Republicans Have No Credibility on Health Care

Jacob Weisberg's recent piece on slate.com asked, "Are Republicans Serious About Fixing Health Care?" The answer, unsurprisingly, is "no." What is more important about the article is that it reminds us who created the massive deficits and debt that the Republican cannot stop talking about (and blaming Dems for it, of course).

Jacob discusses the last time the Republicans tinkered with health care - changing the prescription-drug coverage under Medicare when Republicans controlled the Executive and Legislative branches. Republicans used so many low-down dirty tricks in getting that legislation through that they have absolutely no credibility when it comes to accusing the Dems of abusing their power currently.

Remember that they were also greatly cutting taxes on the rich at this point - so not only were the Republicans reducing revenue to the government, they were greatly increasing its expenditures while also still not providing quality health care reform! Weisberg sums it up nicely:

Thanks to something called the "doughnut hole," drug coverage disappears when out-of-pocket costs reach $2,400, returning only when they hit $3,850. Simply stated, the bill cost a fortune, wasn't paid for, is complicated as hell, and doesn't do all that much—though it does include coverage for end-of life-counseling, or what Grassley now calls "pulling the plug on grandma."

Read the rest of the article for more helpful context on just how much damage the Republican health care reform has done to the federal fiscal future.

In my lifetime, the vast majority of federal debt comes from Republican Administrations whereas Democratic Administrations are more responsible and tend to legislate within their means. As my friend James wrote awhile back, the Republicans are like arsonists that bitch about the fire department wasting water.

Left unmentioned, but worth bringing up is that Republicans have always hated Medicare and would prefer to let old people fend for themselves in the market to a functioning government program that has greatly reduced poverty amongst the elderly as well as reducing the load on people my age who might otherwise be saddled with the massively greater debt if my parents became ill after retiring (I hope they get to retire!)