Keep Your Goddam Gummit Hands Off My Medicare!

Seriously...

This used to be a joke, but now the Rethugs have come up with a plan to pay for the Trade Adjustment Act benefits available to people whose jobs have been lost and offshored due to "trade practices" -- and caused by the TPP (which according to the Chamber of Commerce will increase American jobs) by tapping into Medicare.

???!!!

Tell Congress to keep their goddam gummit hands off our Medicare! Sign the petition that is being jointly promoted by The Daily Kos and CREDO.

Tell Congress that we won't put up with it. I was talking with my own congressman just last night, and he said that they do listen to their constituents' concerns. He also brought up this very topic and said that while he was already leaning towards a "No" vote on the so-called Fast Track, this particularly piece, if true, would put him solidly in the "No" camp.

Let Congress know how you feel! Sign the petition today!

Thank You Paul Ryan

Here, from the Don't Tea on Me website, is the full text of a letter to US Rep Paul Ryan (R-Idiot) from Dr. Quentin Young, of Physicians for a National Health Program:

Representative Paul Ryan
1233 Longworth HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515

May 25, 2011

Dear Rep. Paul Ryan,

Our organization, Physicians for a National Health Program, is strongly supportive of Medicare, recognizing it as one of the premier legislative achievements in the history of the United States. Therefore, I am writing to express our gratitude for your role in eliciting the overwhelming support that the people of our country extend to this important social justice program.

Since you succeeded in securing virtual unanimous support from the Republican majority in the House of Representatives for your voucher program, the rejection of your plan has been demonstrated nationwide. The spectacular defeat of Ms. Corwin in the 26th district of New York on May 24, 2011, is clearly the earliest expression of the vital importance our nation attaches to a single-payer comprehensive health plan for the elderly, Medicare.

I can think of no other political act that could match your voucher program “reform” in mobilizing public support for Medicare going forward. The collateral damage to the Republican aspirations for power is immeasurable.

Thank you very much,

Quentin Young, M.D., M.A.C.P
National Coordinator
Physicians for a National Health Program

Who am I to argue with this guy? Here's hoping he's right and this was the Waterloo of the Rethuglicon Party. It certainly has every opportunity to be the end of the GOP as we know it.

Five Rethug Myths About Medicare

Over at Buzzflash there's a list by editor Mark Karlin, Five Republican Myths About Medicare:

1. "Medicare is socialist" (often asserted by pre-Medicare age Tea Party members and the vestige of the John Birch Society right wing).
2. "Medicare is not run by the government, so it is not socialized" (sometimes claimed by Republican seniors, who then can argue against "socialized medicine" for the rest of Americans)
3. "Members of Congress receive the same benefits as Medicare recipients" (occasionally used by supporters of Paul Ryan's Medicare voucher program to "prove" that Republicans in Congress will receive the same care that they are proposing for seniors).
4. "Medicare is a waste of taxpayer dollars on the poor" (at times used by "poorly informed" Republicans, who don't know the difference between Medicare and Medicaid.)
5. "Medicare costs can only be reduced through a voucher program" (frequently used by advocates of Ryan's budget)

Be sure to check out the whole thing for Karlin's trenchant analysis and easy refutation of these myths.

The fact that they are so easily refuted leads me to believe that the people promulgating them are cynical politicians who will go to any lengths to dupe the American voting sheep public.

And that observation is my "No-Duh!" moment for today...