Democrats Break Down Impact Of GOP Medicare Plan District By District

From TPM.com:

Democrats Break Down Impact Of GOP Medicare Plan District By District

House Democrats have broken down the massive changes to Medicare and Medicaid proposed by the House GOP into a convenient take home size.

Democratic Reps. Henry Waxman (CA) and Frank Pallone (NJ), voters can now see what Democrats say is the direct impact of the Republican plan to turn Medicare into a voucher system on every congressional district in the country.

Waxman and Pallone have set up an interactive map that allows viewers to pop open a report on the impact of the Medicare change on the population in their community.

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Ok, this is a START.

The Democrats need to make sure that this is in bold linkage on every Congressional and Senatorial Website, as well as the DNC.

They need to get this into the hands of as many folks as possible. I hope you will spread the word about the site, because it has not only Medicare impact, but Medicaid impact.

I'll say it again...the Democrats need to stop running away from defending MEDICAID. They need to stand up, and put out the REAL FACE of Medicaid dollars: a White Grandma or Grandpa in a Nursing Home.

10 Myths About Medicaid

I have been posting as much as I could about how the GOP wants to kill Medicare and Medicaid. While the Medicare intent has been obvious, and there has been focus on the reaction to the attempt to kill Medicare, MEDICAID has not gotten the attention that it should.

I believe this is because, in so much of the simple-minded MSM, they still believe the GOP utter LIE that the typical Medicaid user is an illegal immigrant with her 3 Anchor Babies, or a poor Black woman with her 3 children by 3 different Baby Daddies.

I have been trying to point out that although, percentage wise of patients on Medicaid, ARE poor mothers and children..

In terms PERCENTAGE of MEDICAID DOLLARS, there is not one, but TWO groups that outstrips poor mothers and children:

Group 1 - Senior Citizens in Nursing Homes.

I keep on saying this over and over, but the Democrats need to hire folks to hang out on the weekends in front of nursing homes, and inform ' family' members, that if, the GOP has their way, THEY will have to come up with the cost of the nursing home. Ask them the simple question - DO YOU HAVE THE MONEY TO PAY FOR THIS?

If not, then you have no business voting GOP.

Group 2 - The Disabled

I think it's a good thing that we, as a country, decided that the disabled in our society deserve healthcare and other services that Medicaid provide.

I tell the story of a family friend who had a disabled family member. She just died a couple of years ago, in her 80's. She lived with family her entire life, and Medicaid helped with certain services for her. I think that's the way it should be, and that just because people are disabled does not mean that they aren't deserving of medical care and services. I think the disabled community is more on top of it, and understand what the GOP is threatening, and are mobilizing.

If you know someone who has a family member in a nursing home, or is disabled, more than likely, they use MEDICAID.

We need to PROTECT MEDICAID, from the Lord of the Flies mentality that permeates the GOP.

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The Kaiser Family Foundation has just published - The 10 Myths About Medicaid.


Myth 1—Medicaid is an antiquated program and needs to be modernized.

❏ FACT: Medicaid has demonstrated throughout its history that it is an innovative program and evolves with the changing American health care system.

Ever since the original passage of Medicaid, the waiver process has allowed states to experiment with new concepts of benefit design, eligibility, and delivery systems.

After evaluating these demonstrations, innovations can be adopted as standard options that don’t require a waiver from the federal government.

Managed care is an example of an innovation that became a standard option-about 60 percent of beneficiaries are in managed care. A current innovation that several states are experimenting with is moving long-term care services towards a home and community based setting.

Additionally, Medicaid’s structure has allowed it to expand and readily adapt to emerging issues in the American health system like the HIV/AIDS crisis.

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GOP Liars on Medicare- Their Latest FRAUD

from The Plum Line:

John Boehner: Only Dems have voted to cut Medicare
By Greg Sargent


John Boehner made some comments to reporters today about the results in New York’s 26th Congressional district, and the quote that’s getting most of the attention is his claim that Medicare played only a “small part” of the Dem victory on Tuesday night.

