{"id":19066,"date":"2011-05-26T01:01:01","date_gmt":"2011-07-20T00:18:51","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-07-20T00:18:51","modified_gmt":"2011-07-20T00:18:51","slug":"medicare_debate_presents_huge_opportunity_for_gutsy_republicans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/05\/26\/medicare_debate_presents_huge_opportunity_for_gutsy_republicans\/","title":{"rendered":"Medicare Debate Presents Huge Opportunity for Gutsy Republicans"},"content":{"rendered":"
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RUSH: So I saw Snerdley today, “Are you still ticked off?” <\/p>\n

“Yeah.” <\/p>\n

I said, “What, same thing?” <\/p>\n

“Yeah.” <\/p>\n

He\u2019s still ticked off about Medicare. He said, “Bottom line is, Rush, if we can ever bust up these entitlements, we can end the Democrat Party.” That\u2019s true. You ever bust up the entitlements, you will end the Democrat Party. There\u2019s no question.<\/p>\n

There is a story today, TheHill.com: “Anxious GOP Vows to Improve Medicare Message After New York Loss — A day after a crushing defeat in a New York special election, House GOP lawmakers defended their vote to reform Medicare but grumbled that their leaders must do a better job of messaging. ‘If we&rsquo;ll just stay with our argument and do a better job developing it, we&rsquo;ll be fine,\u2019 said Rep. Tom Cole (Okla.), one of many Republicans blaming GOP candidate Jane Corwin&rsquo;s loss on the presence of a Tea Party candidate who siphoned away votes in a three-way race. The defeat of Corwin was a stunning blow in what had been seen as a reliable Republican district won less than a year ago by GOP gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino, who was trounced statewide by Democrat Andrew Cuomo. Democrats credited Kathy Hochul&rsquo;s victory to a flood of ads targeting Corwin for supporting the GOP budget authored by Rep. Paul Ryan.” <\/p>\n

That\u2019s not what happened. Now, the Democrats would love for you to think that Medicare reform lost, but it didn\u2019t. Dirty tricks won, pure and simple. Now, you can say that the Republican message was weak and it probably was. The Republicans are reluctant to say anything, hoping that the less they say the better off they\u2019ll be, political correctness and so forth, worried about offending somebody. But they do have to do some work on the messaging. <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s go to some Medicare sound bites here. This is fascinating. Bill Clinton last night, this is on ABC\u2019s World News Tonight behind the scenes at Pete Peterson\u2019 foundation, the 2011 fiscal summit, Peter G. Peterson. I think he was the Treasury Secretary for Nixon. I\u2019ve met Pete Peterson. His wife is Joan Ganz Cooney of the Children\u2019s Television Workshop, Sesame Street and all that. I\u2019ve met him, he\u2019s a nice guy, RINO, moderate Republican guy. But he is a deficit hawk. He was with Warren Rudman on that effort here to rein in the out of control federal debt. They put up the billboards with the deficit clock stuff. They\u2019re deficit hawks and the Peter G. Peterson foundation had their 2011 fiscal summit, which means party. And former President Bill Clinton was there, along with Paul Ryan. And backstage, off camera, Clinton and Ryan had this exchange about what happened in New York-26.<\/p>\n

CLINTON: I\u2019m glad we won this race in New York, but I hope the Democrats don\u2019t use it as an excuse to do nothing. If you ever want to talk about it —<\/p>\n

RYAN: Yeah, I\u2019ll give you a call. Great, thanks. <\/p>\n

RUSH: Now, you probably couldn\u2019t hear that too well. Let me tell you what happened there. They\u2019re backstage at the Peter G. Peterson party, disguised as a fundraiser. Clinton is there, Paul Ryan. Clinton says, (imitating Clinton) “Hey, you know, I\u2019m glad we won this race in New York, but I hope the Democrats don\u2019t use this as excuse to do nothing. You ever want to talk about it.” And Ryan says, “Yeah, yeah, I\u2019ll give you a call. Great, thanks.” Snerdley also asked, “What\u2019s Clinton doing?” He wants credit. Don\u2019t forget way back he tried to take it on Medicare reform. He thinks Ryan\u2019s going somewhere with it. This means that Clinton thinks Ryan\u2019s going somewhere and when Ryan gets there Clinton wants to be on the train. So behind the scenes, when they don\u2019t know the microphone\u2019s live, Clinton says, (imitating Clinton) “Hey, look, pal, I\u2019m glad my party won that race but I hope the Democrats don\u2019t use this as an excuse to do nothing. If you ever want to talk about it.” And Clinton offering his assistance. Now, let\u2019s move forward on camera. Clinton is aware he\u2019s on camera and throws Ryan under the bus.<\/p>\n

