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Following up on an item from the weekend, I had a few concerns about Joe Nocera’s latest NYT column, urging Democrats to take the House Republican plan to end Medicare seriously. To refresh readers’ memory, here’s the gist of Nocera’s pitch:
[E]ven if Ryan’s solution is wrongheaded, he’s right that Medicare is headed for trouble. It might not be in nine years, but as health care costs continue to rise uncontrollably, and as baby boomers continue to age, Medicare will gobble up an ever larger percentage of the federal budget. […]
To put it another way, while the Democratic Party might be well served in trying to use the Ryan plan to bury their political opponents, the country itself is not. The debate we need is not about whether Medicare should be reformed, but how. […]
It would be nice if we could treat the Ryan plan not as an object of derision but as a launching off point for a serious debate.
I made the case that this is an awful mistake. The GOP privatization plan, as shaped by Paul Ryan, is a cruel and unnecessary fraud. It can’t serve as a “launching off point for a serious debate” since the proposal’s numbers don’t even add up.
But Nocera’s broader message — at least Ryan is trying to address a problem — seems popular with a wide variety of pundits. If we’re willing to look past the part where the Republican scheme is a substantive joke, the argument goes, we might able to give Ryan credit for making an effort.
I think this is absurd for a variety of reasons, but I have one follow-up question for those who actually think this way: where were you in 2009 and 2010?
Reader N.M. emailed over the weekend to note that Nocera gave Ryan credit because “at least he’s facing the problem.” N.M. added, “Now it seems to me that the Affordable Care Act was a pretty serious shot at ‘facing the problem.’”
Good point. All of the pundits who are inclined to praise Ryan for recognizing a problem and crafting a proposal should, one hopes, have been at least as generous with Democrats during the fight over health care reform. After all, Dems saw a major problem that threatened the nation’s long-term finances. Sensible people on both sides of the aisle agreed that a significant reform package was a necessity, and Democrats presented a credible, serious solution. Indeed, specifically when it comes to Medicare’s financial health, the Affordable Care Act not only reduces the deficit, but also extends the life of the Medicare system by nearly a decade.
Republicans, meanwhile, refused to negotiate, refused to offer a viable alternative, and refused to engage in a serious debate.
Where were the pundits praising Democrats for their courage? Where were the “Meet the Press” roundtable discussions chastising Republicans for engaging in scare tactics?
If memory serves, the only things talking heads wanted to talk about were polls and process.
When we talk about much of the political discourse being “wired” for Republicans, this is part of the larger indictment.
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howard on May 31, 2011 5:01 PM:
it's not just that the affordable care act did (and will) make an effort in that direction; it's that among those efforts was the cut for medicare advantage, which the gop demagoguged shamelessly.
so my rule of thumb is: any pundit who can demonstrate that he or she was concerned about the gop's "mediscare" tactics in 2010 - and remember, we are talking about a flat-out dishonest representation of the cuts - at least has the standing to raise the issue here.
since the very same people who are now panting with excitement about eliminating medicare as a "serious effort" of course said nothing about the gop tactics, this rule - if, of course, there were a way to enforce it! - would shut them all up.
appropriately.
sue on May 31, 2011 5:04 PM:
he really got walloped in the comments on that article-hopefully he learned something from his readers, many of whom were extremely well informed about healthcare issues and the ACA.
There was also LOTS of support for Single Payer.
the_dan on May 31, 2011 5:04 PM:
Yeah, this is all a symptom of the seldom-spoken, absurd, yet very real Beltway sensibility that Republicans are "the grownups."
c u n d gulag on May 31, 2011 5:09 PM:
Kill the fucking old people, the poor, the disabled, and the brown MFers who're sneaking in.
But not a penny in taxes for the well off and rich!
There, I'm addressing the problem.
And I am now being "SERIOUS!"
According to our MSM - I sure as Hell am.
Mike Reilly on May 31, 2011 5:11 PM:
The problem Dems have is that they don't have a Fox News and other message crafters (Luntz) putting together the propaganda message.
Obama got serious about health costs with his Health Bill, as well as saving the auto industry, etc. The list is endless of areas he has worked on to 'reduce the deficit!!"..
