertarians are incapable of feeling stupid. You ever read the shit they dribble out over at Reason?
Citizen_X
@The Grand Panjandrum:
I think I’d go with “I can see Cthulhu from my house,” but that works, too.
arguingwithsignposts
@CapMidnight:
Re: The War on Euthanasia, I can’t let that pass without linking to a This American Life episode with David Sedaris – The Youth in Asia.
WARNING: The story is about a pet dying, but the part about the youth in asia is funny.
When a pet dies, to what degree can it be replaced by another? And to what degree can pets replace people in our lives? David Sedaris tells this story of cats and dogs and other animals. (16 minutes)
brent
One of the things that Steele does all the time which drives me crazy is his use of the phrase “how come” instead of “why.” Not that I would like the man if he didn’t use that phrase less but somehow it suggests a basic immaturity and simplemindedness to me that makes me want to strike him. How come he can’t talk like an adult?
Brachiator
So when do the Democrats get on the media to pull out all those previous GOP appearances on the pundit shows in which they either oppose Medicare or call for a reduction in these programs?
ed
Can I call them Pseudo-Libertarian De Facto Republicans? (‘Case I do.)
Mike
Will there be a hip hop version for the young people?
slag
@arguingwithsignposts:
Agreed. Complete lack of self-awareness is a neoconservative/libertarian hallmark.
Bill White
In October 2008 John McCain favored Medicare cuts to fund his health care proposals.
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.
The Republican presidential nominee has said little about the proposed cuts, but they are needed to keep his health-care plan “budget neutral,” as he has promised. The McCain campaign hasn’t given a specific figure for the cuts, but didn’t dispute the analysts’ estimate.
In the months since Sen. McCain introduced his health plan, statements made by his campaign have implied that the new tax credits he is proposing to help Americans buy health insurance would be paid for with other tax increases.
But 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. Medicare spending for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 is estimated at $457.5 billion.
http://www.npr.org/templates/s.....1&f=3
srv
@The Grand Panjandrum: Did someone ever print the “Palin 2012-2013 1/2” bumper sitcker?
Barry
“Man, I bet if I were a libertarian who spent the last couple of months defending teabaggers and pimping every Republican lie about fiscal responsibility, I’d feel pretty damned stupid right now. I wish there was some way I could put this on infinite loop in Reason HQ so they would have something to watch in between Fox News appearances and watching PJTV.
But don’t you dare call them Republicans.”
I’m sure that actual Libertarians would feel bad. The sort of ‘libertarians’ who have propaganda jobs have had to learn to suppress such feelings long ago.
chrismealy
Shorter Republicans: Under 65? Go fuck yourself.
The Cat Who Would Be Tunch
Did Steele just use “you’re with us or against us” argument with HCR? So now, we’re either with the seniors or with the terrorists?
Also, why the heck haven’t the Democrats (either from government or from progressive organizations) put together a speaking tour/media appearances of former lobbyists or employees of insurance companies? Not that this idea is entirely original – it actually came to me when reading Kristof’s Op-Ed in the NYT about a former lobbyist-turned-health-care reform advocate.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@Brachiator:
About a month before the 2010 midterm elections. It’s called paid political advertising. You can even fork over some of your own change to help pay for it, if that’s what you want to see on the TV.
Lyle4
It’s weird how Republicans only support socialism for old people. Well, it’s not really that weird considering old people are their most reliable voting block, but seriously, couldn’t they at least try not to be so obvious?
Brachiator
@ThatLeftTurnInABQ:
Note that I suggested that the Dems get the media to pull their own stuff from their archives, not that they simply run political ads themselves. Do it on the cheap as much as possible. Play up the YouTube clips, etc.
That way you don’t have to wait until 2010.
JL
He wants NO role of the government in end of life care? Wha????
So, the government should have no role in enforcing a living will that requires invasive life saving measures when a doctor or a family member refuses to follow the living will?
The rest of what he said are enormous straw men.
Pangloss
The only thing that’s missing is a gun.
gocart mozart
How come only old people get to have Nazi style healthcare? Where’s my Nazi Healthcare? I want my Hitler Healthcare and I want it now.
Notorious P.A.T.
What cracks me up: Michael Steele is a total washout, an utter buffoon up a creek without a paddle. Yet what Republican would be better-qualified to hold his position? Palin? Gingrich? Cantor?
Notorious P.A.T.
“I think I’d go with “I can see Cthulhu from my house,” but that works, too.”
Trouble is, Sarah Palin lives in Alaska, not along the Miskatonic River.
Tim in SF
The graphics are nice, though. They’re learning.
gocart mozart
Medicare is evil socialism. Why isn’t every senior out in the streets right now warning people about their imminent potential enslavement by their communist masters?
malraux
@Notorious P.A.T.: R’lyeh is located in the Pacific, though its south Pacific, not the north. In addition, at least one Eskimo tribe is known to worship the Great Old One, so it is possible that Cthulhu worship extends to Wassila.
jenniebee
Meh, that was ok, but I’m waiting for the club re-mix.
What is it about Republicans that they’re either only talking to each other, or they’re talking to people with an IQ below 80? Or is that a tautology? Nvrmind.
Blue Texan
I’m not a Republican or a conservative, but I do think Obama’s an American-hating socialist and George W. Bush had it about right.
Sincerely,
Glenn Reynolds
Little Macayla's Friend
@Bill White:
Thanks for the excellent transcript link (and to Steve Inskeep – more terriers!).
And Steele sets himself up for:
“That would be the government, I believe.”
Ken C.
I am steadfastly with Steele: it should be illegal to ration healthcare based on age.
Mr. Wonderful
@ MobiusKlein—
Because children haven’t earned it. Wake up.
JABbering Stooge :: You don’t say? :: September :: 2009
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