CLINTON: I just think his Medicare proposal is, on the merits, wrong. What in all probability will happen, particularly if they dismantle some of these other cost controls, is that medical costs will continue to go up, and older people will use less, get sicker and die quicker. Or they will be poorer because they\u2019ll have to spend so much of their money on health care.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Crying out loud, this is gonna happen anyway. It\u2019s going to happen. It happens with Obamacare. Ryan\u2019s plan actually does something about this. But, anyway, here\u2019s the point. I don\u2019t want to get sidetracked here. Off camera, now, we don\u2019t know how sincere he\u2019s being and I know you have to take into account it\u2019s Bill Clinton. Understand that. But off camera, “Hey, bud, hey, hey, yeah, I gotta tell you I\u2019m glad we won that election, but you ever want to talk about this, \u2019cause I\u2019m serious, you know, we gotta do something. This gotta get fixed, just like we fixed Haiti, whatever else we fixed, gotta get fixed.” So he\u2019s offering Ryan, and Ryan says, “Okay.” Now, go public, go public, (imitating Clinton) “I think this thing sucks. It\u2019s a horrible proposal, on the merits it\u2019s horrible.” <\/p>\n

Behind the scenes a different story. And, see, this is the kind of stuff that just grates on people. Why couldn\u2019t the stuff that goes on off camera actually happen on camera? Nothing is real. Nothing is real. All these people clamoring for everybody to get along and be bipartisan. Well, there it is. It happened, off camera, when they thought nobody was watching, when Clinton thought nobody was listening. There was your bipartisanship. There was your mutual admiration and love society. Cameras go on, and who was it that turned partisan? Slick Willie, Der Schlick Meister, William Jefferson Blythe Clinton. Even at that, though, the same set of remarks at the Pete Peterson party, the foundation, the fiscal summit, Clinton did try to warn the Democrats.<\/p>\n

CLINTON: I\u2019m afraid that the Democrats will draw the conclusion that because Congressman Ryan\u2019s proposal I think is not the best one, that we shouldn\u2019t do anything, and I completely disagree with that.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah, well, I\u2019ll tell you something, Mr. President, your party doesn\u2019t do diddly-squat about anything. There\u2019s no budget. There\u2019s no Medicare proposal. Your party, they\u2019re doing nothing. The Democrats are doing nothing, and they\u2019ve been doing nothing for months now. They don\u2019t have a budget. I don\u2019t know to what extent they\u2019re paying a price for this with the general public, but they\u2019re not doing anything. They think that the Republicans are gonna tackle entitlement reform and that\u2019s gonna kill \u2019em, and so the Democrat philosophy here, and it\u2019s tried and true, when your opponent\u2019s committing suicide, get out of the way, let it happen. And that\u2019s what they think is happening here. Which is why I on this program yesterday demanded that somebody stand up in the face of the aftermath of New York-26 and all this other stuff, somebody defend Ryan\u2019s budget and the proposal on Medicare. Somebody stand up. It\u2019s a great opportunity for leadership. Still with ABC\u2019s World News Tonight, their senior political correspondent Jonathan Karl talked to Paul Ryan in the car as they\u2019re driving around.<\/p>\n

KARL: What do you say to these, maybe weak-kneed Republicans —<\/p>\n

RYAN: This is not the time to go wobbly. They are going to run the attack ads at us regardless. This is a time for leaders to be leaders.<\/p>\n

KARL: Did you just cost the Republicans —<\/p>\n

RYAN: I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n

KARL: — control of the House?<\/p>\n

RYAN: I think we were elected in this last election to take a stand on fixing this country\u2019s fiscal problems. To go after spending, to solve this debt crisis, to stop spending money we don\u2019t have.<\/p>\n

RUSH: What is this cost the Republicans the House? What kinda question, what kinda thinking is that? The election\u2019s 18 months away. It\u2019s going to be just the opposite. The question is, did you just cost the Democrats the Senate? Because there\u2019s clearly going to be a perception here there\u2019s a party doing something and a party doing nothing, standing in the way. So they continued here. They had this exchange after what you just heard.<\/p>\n

KARL: What if this destroys your political career?<\/p>\n<\/p>\nRYAN: I don\u2019t care about that.<\/p>\n

KARL: You\u2019re seen as a, you know, rising star, potential presidential candidate —<\/p>\n

RYAN: This is not the time to be worried about political careers.<\/p>\n

KARL: What if you lose your House seat?<\/p>\n

RYAN: Sincerely I will be fine if I lose my House seat \u2019cause you know what? I will know I did what I thought was right to save this country.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Now they\u2019re burying Ryan. Okay, now not only are the Republicans gonna lose the House, Ryan is gonna lose his seat. He\u2019s never gonna get another job again. He\u2019s stabbing himself in the heart. This is the end of Paul Ryan\u2019s career. You ever gonna be able to get a job? What are you gonna do? Do you have enough savings to get through the rest of your life? This is what the media thinks and what the Democrat Party hopes. This is what they were going to try to effect. Last night on Fox Special Report during the All-Star panel, Bret Baier said, “The Ryan plan came up in the Senate tonight, it was voted down 57-40 Republicans voting against Susan Collins, Rand Paul, Olympia Snowe, Lisa Murkowski, obviously this was just meant to put everybody on the record. The Obama budget went down 97-nothing.”<\/p>\n