But I think this Boehner quote, buried in Dave Weigel’s report on today’s presser, is the more interesting one:

The only people in Washington, DC who have voted to cut Medicare have been the Democrats,” said Boehner, “when they voted to cut $500 billion in Medicare during Obamacare.”

Only Dems “voted to cut Medicare”? Of course, House Republicans did vote to pass the Ryan budget back in April; only four House Republicans voted against it. The only way for Boehner’s claim to be true is if the Ryan plan doesn’t cut Medicare. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Ryan plan cuts the amount of Medicare spending on seniors in relation to overall health care costs. It also reduces the amount of annual Medicare spending as a share of GDP. For it to be true that only Dems have voted to cut Medicare, neither of those would have to count as cuts.

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More Ramifications from the Michigan Financial Martial Law Bill:Look at what's happening in the Detroit School System

A question here ----where is the opposition from the CBC Members from Michigan? Why aren't they on tv talking about this?

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Rachel Maddow has done a yoeman's job in trying to be the town crier on the violence against communities that is resulting from the Financial Martial Law Passed in Michigan.

Here is a piece on a school in Detroit, a school that sends its graduates - teenaged mothers - onto college.

Rachel said this towards the end of the story : "What is new here is that this state has decided that local elections, locally elected officials are a problem that has to be done away with, that democracy is in the way of fixing problems in the United States now, of making things more efficient, particularly in poor places. Not that democracy is the way we fix problems but that democracy is the problem and it therefore needs to be sidestepped for efficiency sake, for our own good. Governor knows best.

"The point here, what makes Benton Harbor a national story and Katherine Ferguson Academy a national story is that the whole idea of choice for them anymore is purely hypothetical. The state has chosen for them. And that they've got is, frankly, that aforementioned dictator. Their hope -- their one hope -- is the dictator is benevolent.

"Is that how we think problems should get solved in America now?"

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Here's more background on this story:

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If you thought MEDICAID would be spared by the GOP, you were DELUSIONAL. Their plans to destroy it

I already posted about the GOP Scam to DESTROY MEDICARE...

you didn't think Medicaid would be left untouched, did you?

Silly people.

Medicaid gets a bad rap, gutless politicians have let the right wing tar it as a program that only helps the undeserving poor Black and Brown children, and you know the Brown children are illegal...and cause they're poor, they're leeches, who shouldn't get any medical care, because after all, that's what emergency rooms are for.

Here's a graph of the actual breakdown in Medicaid Recipients and Medicaid funding:



Look....while the children are the highest % of enrollees, look at the % of DOLLARS that they take get from Medicaid. Children are behind the Disabled AND Elderly in how many dollars they get.

I've been talking about the little acknowledged secret about Medicaid for awhile now..

PERCENTAGE WISE- IN TERMS OF DOLLARS, LOOK AT IT...

MIDDLE CLASS FOLKS PUTTING MOM AND DAD IN NURSING HOMES.

The elderly get 2 and a half TIMES the money compared to their percentage of enrollees.

I can’t wait for all those Middle-Class White folks, especially those that voted GOP - from around the country to realize that the GOP is cutting off the money for Mom and Dad’s Nursing Home.

I say Middle-Class White folks, not to say that Middle-Class folks who aren’t White don’t use Medicaid for Mom and Dad’s Nursing Home, it’s just that the likelihood of them having the schizophrenia of voting for the people who would throw Mom and Dad out onto the street is just smaller….because they don’t live in the land of delusion where they believe that the GOP is NOT talking about them when they discuss ’ cuts’......and a whole lot of White Middle-Class and Working Class do.

Here's how the scam is going to go down:

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You know, I know THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE, but sometimes, their obviousness borders on the obscene

from The Miami Herald:

Legislators: They. Are. For. Sale.
By HOWARD TROXLER
htroxler@sptimes.com

There is no state, no nation, no planet and no universe where it should be legal to pay off a Legislature directly.
There is no government in which a sworn lawmaker should be able to take unlimited payoffs from those seeking favorable treatment.

