4 ms·

The 'usual bugaboo' is 'entitlements', which includes Medicare and Social Security, and is roughly $1.6 trillion. I don't agree with the money we're pissing aw

by ja30278 17y ago

The 'usual bugaboo' is 'entitlements', which includes Medicare and Social Security, and is roughly $1.6 trillion. I don't agree with the money we're pissing away in the Middle East either, but you can't honestly call social services a 'tiny minority' of that budget.

deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
timr 17y ago
Do I already need to remind you that a Republican president just enacted one of the largest expansions of Medicaid in the history of the program? The Republican party is no more eager to cut senior entitlements than is the Democratic Party -- they both use Medicaid and Social Security as political bludgeons, and neither side has made a serious proposal to cut costs. You can try to turn this into a partisan political debate, but the bottom line is that both sides have a strong incentive to leave these programs alone (they benefit active voters). On the issue of entitlements, the primary practical difference between Republicans and Democrats is that the Republicans have a long history of attacking entitlements for poor people, in order to maintain the illusion that they care about costs.
- jam 17y ago
  Do I need to remind you that not everyone interested in shrinking government expenditures is a Republican?
  - deleted 17y ago
    [deleted]
  - timr 17y ago
    "Do I need to remind you that not everyone interested in shrinking government expenditures is a Republican?" Considering that I'm one of those people, probably not. Did you bother to look at my original post, or did you just read the last comment in the thread? (C'mon folks...the parent comment doesn't even make sense in light of what I wrote. Don't just vote up comments because they sound vaguely like they come from people on your side of the political spectrum.)
- petekalo 17y ago
  This is funny because you were the only one to bring up political parties.
- anamax 17y ago
  > Do I already need to remind you that a Republican president just enacted one of the largest expansions of Medicaid in the history of the program? And the Dems who objected did so because they thought that the increase was too small. The fact that the Repubs have been horrible does not imply that the Dems are no worse.

by ja30278 17y ago

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

timr 17y ago

Do I already need to remind you that a Republican president just enacted one of the largest expansions of Medicaid in the history of the program? The Republican party is no more eager to cut senior entitlements than is the Democratic Party -- they both use Medicaid and Social Security as political bludgeons, and neither side has made a serious proposal to cut costs. You can try to turn this into a partisan political debate, but the bottom line is that both sides have a strong incentive to leave these programs alone (they benefit active voters). On the issue of entitlements, the primary practical difference between Republicans and Democrats is that the Republicans have a long history of attacking entitlements for poor people, in order to maintain the illusion that they care about costs.

jam 17y ago
Do I need to remind you that not everyone interested in shrinking government expenditures is a Republican?
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
- timr 17y ago
  "Do I need to remind you that not everyone interested in shrinking government expenditures is a Republican?" Considering that I'm one of those people, probably not. Did you bother to look at my original post, or did you just read the last comment in the thread? (C'mon folks...the parent comment doesn't even make sense in light of what I wrote. Don't just vote up comments because they sound vaguely like they come from people on your side of the political spectrum.)
petekalo 17y ago
This is funny because you were the only one to bring up political parties.
anamax 17y ago
> Do I already need to remind you that a Republican president just enacted one of the largest expansions of Medicaid in the history of the program? And the Dems who objected did so because they thought that the increase was too small. The fact that the Repubs have been horrible does not imply that the Dems are no worse.