KRAUTHAMMER: The entire party essentially has endorsed the Ryan plan, and you are stuck with it. There\u2019s no running away. People are now writing, you know, the boomlet for Ryan to be a candidate is over. I would say exactly the opposite. You now own this. Get the one man who can explain it, argue it, and actually change minds on this. You need leadership on this. Otherwise the Republicans are gonna sink on this.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah, Krauthammer is basically saying what I said yesterday. Somebody better step up now \u2019cause they do own it. The minute this thing came out everybody under the sun embraced it on the Republican side, the Ryan Medicare reform plan. Now, there are some people stripping themselves away because they\u2019re becoming afraid, but it\u2019s such a great opportunity. It\u2019s such a great opportunity out there for leadership. A career is waiting to be made here on this. Courage, leadership, passion, belief, somebody surely has it.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Hudson, New York? Joe, I\u2019m glad you called, sir. Welcome to the EIB Network. How are you?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Hi, Rush. (reading rapidly) I\u2019ve heard you talk a couple of days now about New York-26 and I think it\u2019s just crazy to say Tea Party voters were stupid and duped when really the entire race was fought on this Medicare plan, and this Medicare plan — people like their Medicare. They don\u2019t want to go back to a voucher system where they have to deal with insurance companies again and getting letters in the mail saying, “We\u2019re not gonna cover this and we\u2019re not gonna cover that.” It\u2019s just putting another middleman in (crosstalk).<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, but they\u2019re not… They\u2019re not gonna have to. See, that\u2019s the point. The Ryan plan doesn\u2019t change one thing for current Medicare recipients.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yeah, I was just gonna — just gonna mention that. Current Medicare recipients. So somehow they stop loving their kids and wish the insurance industry on their kids when they turn 65 years old?<\/p>\n

RUSH: No.<\/p>\n

CALLER: I mean, that\u2019s just crazy.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, you can say it\u2019s crazy but there isn\u2019t gonna be Medicare for anybody if we don\u2019t fix this because it can\u2019t go on this way. It\u2019s unsustainable, and there are some responsible people trying to fix it and in the process they are exempting current recipients. They\u2019re exempting them \u2019cause they\u2019re already in the game playing by the rules established for them, but we have to change the rules. <\/p>\n

CALLER: (interrupting)<\/p>\n

RUSH: We can\u2019t go on with the current rules; we have to change them. We have to start someplace. We\u2019re starting in enough time to give future recipients enough time to plan and realize: “The program as you\u2019ve known it isn\u2019t going to exist as you know it now. It\u2019s still gonna be there but you have to pay a little bit for it yourself, too. You might have to pay a little bit for your own health care.”<\/p>\n

CALLER: So you fix it by adding a middleman where (pause) CEOs get hundred million-dollar salaries and fly around in corporate sets and have corporate yachts and all that? That\u2019s how you fix health care in this country? That\u2019s just nuts. I mean, it\u2019s crazy to everybody. That fight was fought in New York-26. New York-26 wasn\u2019t lost because Tea Partiers are stupid. New York-26 was lost because Medicare (sputtering)… Medi… Vouchers —<\/p>\n

RUSH: Wait a second.<\/p>\n

CALLER: — in Medicare is a bad plan.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Wait, wait just a second now. You have so many non sequiturs here. I don\u2019t care how many CEOs are paid a hundred million dollars (I don\u2019t know too many who are) who fly around in corporate jets. I don\u2019t know what that has to do with anything. Has absolutely nothing, other than it\u2019s a key to your mind. It tells us that you have deep-seated resentments and that you are biased ideologically toward any kind of a solution here. I mean, you\u2019re not even open-minded about this. What in the world does all this silly class envy stuff have to do with it? I get it! Oh, the CEO who\u2019s paid a hundred million, and has the corporate jet is never going to have to be punished \u2019cause he\u2019ll be able to get his health care however he wants it? Is that it? <\/p>\n

Still, it\u2019s a non-sequitur. We\u2019re talking about, in terms of the general population, ten people. You don\u2019t make policy based on what happens to ten people, good or bad, pro or con. But don\u2019t tell me that New York-26 was totally about Medicare substance. It was also about a phony Tea Party candidate. Now, this is what I mean. You guys can sit there and you can tell yourselves lies all day long. If you want to live a lie and if you want to live falsehoods and if you want to immerse yourself because it\u2019s safe and secure in your little cocoon — if you want to tell yourself these things — you go right ahead. But you are telling us also we can\u2019t count on you to fix anything that\u2019s wrong. All you want to do is take, take, take, take, take — and then after you\u2019ve taken, taken, taken, what you next want to do is punish, punish, punish, punish whoever it is you hate or are envious of or are jealous of. <\/p>\n

