Republicans are targeting older Americans worried about President Obama's health overhaul plans with a "seniors' health care bill of rights."The "Contract With America" in 1994 swept the GOP into power in both houses of Congress. This "Bill of Rights" could be the starting point for a new document that will guide the GOP's platform for 2010.
The six principles outlined Monday by the Republican National Committee include protecting Medicare, prohibiting rationing of health care based on age and making sure government doesn't get between seniors and their doctors.
The Obama administration has insisted repeatedly that it doesn't want to shrink Medicare benefits, ration care or reduce the role of doctors. But polls have shown that Americans, and older Americans in particular, still have significant concerns about Democratic health care proposals.
"Under the Democrats' plan, senior citizens will pay a steeper price and will have their treatment options reduced or rationed," RNC Chairman Michael Steele wrote in an op-ed in the Washington Post outlining the "bill of rights."
The GOP principles also include preventing government from "interfering with end-of-life care discussions." That is a reference to a provision in a bill by House Democrats that would allow Medicare to pay for voluntary counseling sessions about living wills and other issues. After critics seized on the provision and charged it could lead to "death panels" and euthanasia, administration officials said it would not likely be included in any final bill.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Seniors' Bill of Rights
The GOP is going after a Democrat weakness - senior citizens concerned that their government wants to restrict their access to health care just because they're old and their health care needs are expensive:
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At this point, Steele got into his critique of Medicare, calling it a bankrupt system.
“The reality of it is, this single-payer program known as Medicare is a very good example of what we should not have happen with all of our health care,” said Steele. “The reality of it is, how many times have we been at the trough of bankruptcy and no money for the Medicare program, where Congress is running around like chickens with their head cut off, trying to figure out how to fix a program that they’ve already mismanaged? So now you want to do that, Congressman, on a larger scale? You want to include all of us. You’re talking about taking our senior population, and expanding it to all of the population? Government cannot run a health care system. they’ve already shown that. Trust the private markets to do it the right way.”
Michael Steele, to recap:
(1) Yesterday: Barack Obama must spend every dollar in the United States economy on the great and perfect thing called Medicare, or he will have trashed the Old Fucks’ Bill of Rights.
(2) Today: Medicare has proven to be a broken system, and we should just have private health insurance everywhere.
(3) Tomorrow: I sniff b*&&^
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/08/steele-protect-medicare----and-medicare-doesnt-work.php
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