Social Sec. and Medicare are out of the same pot.. Medicaid is not.. there is a solution

[Peacetrain]

Up the caps.. Social Security and Medicare own a ton of treasuries.. and as those climb out of the recession slump their numbers will look better..but upping the caps will get us through the baby bust generation.. and baby boomer 2 (there are more of them then there baby boomers) will help the smaller bust generation. SS and Medicare are not entitlements. They are paid for just like our 401 K's. pensions, private insurance.. we pay for it.

The reason group insurance is cheaper because it averages over a large group of people is the same working model for SS and Medicare.

Medicaid.. different ball of wax. It is a shared program between states and the feds out of the general budget.. and is not provided for by an expanded tax program. It is a very important program that helps people with disabilities, older seniors in nursing homes, etc etc.

States take a hit on Medicaid because of unfunded mandates from the Federal Government

The truth that the Ryan plan does not work,not because cuts NOT will balance the budget.. Medicaid is not properly funded. That is the problem

We have to pay our bills and we have to keep the infrastructure repaired, we have to invest. (just like our homes)

Republicans do not understand economics.. they want everything on the credit card. The bills are due boys.. pony up and pay

[godai]

1. So, you're suggesting a new Medicaid tax?

Upping the caps as you suggest makes sense for SS and Medicare but even that seems politically unlikely. A new Medicaid tax seems virtually impossible to pass. I see the basic problem with Medicaid as the extent of poverty in the US and very high health care costs. These issues need to be addressed but I'm not holding my breath. With the huge budget deficits, additional funding for Medicaid, federal or state, is hard to come by.

A small correction...Medicaid will pay for seniors in nursing homes only when they have little money remaining. My 83 year old mother in law pays $6000 a month and she is far from rich.

[Peacetrain]

4. Yep I say we put up the monies needed to fund Medicaid.

The people who need Medicaid..need it NOW.. it is a very worthy program that helps those who need it most

This whole idea of having programs and not paying for them is a republican ruse.. they want to take one program Medicaid and use it to break SS and Medicare.. they have been at it since Roosevelt.

As a people.. we have a duty.. yep a duty to help those in need. Medicaid is that program to help those who have no other alternatives..

If people really want a free market health care..then that means that those who are not in a position to participate need to be covered by the government.

[LiberalFighter]

2. Personally, I consider using the term "unfunded mandates" a misdirection statement.

Especially when programs are either wholly or partially voluntary and funded. In addition, when funds are derived directly from the state instead of the federal government it eliminates sending that same taxpayer money to the federal government and then back to the state.

If they are really concerned about the expense of programs they should insist that groups involved be expanded so that it involves all states instead of just the one state so states can reduce their costs.


I also consider SS and Medicare to be entitlements because I paid into it. Maybe it is Entitlement Plus because of the taxes taken out of our paychecks for that purpose.

[Peacetrain]

3. The word entitlement has a double meaning.. legal and what the republicans

have done with the word. Legally an entitlement is a right.. just a simple right..but the CONservatives have been doing a CON job on the word as it is applied to SS and Medicare.. so that for many when they hear the word entitlement .. it plays as something "given" just because of a feeling of being owed.. and that is certainly not what SS and Medicare are.

Hope I clarified where I was going with that..

So many times, it is clear to me what I meant, but that is the issue with writing on boards.. we can't see each other and just have to take the words on the white background as we internalize them.

[LiberalFighter]

5. I understand all that. And we need to fight them this on it.

Fighting it needs to be done different and in total ways. Democratic leaders need to stress it. We need to stress it. And we need to educate the idiots in the media.