But regardless, you are worthless in terms of solving the problem.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Now, I want to also go back to the first caller we had today on Medicare. He was calling about the New York-26 election, and he was telling me I was wrong, that the election was totally about Medicare, and the people of New York-26, they\u2019re tired of hundred million-dollar a year CEOs flying around in their jets having health care and, blah, blah, blah. The disconnect here is amazing, and it\u2019s worth, I think, trying to persuade people even who are in lockstep misinformation about this. We\u2019ve even got Republicans saying it was the wrong time to tackle this. Everybody\u2019s running for the tall grass on this at the first sign of trouble. <\/p>\n

For example, the guy calls, “Nobody\u2019s happy with Medicare.” That\u2019s not true. Everybody is not unhappy with Medicare. Medicare is not the answer, folks. Medicare is not the answer to our health care problems, and more Medicare is a recipe for disaster. We\u2019ve told you countless times on this program that Medicare rejects more procedures than private insurance companies, remember that? We went through the numbers. It\u2019s striking. The number of procedures the government rejects dwarfs the number of procedures that private insurance companies say “no” to. If something isn\u2019t done about Medicare, all future generations won\u2019t exist. The Medicare chief actuary, the government bureaucrat in charge of it says it\u2019s doomed. <\/p>\n

So what are you liberals supporting when you support Medicare? What are you supporting here? You\u2019re supporting something that your own people say is doomed. You\u2019re supporting something that is far more punitive than private insurance is. You have this love affair with it because it comes from government, but it is bloated, it\u2019s ineffective, it\u2019s inefficient, and it doesn\u2019t work. And you ought to be thankful that there are responsible people trying to fix it. They\u2019re trying to fix it for the people. They\u2019re trying to fix it for the country. <\/p>\n

Now, who is it that robbed half a trillion dollars from Medicare? Who is it that in his own health care bill took $500 billion out of Medicare in order to get his total price tag in under a trillion dollars? It was your guy. It was Barack Obama, mmm, mmm, mmm. It\u2019s there, $500 billion dollars gone. Ryan didn\u2019t do that. Paul Ryan doesn\u2019t rape Medicare to the tune of $500 billion; your guy did. Senior citizens, current senior citizens enrolled in Medicare are unaffected by the Ryan plan. Not one person 55 years of age or older currently enrolled in any kind of a Medicare plan is affected by it. Ryan\u2019s voucher program, the block grant to the states, that is for the next generation of recipients, this voucher, we call that a huge federal subsidy that helps individuals buy their health coverage, much like Congress. <\/p>\n

This system that we\u2019re talking about is basically what Congress has and federal bureaucrats have. Now, the liberals used to call these Cadillac plans. Now they say these are horrible plans simply because they\u2019re politicizing everything. But Paul Ryan hasn\u2019t done one thing to take Medicare away from anybody. Barack Obama has. The Democrats have. The Democrat Party is in the process of destroying Medicare. Paul Ryan is coming along, trying to save it, restructure it so it\u2019s worth something. Now, if we abandon Medicare, Medicare reform, if we abandon it, then what? We leave it as it is, falling apart? Denying more procedures than private sector insurance companies deny? <\/p>\n

If we abandon Medicare reform, if we abandon the Ryan plan, there won\u2019t be anybody to protect seniors from Obamacare. There won\u2019t be anybody to protect seniors from the death panels. There will be nobody to protect future generations. The program is going bust. If we abandon reform, the Democrats, by their desire to do nothing, are destroying Medicare with Obamacare, rather than reforming it. Obamacare is not fixing anything. It doesn\u2019t reform anything. It simply destroys it, by design, so that nobody has a choice going anywhere but a federal exchange for health insurance and coverage. And if we abandon Medicare reform, we\u2019re stuck with what\u2019s doomed. And I, by the way, say this non-ideologically. I say this in a total nonpartisan sense. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m looking at a program going bust that can\u2019t be sustained as is. Here\u2019s somebody obviously very courageous who wants to fix it. Is there gonna be a political benefit if he fixes it? Sure. But what\u2019s wrong with that? Nobody else is trying to do anything except make hay out of false predictions about it. I don\u2019t know what CEOs that make a hundred million dollars have to do with it. I don\u2019t know what CEOs flying around in corporate jets have to do with it. It has nothing to do with it. These are just closed-minded people who cannot be depended on in any way for anything other than the plundering of the program. If nothing changes, nothing changes, and if nothing changes we\u2019re up the creek without a paddle, pure and simple.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Venice, Florida. Hey, Ron, I\u2019m glad you called, sir. You\u2019re next on the Rush Limbaugh program. Hi.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, how you doing, Rush? I tell you, I\u2019ve been listening to you for 20 years.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Thank you, sir.<\/p>\n

