PEA RIDGE — When I was a young man I heard a saying that “only Nixon could go to China.” In those days, China was a known enemy rather than the place that makes all the cheap stuff. If a Democrat or a more establishment Republican had tried pursuing a policy of reaching out to China, they would have been attacked for being “soft on Communism.” Nixon had a reputation for being hard on Communists, and so people were more willing to accept it when he reached out.
It is a political maxim that people who are thought of as hard on issue X are those that can most get away with being soft on issue X. That’s why we need to get beyond personalities and look directly at policy. Senator Smith may have a reputation as a man of the people, but if the reason he has that reputation is that special interests gave him big bucks so he could buy media to craft that image of himself, then I would say ignore his label. Instead, watch what hedoes.
Examples of the maxim abound. I already mentioned that Nixon was the perfect tool for global corporate interests to use to begin a rapprochement with the Communist giant. Another example is the Federal Reserve. When something like the Federal Reserve act was first tried, it was voted down. The proposal only passed after the key players got the backing of a senator, Robert Latham Owens, who was perceived as being tough on the big banks. In later years, Owens repudiated his support for the act, but by then it was too late.
That brings us to today and the latest example of the political maxim. The Democrats are perceived as defenders of the elderly, thus they are the onesin best position to slash Medicare funding without getting called on it. A complicit establishment media, who would howl at Republicans if they tried it but are largely silent as the Democrats do it, helps greatly.
The way it is cut is revealing. It just guts Medicare advantage programs, where insurance companies negotiate with providers to hold down costs. That does not affect so-called medi-gap plans which are pushed by AARP. Those plans simply pay the parts of the bill that the government does not pay. This is how AARP’s backing was purchased by Obama even though his plan will hurt Medicare funding overall- the hurt part is concentrated in the place where AARP’s rivals sell products. The destruction of this competing product will enrich AARP at the expense of seniors who have been enjoying enhanced coverage through Medicare advantage plans.
Another way the plan cuts Medicare is by cutting reimbursements to doctors and other medical professionals. While the Democrats are technically correct that this will not cut any benefits, in the real world it will make it harder for seniors to find doctors willing to take them. I guess if Democrats understood the laws of supply and demand and other simple economic principles they would not have spent us into oblivion.
Of course the Republicans spent us into oblivion when they got the chance too, so the practical difference is whose friends get the money. Doctors and insurance companies are largely the GOP’s friends, so they are losing money.
ACORN and AARP are Obama’s friends so they get money. The big banks own a piece of them all soMcCain and Obama both supported the bailouts.
This is government as organized plunder, and if it does not end soon then this country will.
Opinion, Pages 4 on 12/09/2009