And yet this is now precisely the law of Florida.

In an earlier column I called the Florida Legislature “the Whore of Babylon” for passing a law last week that legalizes its own bribery.

But the topic cries out not to be forgotten — because this is a turning point in the state of Florida’s history.

It is now legal in Florida for the leaders of our House and Senate, of both the Republican and Democratic parties, to operate what are laughably called “leadership funds.”

If you are an interest group in Florida, a corporation, a lobbyist seeking favor, you go to these “leadership” funds run by lawmakers

And you pay them.

They will launder the money into local elections around the state, to keep electing more obedient followers.

This is so astonishing a corruption that it defies belief.

The bill in question is House Bill 1207, passed in the 2010 legislative session.

Then-Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed it. Last Thursday the Legislature overrode the veto.

The House vote was 81-39. The Senate vote was 30-9.

The twisted logic used in the Capitol, and what your legislator will try to tell you, is that it’s better for the Legislature to be paid off directly.

See, they will write it down in a separate little report. So this is all about “informing the public” and “transparency.”

If they try to give you this line, just ask this question:

“So, is it legal to make unlimited payoffs to ‘leadership funds’ that are operated directly by the leaders of the Legislature, or not?”

Yes.

People ask: What can I do?

You can call or you can e-mail. You can go to the House’s website, www.myfloridahouse.com, or the Senate’s, www.flsenate.gov, and find contact information for your legislator. (However, I beg you to be firm but civil, especially to the hard-working staff — the world is rude enough already, isn’t it?)

But they are counting on you not to do anything at all.

Instead, here is what they are counting on you to do:

Reelect them.

Howard Troxler is a columnist for the St. Petersburg Times.

You know, this doesn't surprise me. Nothing they do surprises me anymore, but still, we must put it forth, because there are some out there with the utter delusion that the GOP is about anything other than being BOUGHT AND PAID FOR BY BIG BUSINESS. Yes, there are those delusional out there, and they are realizing it - the HARD WAY. You elect a STRAIGHT UP CROOK for Governor - what did you expect. This proposal was so repulsive that even the oil slick known as Charlie Crist had to veto it. I want to feel bad for you in Florida, I really do. But, sometimes, you get what you elect, and so, ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES. Now that your state is up LITERALLY to the highest bidder....see what happens to you NOW.

In 'THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE' News - Buried Provision In House GOP Bill Would Cut Off Food Stamps To Entire Families If One Member Strikes

from ThinkProgress:

Buried Provision In House GOP Bill Would Cut Off Food Stamps To Entire Families If One Member Strikes

All around the country, right-wing legislators are asking middle class Americans to pay for budget deficits caused mainly by a recession caused by Wall Street; they are attacking workers’ collective bargaining rights, which has provoked a huge Main Street Movement to fight back.

Now, a group of House Republicans is launching a new stealth attack against union workers. GOP Reps. Jim Jordan (OH), Tim Scott (SC), Scott Garrett (NJ), Dan Burton (IN), and Louie Gohmert (TX) have introduced H.R. 1135, which states that it is designed to “provide information on total spending on means-tested welfare programs, to provide additional work requirements, and to provide an overall spending limit on means-tested welfare programs.”

Much of the bill is based upon verifying that those who receive food stamps benefits are meeting the federal requirements for doing so. However, one section buried deep within the bill adds a startling new requirement. The bill, if passed, would actually cut off all food stamp benefits to any family where one adult member is engaging in a strike against an employer:
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The bill also includes a provision that would exempt households from losing eligibility, “if the household was eligible immediately prior to such strike, however, such family unit shall not receive an increased allotment as the result of a decrease in the income of the striking member or members of the household.”

Yet removing entire families from eligibility while a single adult family member is striking would have a chilling effect on workers who are considering going on strike for better wages, benefits, or working conditions — something that is especially alarming in light of the fact that unions are one of the fundamental building blocks of the middle class that allow people to earn wages that keep them off food stamps.