CALLER: I\u2019m pretty much in agreement with you all the time, about 99.9% of the time, but this time I have a little difference. I got a little bit of a political background, and I think that it was the wrong time for Paul Ryan to come out with his budget and his proposal —<\/p>\n

RUSH: What is your political background?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, I\u2019ve been involved in the Republican Party for about 20 years. I was a campaign manager for a candidate running for Congress in the evil Alan Grayson\u2019s district up by Orlando and everything.<\/p>\n

RUSH: All right.<\/p>\n

CALLER: But Daniel Webster (unintelligible) primary and went on to get the seat and everything, and —<\/p>\n

RUSH: Okay. All right. So Ryan came out with his budget proposal at the wrong time?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yeah. Well, what has happened here is that people are confused, they\u2019re being lied to. They\u2019re talking more about what\u2019s wrong with Ryan proposal compared to what we\u2019ve already got that\u2019s involved that needs to be repealed like Obamacare. The focus has been taken away from what they are doing, the bad side is doing, compared to what we can do on the right side. It\u2019s like playing football. You\u2019re a football fan. We have given — (phone drops out)<\/p>\n

RUSH: Did we lose him? We lost the connection. Okay. I guess the thrust of what he\u2019s saying is we shoulda stayed focused on repealing Obamacare rather than drop that ball and come up with a Medicare reform plan that just confuses people, that puts us on the defensive and so forth. Well, okay, I can understand the thinking, you know, stick with repealing Obamacare. But there\u2019s no need to go on defense. By the way, if not now, when? And if not us, who? I refuse to go on defense \u2019cause I don\u2019t think I have anything to be defensive about. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything to be defensive about.<\/p>\n

See, I think the recipe for going on defense, the left knows (or suspects) that they can somehow make us accept their premise. I don\u2019t accept their premise on anything. I don\u2019t accept the premise that starts off the discussion about Ryan and his Medicare plan that\u2019s gonna destroy people. I already got my premise. My premise is liberalism is destructive to this country. Liberalism is destroying the private sector. That\u2019s my premise, and I go from that. And I look for evidence of it every time a liberal opens his mouth and whether he\u2019s attacking me or Paul Ryan or anybody else, I just refuse to go on defense. Now, again, gotta be fair, being on the radio and acquiring and holding an audience is not the same thing as being a politician and getting votes.<\/p>\n

I can survive here. I can even thrive being hated. A politician can\u2019t. I mean there\u2019s just no other way around that. But doesn\u2019t say that you have to be hated in order to be right or be controversial. Now, I think you can do both. I think you could reform Medicare and still stay dedicated to repealing Obamacare, but you\u2019ve gotta do it. If you\u2019re gonna start walking down the path you have to stay down the path. One thing a lot of people feared was that all the repeal talk from the Republicans was just that, that they\u2019d go through the motions for a few months and try to make it appear to us that they were serious about it, score some points for doing it, and then drop it. Now, the Medicare reform, remember, there isn\u2019t a budget. The Democrats haven\u2019t proposed a budget. The program is doomed. Something has to happen to fix it, now. That\u2019s a reality.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Okay, the Ryan Medicare proposal. The budget in general. Medicare is the budget deficit. If you\u2019re gonna talk about the budget, and if you\u2019re gonna talk about reducing the deficit, then you cannot not talk about Medicare. Medicare is the budget deficit. Ah, some other things thrown in there, but largely, Medicare, Medicaid, they are the budget deficit. Now, how can you talk about the budget deficit, trying to do anything about it and not talk about Medicare? What was the message of the 2010 election? We have to do something about spending. We have to do something about the deficit. Medicare is the deficit. The 2010 election was about that. <\/p>\n

Now, way back in February Obama said the rising cost of Medicare and Medicaid\u2019s creating huge problems for the nation\u2019s finances, must be dealt with in a serious way. That\u2019s what Obama said. It\u2019s not a matter of you go first or I go first. That\u2019s what Obama said yesterday. Not a matter of you go first or I go first. It\u2019s about getting in that boat at the same time so it doesn\u2019t tip over. Well, Ryan took him at his word. And now we see what happens when you take Obama at his word. Ryan would have done it on his own anyway, he\u2019s a responsible guy. <\/p>\n

Even Clinton knows. We got this story from Jonathan Karl at ABC: “Clinton Worries Democrats Won\u2019t Fix Medicare.” Clinton is worried. Somebody is going to fix it, he knows that, and whoever fixes it is gonna be sitting pretty politically for a long time. Clinton wants that to be the Democrats. He wants the Democrats to have a role in it. This is yesterday at the Peter G. Peterson foundation fiscal summit. <\/p>\n

CLINTON: I\u2019m afraid that the Democrats will draw the conclusion that because Congressman Ryan\u2019s proposal I think is not the best one, that we shouldn\u2019t do anything, and I completely disagree with that.<\/p>\n

