"CalifBill" wrote in message
m...

wrote in message
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On Mon, 22 Mar 2010 11:21:05 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

I don't think anyone actually trusts congress to do all the things
they promise. After all the process is actually driven by billion
dollar lobbyists.
That is why thinking people dismiss all of those CBO projections. They
are based on fantasy scenarios that are unlikely to happen, like
cutting a half trillion out of Medicare.
Bear in mind, Medicare ended up costing almost 10 times what the
original CBO estimate had it at, out at the 10 year mark. Government
programs always get bigger, not smaller.


Yet, the corporations are legally allowed to pump as much money into the
system as they want.

The CBO is non-partisan and both sides of the isle refer to it.

Medicare is fixable, and it's been amended several times. Republicans
called
that program communism also, but I don't see too many of the Teabaggers
willing to give up the benefits.

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The problem is they can only project the effect on the budget based on
the fantasy numbers the congress sends them. Things like saying they
will actually cut Medicare by a half trillion. That will be "fixed" by
eliminating the cuts.

How are they going to cut Medicare? Medicare people vote at a higher
percentage than others. And they already said they are going to fix the
drug donut hole. How is that going to reduce costs?

It's more about cutting fraud/abuse than cutting benefits, although for the
rich that should certainly happen. I believe Sen. Coburn rightly pointed
this out (reducing fraud/abuse), during the Healthcare summit with Obama.

Fixing the donut hole will probably help in the long run, since lots of
people in that situation stop buying the meds they need, they get sick, and
end up having more expensive procedures.

--
Nom=de=Plume