Just Skip The First Paragraph-- This Is About Obama And Medicare, Not Obama And Syria

If we're already fighting in Syria, it happened between the time I wrote this and Blogger published it. Right now-- as I'm writing-- Israel has just bombed a little for the past few days-- and, of course, there are no boots, no U.S. boots, on the ground in Syria (or... Iran). I'll add an update below when that changes. Although maybe I should remind everyone that in year 5 of the Obama presidency, the occupation of Afghanistan is still cooking along-- albeit as pointlessly as ever. And for some, as painfully. Eight American soldiers here, sixty-four American soldiers there... Vietnam it's not. But it's another pointless all-American tragedy.

No one's accusing Obama of being a secret Republican. Why bother? Establishment Democrats aren't that different from Establishment Republicans most of the time anyway. His catastrophic corporate trade policies are virtually identical with Bush's. Wall Street? Check. Is Penny Pritzker any less of a sleazebag and corporate criminal than anyone Bush appointed? "Obamacare?" Except for the name... it was a discredited Republican proposal to avoid single-payer universal health care. How about wrecking Social Security with Chained CPI-- another Republican idea Obama has embraced-- like the Sequester. Who would have ever imagined a worse Democrat than Bill Clinton in the White House? At least Clinton was smart. Obama really is turning out to be a fool and a lightweight. (No, I didn't vote for him in November. Did you?)

Can Obama do any more damage than he already has to the Democratic brand? Well of course. He has some crappy Republican ideas to wreck Medicare he's feeling good about. No one ever knows how great Medicare is 'til they turn 65. And then it dawns on you-- this isn't a theory; this is the best thing ever! I was the president of a company that was part of a Fortune 500 corporate monster. The carefully negotiated health insurance policy they gave company presidents is the best thing available-- blue chip to the max. Guess what-- so far Social Security is at least just as good. I actually think it's better but I want to give it a year before I make a final judgment. Unless Obama manages to wreck it before the year is up.

Obama says he likes a Republican Austerity plan that combines Medicare's doctor and hospital coverage in a way that saddles beneficiaries with higher costs. The Austerity crowd, both Republicans and the conservative Democrats Obama has surrounded himself with, feel that Medicare beneficiaries need to pay more. The proposals don't attempt to save money; they just shift the costs to beneficiaries while enacting a cap on catastrophic costs. The unified deductable (for Parts A & B) that Obama says he'll go along with is meant to raise expenses by hundreds of dollars for the vast majority of Medicare beneficiaries who aren't getting hospital treatment. "It's just shifting costs," explained Henry Waxman (D-CA), just "a way to ask people to pay more for their premiums." Waxman hasn't even signed onto the Grayson-Takano No Cuts letter and you get the idea that he still hasn't lost faith in Obama yet.

Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) has signed onto the Grayson-Takano letter and has analyzed it and called it a "net loss" for patients that "is not going to control rising costs." Meanwhile, of course, virtually all Republican congressmembers are getting behind Cantor's devious and callous approach that he articulated for the American Enterprise Institute: "We can modernize Medicare so it isn’t so complicated for seniors or healthcare providers. We should begin by ending the arbitrary division between Part A, the hospital program, and Part B, the doctor services."

I'm looking very skeptically on any incumbents who haven't signed onto the Grayson Takano letter which just states very clearly that "we will vote against any and every cut to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security benefits-- including raising the retirement age or cutting the cost of living adjustments that our constituents earned and need." Tuesday Blue America will be formally endorsing Pennsylvania state Senator Daylin Leach, who is running for the open congressional seat in northeast Philly/Montgomery County, which Allyson Schwartz is leaving. Daylin backs the Grayson Takano No Cuts approach. "At a time when corporate profits, executive compensation, the stock market and wealth disparity are at near record highs," he told us, "it is obscene to even consider balancing our budget on the backs of seniors and veterans. I fully supported President Obama's election, but I can't support any drift towards corporatism to appease tea-party extremists. If we are really serious about ensuring the solvency of Social Security while preserving benefits well into the future, there is a simple solution. We should raise the cap on income subject to the payroll tax from $110,000 per year to $200,000 per year. This is fair, reasonable, and keeps faith with those who rely on Social Security to survive."

No need to wait 'til Tuesday, when he joins us for a Crooks and Liars live chat session, to back Daylin's campaign. You can do it here, now.