RUSH: You have Der Schlick Meister worried that the Democrats are just gonna sit it out. And he\u2019s right, they have been sitting it out. They\u2019ve sat out everything to do with the budget. They are not involved in it at all. Totally on the sidelines. (interruption) What do you do to fix Medicare if you don\u2019t do what Ryan\u2019s doing? Oh, well, now, that — (laughing) jeez, I know what I would do, but what I would do is not practical. I\u2019d make Medicare free to everybody earning a hundred million dollars and has a jet, and then I\u2019d cut those people\u2019s tax rate to 10%. It\u2019s clear what we have to do when you see that 12 cents of every dollar spent on health care is spent by the patient or consumer, there\u2019s your problem. Before any of this is gonna get substantively fixed, there has to be a responsible relationship between the cost and the ability to pay it by the patient, by the consumer. That\u2019s what Ryan wants to do. That\u2019s where Ryan is headed with all this.<\/p>\n

John in Rockford, Illinois, great to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Hey, Rush.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Hey.<\/p>\n

CALLER: When we talk about Ryan\u2019s proposal, is Social Security and Medicare two in the same in this discussion?<\/p>\n

RUSH: No, he\u2019s talking Medicare exclusively.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Has it ever come across anyone to make that clear? Because I think I was kind of confused when I tried to explain that to my daughter this morning, as to what everybody was talking about politically. So Social Security will not be touched, and then a person such as myself that\u2019s in his early fifties will basically have to take out some sort of, kind of like a 401(k) if I had to simplify the process.<\/p>\n

RUSH: As I understand it, the Ryan plan is set up this way. For people 55 and older who are getting Medicare benefits, nothing happens, nothing changes.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Right. I\u2019m 51 so I\u2019m selfishly concerned about —<\/p>\n

RUSH: You are going to face a different phase-in rate than somebody 25 or 30. There are different phase-in rates, but ultimately what happens is that Medicare payments, Medicare revenues will be block-granted to the states. The states will be in charge of administering them. The federal government will subsidize the purchase of premiums. It\u2019s going to end up costing patients a little more than it does now but in plenty of time for people to adjust to it and get used to it. This is not a change that\u2019s going to happen overnight. It will involve the whole principle of vouchers. The block grant back to the states is essentially a voucher system. Let\u2019s just take a number. I\u2019m gonna pick a number out of the blue that may have no relation to fact. Let\u2019s say that the amount of Medicare spent on you every year is ten grand.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Okay.<\/p>\n

RUSH: They\u2019re gonna give you a portion of that ten grand via block grant, you\u2019re gonna have access to it and you\u2019re gonna go shop and you\u2019re gonna get health care as you need it, as you want it, for whatever price you can pay. And whatever is left over after a certain period of time is yours. It\u2019s kind of an expansion on the health savings accounts concept. But there\u2019s got to be some relationship to what services cost and the patient\u2019s ability to pay. If that doesn\u2019t happen, then it\u2019s never gonna get really fixed or totally reformed. But it\u2019s a slow phase-in. One of the arguments even among people who are for the Ryan plan is that it takes 10 to 15 years to fully implement, and he does that on purpose precisely to prevent a panic, which the Democrats are trying to make happen anyway. But the bottom line is if we don\u2019t do anything, then it\u2019s broken forever. If we don\u2019t do anything, it\u2019s finished.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll run through it again. If we abandon Medicare reform, then what? There will be no one to protect seniors from Obamacare. They are going to be subject to death panels. There will be nobody to protect future generations. There will be no effort here to get costs under control in any way, shape, manner, or form. It\u2019s an utter disaster. So it\u2019s a sound proposal. It makes a lot of sense, and it\u2019s very patient the way it\u2019s implemented. And we\u2019ve got time. In point of fact, reality, some people grow impatient at the lack of speed it takes to implement a positive change on anything. But as long as we\u2019re moving in the direction, the attitudinal effect that will have on people, investors as well, will be profoundly positive. As long as we\u2019re moving in the right direction. Right now we\u2019re just floundering. We\u2019re rolling the dice. The Medicare actuary says the program\u2019s doomed. It cannot continue, whether you\u2019re 51 or 41 or 31, it can\u2019t continue as is. It won\u2019t be there at all for you in any way, shape, manner, or form. <\/p>\n

But here again we find ourselves asking the question here at the EIB Network, why are we panicked over Ryan\u2019s plan to reform it? It\u2019s just the same plan that Congress already has. All it is, is the congressional health plan with a smorgasbord of options and services that you will end up paying a little bit more for than you\u2019re paying today, but you\u2019re paying for it in ways that you don\u2019t know with taxes and other things. But what we ought to be panicked over is Obamacare. That is the far more radical change to everybody\u2019s health care system, than Ryan\u2019s. <\/p>\n

