Corporate Town Hall Response All Lies

Needless to say, nobody would expect the corporate beneficiaries of Republican representation to remain silent while voters ravaged their elected Republican lackeys in Town Halls across the nation.  But they have a problem.  If they tell the truth, voters will only become more angry, so they follow the Republican road to success.  They spend huge amounts of money to spread propaganda made completely of lies.

Dave Johnson wrote a fantastic piece on this.

The Republican plan for Medicare "cuts government spending" by shifting the cost of old-age health care directly to the middle class and poor. (I’ll explain below.) Here’s the thing: someone is going to get that $34 trillion. (I’ll explain below.) And that someone (the Supreme Court thinks corporations are "someone") is fighting hard for it. They’ll say whatever it takes. It is up to you and me to get the word out about this. (I’ll explain below.)

Say Whatever It Takes

Here is an example of what I mean by "say whatever it takes." Click through and listen to this commercial [Republican false front delinked]. Cheerful, uplifting music. Positive voice tones. Flat-out lies.

– TRANSCRIPT –

ANNOUNCER:

Something unusual happened last week…in Washington, DC of all places.

Elected officials actually did what they said they would.

The House passed a budget that protects and preserves Medicare for years to come.

And our Congressman, Allen West, voted to protect Medicare and keep it secure for future retirees.

Our national debt is $14 trillion…America is literally spending money we don’t have and future generations won’t be able to afford.

With 10,000 Baby Boomers reaching retirement age every day, important programs like Medicare are being crushed – and could collapse if we don’t act to strengthen and improve them.

No changes for seniors on Medicare now or those who will soon go on it.

Control costs by targeting waste, fraud and abuse – so current and future seniors receive the quality care they have earned.

Call Allen West at (954) 202-6211. Thank him for voting to protect Medicare and tell him to continue keeping his promise to seniors.

Paid for by the 60 Plus Association.

What’s This About?

Last week all of the Republicans in the House except a few voted to approve a plan to phase out Medicare and replace it with "premium support" – vouchers – for private insurance, that only cover part of the cost of the private insurance. (As if any company would insure a 75-year-old with health problems. And as if an 80-year-old with cognitive disabilities can pick and choose which insurance scam policy is best.)

Yes, that’s right, it phases out Medicare and replaces it with private insurance, as in, "What do you mean you won’t cover that procedure, test, drug, operation? My doctor says I need it!" Right, that private insurance.

Medicare Costs Shifted To Middle Class

This plan shifts costs away from the government and on to We, the People. But it ends up adding trillions in total costs because private insurance costs so much more, and because of co-pays, and because of so many other reasons that are the cause of our country paying so much more per capita than other for health care. It actually makes the cost problem much worse. But it cuts "government spending" by shifting those costs to us individually.

Economist Dean Baker writes that the Republican Medicare phase-out costs us more than $30 trillion (over 75 years) above what we would pay without this phase-out,

[The Republican plan] to replace the current Medicare system with a system of vouchers or premium supports has been widely described as shifting costs from the government to beneficiaries. However, the size of this shift is actually small relative to the projected increase in costs that would result from having Medicare provided by private insurers instead of the government-run Medicare system.

The Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) projections imply that the Ryan plan would add more than $30 trillion to the cost of providing Medicare equivalent policies over the program’s 75-year planning period. This increase in costs – from waste associated with using a less efficient health care delivery system – has not received the attention that it deserves in the public debate.

And economist Mark Thoma writes that the phase-out leaves many seniors without the means to get health care at all,

The [Republican] plan would reduce Medicare payments far below what is currently available, and this would leave many without the means to obtain the care they need. But even if the vouchers were adequate, I would still not be in favor of a voucher system for health insurance.

The public will have to shell out trillions of dollars more because of the phase-out shifts seniors to private insurance. It saves the government money by shifting the cost to you and me, but adds $34 trillion more in total costs this way. So high-end taxpayers and corporations will pay lower taxes, the rest of us make it up… [emphasis original]

Inserted from <Huffington Post>

Looking at the transcript above, finding the lies is not rocket science.  They are blatant.  Rachel Maddow debunks that ad, summarizes the issue and interviews my favorite Democrat, who isn’t, Bernie Sanders.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

We can’t depend on the national media to keep the public informed, in the face of such unethical Republican behavior.  We must do that ourselves.