But if you are going to mention "getting serious" about the deficit, will somebody bring up Dick Cheney.... and "Deficits don't matter"!
stormskies on May 31, 2011 5:27 PM:
And why is not the Democratic House Budget proposal that would actually balance the budget in ten years a SERIOUS PROPOSAL ? Of course, because it's Democratic proposal .. and the Corporate Gate keepers called the Beltway Media will never allow for that ever to be discussed let alone called 'a serious proposal'. That's not what they are hired and paid to do ... they are hired and paid to toe the corporate line = agenda. Thus, all the framing by the likes of David "I am not a corporate cum slut" Gregory is how they megaphone the corporate propaganda ....
Tom Nicholson on May 31, 2011 5:33 PM:
Privatization only benefits the few at the expense of the many.
The GOP IS the few. The democrats ARE the many.
Simple eh?
ClearEye on May 31, 2011 5:40 PM:
As Krugman pointed out, the Ryan plan is based on a set of specious assumptions, including a 2.5% unemployment rate and revenues somehow increasing from 15% to 19% of GDP.
For the ''serious,'' there is a very good, 50-page CBO letter analysis of the original Ryan plan from which one can draw their own conclusions. No such luck that the MSM would bother with something so ''serious,'' it's do dry and factual. http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/108xx/doc10851/01-27-Ryan-Roadmap-Letter.pdf
As David Wessel pointed out a few years ago in the WSJ, the market theory mechanism Ryan fantasizes about for Medicare ''falls flat'' in the face of reality.
A RAND study showed that Medicare patients systematically over-rated the health care services they received compared to a group of professionals who reviewed the records of the same sample group--the average rating by the patients was close to 10, while the professionals average was a bit over 5 on a 10 point scale. So much for consumer choice. http://www.rand.org/news/press/2006/05/01.html
Nocera is a pretty good writer, author of one of the better books about the meltdown, ''All the Devils Are Here.'' He doesn't seem to have found his footing yet as a NYTimes columnist, but at least his heart is in the right place. Just wish he would be more serious.
Marko on May 31, 2011 6:23 PM:
Republican Plan (short version): Throw the baby out with the batch water.
pea on May 31, 2011 8:34 PM:
Nocera might possibly have a hangnail, which could eventually lead to an infection, possibly even gangrene, and it's important to take these concerns seriously so ignoring the obvious approach of cutting off the hangnail and applying aloe, it's probably a good idea to amputate his hand just in case.
Kyle McCullough on May 31, 2011 10:09 PM:
Another way of saying that the press is 'wired for the Republicans' is simply that it has a huge conservative bias. Another example of that is that even the media's critics feel the need to sugar coat that fact.
slite on May 31, 2011 10:45 PM:
Doesn't anybody remember how much credit Henry Waxman and Nancy Pelosi received for passing legislation to address climate change?
John Puma on June 01, 2011 2:13 AM:
" ... Medicare will gobble up an ever larger percentage of the federal budget."
And this is a problem because our perpetual war machine, already at 50+% of the budget, must have more?
"Serious debate," my ass.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/04/13-4
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catherineD on June 01, 2011 4:26 AM:
Thanks for being one of the few who points out these discrepancies.
mr. irony on June 01, 2011 7:42 AM:
ryan's "kill medicare bill" is serious..
as is the bill's accompaning tax cut for the rich..
from 35% down to 25%..
someone has to sacrifice..
congrats it you!
worcestergirl on June 01, 2011 9:35 AM:
There was a critical moment in the health care debate, when the CBO scored one of the plans (senate, I think) with and without the public option, and as I recall the public option made a huge dent in cost.
And of course, it is rare for anyone (including most Dems) to point out our system costs twice as much as anywhere else, for fair to middling results. THere are tons of ways to cut costs without impacting results.
I wish just once Bernie Sanders or someone like that could get a few minutes ehind a microphone and point out to our media that the progressives actually have lots of effective solutions.
zandru on June 01, 2011 10:11 AM:
Call Their Bluff
The Republicans want a "serious Democratic plan" to "save" Medicare? Fine.
Enact a short little bill (the Repubs have trouble reading more than just a page or two) that OPENS UP MEDICARE to everyone who wants to buy in. Rate tables to be established by the Medicare Board, not statute, but can only be age-based, and may not exceed what the geezers pay, which is a little over $100 per month.
There will be a flood of money into the program, most of it from healthy younger people. I mean, a person has to be pretty darned sick to be in worse shape than an 80 year old, right?
Simple, easily explained, sure fire - and what we wanted in PPACA all along.
Call their bluff. If you think the geezers and pre-geezers came out for the Ryan Medicare Termination plan, just watch the pre-geezers give their elected reps the what-for over this one. Let Republicans "negotiate" for a change.