Everybody\u2019s got their focus in the wrong area here. It is Obamacare where everybody ought to be panicked, not Ryan\u2019s plan to reform Medicare. Ryan\u2019s plan is to save it. Obama\u2019s plan destroys it. Obama\u2019s plan destroys practically everything, collapse the system. Everything falls apart. Obama and the Democrats are there to put it back together in charge of everything. That\u2019s their long-term objective. So if you want to get panicked over something, okay, you\u2019re 51, you got Medicare coming up, and here comes a guy talking about changing it. Fine, put your trust in it, put your faith in it. Do not trust the guy who wants to totally reorient and change all of health care. He\u2019s gonna destroy it. If you feel like being panicked, if you\u2019re happily panicked, if you\u2019re comfortable being in a panic mode, be panicked over Obamacare, not Ryan.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Dick Cheney says, “I worship the ground Paul Ryan walks on.” He doesn\u2019t want Ryan to run for president. He likes the House budget committee too much. “‘I worship the ground the Paul Ryan walks on,\u2019 Cheney said Wednesday during a rare public appearance, the Houston Chronicle reported. ‘I hope he doesn&rsquo;t run for president because that would ruin a good man who has a lot of work to do.'” “I worship the ground Paul Ryan walks on.” No, I mean it. The Democrats don\u2019t want to fix Medicare. They don\u2019t want to reform it. They don\u2019t want to fix Medicaid. <\/p>\n

Very simple reason: They want single payer. Obama has said it. We aired the Obama sound bites throughout the 2008 campaign. All the things he said talking to his union friends at SEIU, on public radio in Chicago, throughout, you know, 2002, 2004, 2007, he made it plain. I think in a sound bite we had of him speaking to the Service Employees International Union, he said, (paraphrasing) “Look, we all know we want to get –” and, by the way, this is when he\u2019s honest. These are his buds. These are the guys that spend all the money electing him. He goes in there, he doesn\u2019t BS them. He says, (paraphrasing) “We all want single payer. We\u2019re not gonna be able to do it overnight. It\u2019s gonna take five to ten years to get this done, maybe 15,” because they know the American people don\u2019t want single payer. They\u2019re gonna have to force it as ultimately the only option. And part of making Medicare and health care a single payer program, government-run, is that\u2019s gotta be the only place people can go. <\/p>\n

Private insurance has to fail. Private coverage has to fail. Previous other reforms have to not work to the point that people throw their hands up, “Gosh, I guess the government has to run it \u2019cause that\u2019s the last option.” That\u2019s the plan. That\u2019s the game plan. So don\u2019t look for the Democrats to offer a competing reform proposal. They don\u2019t want it to be fixed. In fact, as far as most Democrats are concerned the sooner it goes bust the better. Because they know people are gonna demand treatment. They know people are gonna demand being able to go to doctor. They know it. And they can\u2019t wait to be the ones in people\u2019s minds who make it possible as agents of your friendly government. “Boy, those people at insurance company X, they really mistreated you, didn\u2019t they? Yeah, remember that Republican guy that tried to fix the plan? Yeah, that really worked out, didn\u2019t it? But we\u2019re here for you.” That\u2019s what they want, after everything is collapsed. <\/p>\n

They want to break the health care system. That\u2019s what Obamacare is all about, break our health care system so badly that only they can fix it in their own way. And, by the way, it won\u2019t be a fix. It will end up being as bad as it\u2019s ever been as a single payer government-run program, but that\u2019s what they want. <\/p>\n

Ed, you\u2019re next in Omaha. Great to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.<\/p>\n

CALLER: I\u2019d like to say hello to my mother Kelly. Second, I cannot believe how selfish older Americans are being at this point in time. They know what they want and have absolutely no concern whatsoever for future generations that are —<\/p>\n

RUSH: Why do you say that?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, all I hear from these older voters is “Don\u2019t take my Medicare away,” and first of all, they don\u2019t get it, it\u2019s not being taken away, but they don\u2019t care if it goes bankrupt. What about me, who\u2019s a 42-year-old male? I have a two-year-old daughter. What kind of health care is gonna be available for my family in the future if you\u2019re not willing to sacrifice a little bit right now?<\/p>\n

RUSH: Let me ask you a question, then.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yes, sir.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Do you believe the majority of stories we get about the elderly in this country, that they are, for the most part, just a couple steps away from poverty?<\/p>\n

CALLER: You know what, no, I don\u2019t believe that, and I hate to say this, but if they are a step away from poverty, that is their responsibility, because they did not save for their future. It is not my responsibility that you spent all of your money and did not save for your future.<\/p>\n

