Trashing Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) as "Dr. Kevorkian," CNN political
contributor Paul Begala condemned the congressman's bold proposal to
revamp Medicare in his latest op-ed for CNN.com [1]. If the GOP follows Ryan's plan, "like lemmings," Begala wrote that their agenda will end in disaster.
He interpreted the plan as nothing less than an attempt "to deny ill and
infirm seniors the health care they deserve - while giving oil
companies billions in taxpayer subsidies." The "lives and health" of the
elderly are now in the hands of the "tender mercies" of the insurance
companies. Is this a hint at death panels?
Ryan's plan involves transforming Medicare, which he sees as a fiscally
unsustainable program in the long run, into a voluntary system where
the elderly are covered by private insurance companies and their
premiums are subsidized by the government.
The
subsidies are also income-dependent, where the top eight percent income
earners receive less support for their subsidy and those earning less
than 150 percent of the poverty level will receive extra money in a
medical savings account.
The CBO reports that seniors will end up paying much more for their
health care under Ryan's plan than under the current Medicare system.
However, Ryan claims that Medicare as it currently stands is
unsustainable in the long run, and that something must be done. Begala
ignores this and instead asks why Ryan doesn't want to end subsidies for
oil corporations and special insterests.
"Republicans have always hated Medicare, but most Americans have always
loved it," Begala ominously begins his screed. While admitting that
Ryan is "bright" and "engaging and charming," Begala hammers him as
gutless, a "young and privileged man harming the most vulnerable while
rewarding the most wealthy."
And cue the character assassination."Born into a family whose 125
year-old corporation boasts that it is 'one of the nation's largest
site-work contractors,' Mr. Ryan won the genetic lottery," Begala writes
rather enviously. But he is quick to frame Ryan as someone who didn't
attain his present position by getting his hands dirty. Ryan "has no
calluses on his hands. Just on his heart."
Will the GOP show "true grit" and go after the oil corporations and
special interests to reduce the deficit, Begala asks. Or, he adds, "will
they once again succumb to the sirens' song of pseudo-courage and run
once more into the Medicare buzz saw?"
- Matt Hadro is an analyst with the Media Research Center.