This is who they are. Time and time again, they are showing you who they are. They have absolutely nothing but contempt for the working man and woman that doesn't want to spend their lives as serfs to companies, and want to fight for a decent wage. This isn't a shock...because this is just another example of how these lowlifes operate.

Some More Updates on the Lying Wisconsin Governor

1. He got punked yesterday.





If you want to read a detailed transcript of the call is right here.

2. He admits what the end goal is, and it has absolutely NOTHING to do with 'FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY'

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Let's get this clear about Wisconsin Governor Walker: 1. He's a liar 2. He's a paid stooge of the Koch Brothers, 3. He's a bully.

hat tip-3CHICSPOLITICO.COM and others

1. Governor Walker is a LIAR.

PERIOD.

Wisconsin's Pension Fund isn't in trouble.

In fact, Wisconsin's Pension Fund Among Nation's Healthiest

While Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has painted a dire picture of his state's pension obligations, Wisconsin's pension fund for public employees is among the nation's strongest, according to a report by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center.

The Pew report, issued last year, concluded that Wisconsin is a "national leader in managing its long-term liabilities for both pension and retiree health care." Walker has cited the fund's lack of sustainability as grounds for his plan to revoke collective bargaining rights for state employees, but that proposal has sparked outrage among state employees and drawn tens of thousands of protesters to the state's capitol.

"We're going to ask our state and local workers ... to pay a little bit more, to sacrifice, to help to balance this budget," Walker said in a Sunday interview with Fox News' Chris Wallace, adding that he would be forced to lay off 5,000 to 6,000 state employees if his budget plan was not approved, as well as a comparable number of local public employees.

But the Wisconsin pension fund is simply not in fiscal trouble. Its managers weren't burned by subprime mortgage assets or mortgage-backed securities as the housing bubble collapsed. The fund also relies on an automated dividend system, which pays out benefits in years the system is making gains while restricting payouts in years when it takes losses. And while the pension fund had a rough year during 2008 due to stock market losses, it remains robust, both in terms of fundamental financial stability and in comparison to other state pension programs.

According to the Pew study, Wisconsin had about $77 billion in total pension liabilities in 2008. But according to that same Pew study, those liabilities were 99.67 percent "funded," giving Wisconsin one of the four-highest of such ratios in the nation. Other states had funding ratios as low as 54 percent. For comparison, expert analysts and the Government Accountability Office consider an 80 percent level to be a good benchmark for pension fund stability, while Fitch Ratings considers 70 percent adequate.

He lied about the budget. He inherited a BUDGET SURPLUS that turned into a budget deficit because of TAX BREAKS that he gave to his friends.

2. He's a paid stooge of the Koch Brothers.

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Secret RNC Files Reveal Republican Strategy

Republicans were seriously busted this week. An RNC fundraising presentation reveals the core of their overall strategy. The files reveal what many of us have been saying for years regarding how the Republicans manipulate the public. It confirms how the Republicans use fear (this is why their propaganda is so ridiculously over the top)...and it is also why they target the ill informed. But the papers reveal something worse...that the leadership of the Republican Party has a certain contempt for their own base voters. Stunning (not in the sense that this is what really goes on...many of us already knew that. But stunning in the sense that it is now out there for all to see). Sadly though... stupid American voters will still support these people.

Hear Howard Deans take on this.

From TPM

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele appeared on Fox News this afternoon, and had to answer some tough questions about the recent internal fundraising presentation that included negative depictions of President Obama, Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- and the RNC's own donors.

The fundraising presentation, which was originally reported by the Politico, included the infamous illustration of Obama as the Joker, and also compared Pelosi to Cruella de Vil. It also directed how to appeal to "ego-driven" large donors, and to appeal to small donors through "fear" and "extreme negative feelings" and "reactionary" attitudes against the Obama administration.

Watch as Steele fumbles in his attempts to explain... lol

Rep. Anthony Weiner - the GOP is a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry

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O'Donnell bitchslaps Thiessen

hat tips- whiterosebuddy and Miranda.

