Joe Scarborough nearly caused my head to explode this morning (a terrible idea one day before a biopsy) as he remarked to sidekick Nita back in the MSNBC studio that Joe Biden and the Dems were just on a wretched campaign to try to "scare" seniors into supporting Obama. Scarborough blathered on five minutes further, concerning an "alleged war between the generations" fomented by the Reeps (Hint Joe, there is!) until finally, finally....a voice of reason stepped in, in the form of Steve Rattner.
Usually, I am not a big fan of Rattner's as he often displays decided Neoliberal tendencies, which the astute deep politics person can sniff out from a mile away. But today, after Scarborough's baloney, his response was most welcome!
He basically told Scarborough in so many words he was full of it, and also, to paraphrase - that if seniors as well as others really KNEW what was in the Ryan Budget that Mitt Romney intends to implement, they wouldn't be so gung ho to elect him!
Rattner went on to paint a devastating portrait of cuts to come, and again, let me reiterate, this is coming from a former finance maven, and certainly no Dem shoe- shiner or Obama groupie! Hence, his words need to be taken with more than the usual casual ear or nano-second attention span.
He predicted that seniors would be given $8,000 - 9,000 vouchers for Medicare, and their out of pocket costs would be at least 50% of all medical expenses, compared to roughly 20-25% today. Make no mistake this would be an absolutely catastrophic hit at the over 65 crowd, and I have blogged earlier on the repercussions:
http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2012/03/premium-support-medicare-still-terrible.html
Hence, it boggles the mind why any sensible senior would even remotely consider Romney as a possible solution. And if they say 'Well, we're thinking of the next generation!', well uh think again! Look at his Bain Capital outsourcing moves and his aspirations to cut taxes for corporations offshore. Don't you think that by adding 2 + 2 you can see that he intends to ship at least another 2 million jobs overseas in the name of profit? How do you think the younger generation - i.e. those engulfed with college debt- will fare?
Romney actually had an ardent indirect defender of his outsourcing, or assistance to effect it, in the letters section of today's local rag. (It was actually in the context of defending the U.S. Olympic Committee for choosing Chinese- made uniforms, but the argument can equally be applied to the rationale behind Bain's yen for outsourcing. ) The guy wrote:
"The foundation of capitalism is to produce a product or service that can be sold at a profit. In the case of the uniforms, it was simply a matter of choosing a manufacturer who would produce that product at the least cost to the Olympic Committee. That turned out to be China, as with most clothing sold in the United States."
Will wonders never cease! And no wonder the American pro-job destroyers like David Brooks are now crawling out of the woodwork, e.g.
http://www.salon.com/2012/07/17/david_brooks_begs_romney_please_defend_capitalism/
Anyway, Rattner then went on to warn that food stamps would likely be cut as much as one third, i.e. one third fewer people allowed to receive them. Just think of all the malnourished kids that will be left in Romney's wake!
Rattner also suggested changes to Social Security, most likely for the COLA. If his total forecast holds this country will be much MUCH worse off, especially if Mitt also goes ahead with his plans to increase defense spending 25%. I mean we already spend more on military bullshit than the next 25 nations in line, including China and Russia. I guess Romney is aiming for more military spending than all the other civilizations in the galaxy! (Or else he's aiming to send us into the dumpster of history in one tenth the time generally forecast)
Rattner, again, noted that if people knew the truth about the Ryan budget and Mitt's plans, there likely wouldn't be more than 10% poll support. I myself believe it's more than past time people wake up and smell the coffee. This idiotic visual of Romney being in a near dead heat with Obama has got to stop. People need to come to their senses, and cease the 2-bit fantasizing. Romney will not make your lives better, he will make them as bad or worse than those 2.6 million whose jobs his Bain Capital had a hand in outsourcing since 1994!
An entitled, brat-bully quarter billionaire-plus plus in charge of this country!? I would sooner move back to Barbados and eat sugar cane and bread fruit every day! Even if I had to live on a beach!
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