Media report Democrats rant about entitlements, but ignore they blocked reform under Bush
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 at 9:48AM Commentary by Kay B. Day
As Democrats rant about alleged GOP obstructionists and threaten to ram a hybrid healthcare bill down American throats, the only conclusion an informed rational person could come to would be the need to start over. Social Security is in trouble, Medicare is in trouble, and although Congress had a chance to act 4 years ago, they didn’t. Democrats blocked reform and they were proud to do so.
First, consider a report from trustees of the Medicare and Social Security trust funds. In May, 2009, the report predicted Social Security trust fund assets will be depleted in 2037. The picture for Medicare is equally bleak: “[W]hile Medicare's annual costs were 3.2 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2008, or about three quarters of Social Security's, they are projected to surpass Social Security expenditures in 2028…”
When President George W. Bush wanted to reform social security, many of us who would gladly accept responsibility for decisions about the money we are required to pay in were denied the opportunity by Democrat obstructionists.
Newsbusters noted, with a photo and a caption, President Barack Obama joining in his fellow Democrats’ jeering and clapping. When Obama was the junior senator, he certainly didn’t see the writing on the wall.
Noel Sheppard, NB associate editor, wrote, “Now that the deficits the Right predicted have begun, it would be nice for the press to point out that George W. Bush and a Republican Congress tried to solve this problem, but were stymied by folks on the left side of the aisle including the current White House resident.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has threatened reconciliation—a benign word for a Party shoving something down your throat when normal legislative processes won’t get his Party what they want.
The Congressional Budget Office is clueless when it comes to what Obama’s healthcare wish list will cost: “Therefore, CBO cannot provide a cost estimate for the proposal without additional detail, and, even if such detail were provided, analyzing the proposal would be a time-consuming process that could not be completed this week. (Feb. 22)”
The Heritage Foundation used three different analyses to compare the Senate and House bills, and included figures from the Dept. Health and Human Services. HHS actuaries calculated $541 billion in cuts to Medicare and a $222 billion increase in overall spending.
The figures should come as no surprise. As government has reduced the private market, costs for those of us in the private market have risen because the money has to come from somewhere.
There was a moment of truth this week when Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams came to the United States for heart surgery. Bear in mind Williams has government healthcare in his own country.
"I did not sign away my right to get the best possible health care for myself when I entered politics," he said. Obviously, government healthcare did not change a simple fact for this patient—you get what you pay for.
Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), chairman of the House Republican Conference, said on Tuesday ahead of the president’s Healthcare Summit, “As this summit is approaching, House Republicans are going to seize every opportunity, on the floor and on the airwaves, to explain to the American people that we have better solutions. We have a proposal that has been online for months that would give Americans the opportunity to choose health insurance across state lines, that would bring about meaningful tort reform, and would even deal with preexisting conditions through existing state funds.”
Four years ago Obama joined his fellow Democrats in jeering when a Republican president urged them to act.
Don’t expect ‘progressive’ media to report the truth. They didn’t in 2006 and they won’t now.
Kay B. Day, Editor
Feb. 24, 2010 Update
What a difference a video can make. Breitbart has a Naked Emperor video up. In that video Democrats like then Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Sen. Harry Reid wax eloquently on the miseries of (drum roll) 'the nuclear option.' Take a look and then ask Vice-President Joe Biden, "How's that 'naked power grab' goin' for ya?"