RUSH: The reason I ask is because — and I can\u2019t find it. I left it on the desk. It was from an earlier program I didn\u2019t get to. I left it here in the stack. But we had a temporary engineer here who went on a Betty Crocker kick and threw everything in here in the trash. He was a nice guy, I\u2019m talking about Dale, he was just trying to do the right thing. But it was a story that took aim at this myth that the elderly are all a bunch of poverty stricken people. (interruption) Now, don\u2019t look at me. I\u2019m just teasing in there. Dale\u2019s a great guy, but he did throw away my show prep. What am I supposed to do? (interruption) What do you mean, you didn\u2019t know it? You\u2019re the one that told him the procedures here. Anyway, I don\u2019t need the story. I can recount it from my memory. <\/p>\n

The story was about where is it written that every old person is on the brink of destruction economically? And I thought it\u2019s a fascinating story. A lot of people think that the elderly are all in poverty, or just a step or two away from it. But who is it that young people are moving back in with? Their moms and dads. And some of these people moving back in are 35 and 40. How old are their moms and dads? Sixty and 70 try, so if they\u2019re 60 and 70 and if they can afford their worthless offspring moving back in with them, just how poverty stricken are they? So this story tried to blow that myth up, that every elderly person in this country is bankrupt or soon to be, and it\u2019s not the case, and that is a good point, it actually is. <\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Donna in Munster, Indiana. I\u2019m glad you waited. Great to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Hi. Good to talk to you.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Thank you.<\/p>\n

CALLER: The Republican Party has a communication problem, I believe. They need to better understand Ryan\u2019s Medicare plan so they can communicate it to the public.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Tell \u2019em what it is.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, they also need to compare the difference between Ryan\u2019s plan and Obamacare, which is a step toward universal health care.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Tell \u2019em what it is.<\/p>\n

CALLER: What the plan is?<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah, what is Ryan\u2019s Medicare plan?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, one thing, he does not plan to change the Medicare coverage that the seniors already have.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Age 55 and up.<\/p>\n

CALLER: At this time, right.<\/p>\n

RUSH: That\u2019s right. You think most Republicans don\u2019t know that?<\/p>\n

CALLER: I think they\u2019re confused about it.<\/p>\n

RUSH: You mean elected Republicans or Republican voters? <\/p>\n

CALLER: I think some of the candidates that\u2019s been talking. One of the Republicans, Jane Corwin, I saw the interview when she\u2019s at a town hall meeting, and one of the gals asked about the Republican plan, and she said, “Well, I want to save the Medicare program.” Well, what does she mean by that? She didn\u2019t explain it. I think the seniors may be forgetting about the large Medicare cut being made in Obamacare.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Wait a minute. You have the Republican candidate in a town hall forum saying, “No, no, no, I want to save Medicare,” when asked about the Ryan plan?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Right.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, kiss it good-bye.<\/p>\n

CALLER: That was her answer.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah. <\/p>\n

CALLER: I was just appalled by that, and I thought, well, you know, there\u2019s your opportunity to explain the difference between the two.<\/p>\n

RUSH: She may not know.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yeah.<\/p>\n

RUSH: If her knowledge source for this is what\u2019s in the media, she doesn\u2019t know, because the media is the one saying that if you\u2019re a senior citizen you\u2019ll die because of the Ryan plan.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Right. And then the video. If anyone wants to throw Granny off the cliff in a wheelchair, it\u2019s Obamacare, and those that don\u2019t believe it are fools. ‘Cause this is just the way it is.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah, I\u2019ve seen the ad. You know, I kind of admire it. It\u2019s funny. Well, don\u2019t misunderstand me on this. Of course the ad infuriates me in one way, but I love humor that pushes the envelope, and creativity. The point is, I look at that and say, “How many people actually believe it?” but I guess I\u2019m wrong. There\u2019s a lot of people that do take that ad for real. This is what the Republicans want to do. So when you illustrate it that way, I don\u2019t understand anybody believing that. Who in the world would actually want to push their grandmother over a cliff in a wheelchair? There\u2019s only one instance, who would actually want to do it. (interruption) Okay, wait a minute. You\u2019re saying check the e-mail in ten minutes? (laughing) I don\u2019t know. <\/p>\n

The ad is so campy. There\u2019s no terror in the ad. There\u2019s no real horror in the ad. (interruption) Oh, come on, are you telling me that a seasoned citizen watching that ad can sit there and relate, “Yeah, yeah, that\u2019s what they want to do to me.” Actually throw you, roll you over the cliff? Yeah, but that stopped working a long time. The ol\u2019 kick you outta your house and make you eat dog food. Republicans have been getting the seasoned citizen vote for a long, long time and all those cliches stopped working back in the nineties on Social Security specifically. Donna, thanks much for the call. I\u2019m sitting here wondering how much trouble am I in now when I say I admire the ad. I think I\u2019ve only seen it, what, three or four times, and here\u2019s Granny shouting and flailing away, “No, stop!” and they actually do it. The dummy actually goes over the cliff. You actually see it. I think, “Well, who could possibly believe that?”<\/p>\n

END TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

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