Background for this from whiterosebuddy:
Did anyone else see that smackdown brawl on MorningJoe between O'Donnell and that asshole Thiessen?
He's the one with the new book claiming that Obama has dismantled some program and that he should not be killing the terrorists cause then we don't get intel? I posted a blurb about that nonsense on thurs thread.

OMG! You should have seen O'Donnell rip into this guy...Joe had to go for a break and even said, when we come back I will interview Thiessen alone.

After he was silenced, Joe gave O'Donnell one last query...and O'Donnell set it up by saying, what kind of experience do you have as a guy who grew up in the wealthiest zip code on EastSide and went to the only boarding school In CT with a golf course and having never served in the military, what experience do you have to say...... I was like DAyUUUM just put this obsequious phucker on blast O'Donnell!!

It was SWEEET!!

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More GOP lies on healthcare

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The New GOP SCAM in the Senate

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Howard Dean on why 'bi-partisanship' is BULL

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How the Republicans are going to attempt to stop HEALTHCARE REFORM

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From Time Magazine:

How Republicans Should Talk About Health Care
By Randy James Thursday, May. 07, 2009

The Gist:

Politicians in Washington often speak with their own vocabulary. If they're Republicans, Frank Luntz helped write their dictionary. The influential GOP pollster and language guru has had a hand in framing the party's message since 1994's Contract with America, persuading Republicans to drop terms like "estate tax" and "oil drilling" in favor of the far more message-friendly "death tax" and "energy exploration" among other rebrandings. His latest project: the health-care debate. Relying on polling and "instant response dial sessions," Luntz penned a 28-page memo, leaked to Politico, giving Republicans the soundbites designed to spin them to victory. (See five truths about health care in America.)

Highlight Reel:

Luntz Tip No. 1: Scare people. Especially about their children.

Luntz's memo includes a road map to how to most effectively scare the bejeezus out of the American public when it comes to health care. Results show the phrase health care rationing frightened the most people, so Republicans are urged to sprinkle it around describing Democratic reform plans. It's also better to warn that Democrats want to put politicians in charge of health care, rather than bureaucrats: "Bureaucrats are scary — but at least they are professionals."

Finally, extra points for bringing voters' children into the conversation. "For the parents we talked to, the idea of waiting in line for the treatment they need — or being flat-out denied that treatment — was deeply worrying. But the idea that their children might not get life saving treatment in time? Unacceptable."

2. You, too, can be anti-corporate populists.

Americans don't like the insurance industry, Luntz writes to Republicans, and neither should they: "We suggest ratcheting up the rhetoric against insurance companies to almost the same degree as you do against Washington bureaucracy." In fact, the whole discussion of health care as an economic issue should be scuttled — it should be framed as a personal, human issue at every opportunity. So less talk of consumers and free markets, more talk of patients and wellness. Besides, he points out, "in case you missed it, capitalism isn't exactly in vogue these days."

3. Choose the right words, and keep using them.

As the Focus Group Shakespeare, Luntz's memo is packed with poll-driven, soundbite-friendly phrases to choose from. Expect to hear Republicans soon speaking earnestly of preserving "the sacred doctor-patient relationship" by never "putting politicians in charge of your health care." And not just any old politicians, but "federal bureaucrats, Washington lobbyists and out-of-touch politicians." Luntz even strings his creations together into mini-speeches on the topic, including phrases such as this soon-to-be C-SPAN classic: "We need targeted reform with measurable results that improves patient care — not a politicized, special interest-driven radical restructuring."

4. Leave Obama out of it.

Though he doesn't say so directly, Luntz makes clear that the President's popularity is too much for the GOP to counter right now. So better to frame the health care fight as a battle between Republicans and Democrats, or, better still, Americans and politicians. "If you make this debate about Republicans vs. Obama, you lose."

Rest of article at link above.

HERE IS LUNTZ'S MEMO IN FULL.

Read it for yourself, and don't let the GOPers slide by. Nail them to the wall.