Under both the House and Senate Health Care bills, senior citizens get screwed royally. See
Government Care's Assault on Seniors. At a press conference on July 22, 2009, Obama stated his intentions for Medicare:
"The opening statement made only one mention of the 47 million people now without health insurance, and did not repeat Obama's election campaign promises of universal coverage. Instead, he spoke almost exclusively about the need to slash spending on medical care, particularly on the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs which underwrite health care for the elderly, the disabled and the poor."
"`The biggest driving force behind our federal deficit is the skyrocketing cost of Medicare and Medicaid,' he said. `So let me be clear: If we do not control these costs, we will not be able to control our deficit.'"
"`I have also pledged that health insurance reform will not add to our deficit over the next decade, and I mean it,' he added, pointing to a plan to `create an independent group of doctors and medical experts who are empowered to eliminate waste and inefficiency in Medicare on an annual basis.'"
See
Obama press conference: Evasions and lies on plan to slash health care for workers In his Sept. 9, 2009, speech to Congress, Obama said: "Reducing the waste and inefficiency in Medicare and Medicaid will pay for most of this plan." See
Remarks by the President to a Joint Session of Congress on Health Care This claim is nonsense on its face.
Also see
Democrats pledge more cuts in Medicare to fund Obama's health care overhaul Continuing a long patten, the Monday news report said nothing of how Obamacare would screw senior citizens. This omission made clear again indifference of both Pacifica and Washington Democrats for senior citizens.
The post-Massachusetts election chatter both right and noted the issue of health care there but conveniently overlooked the fact Obamcare there would directly and immediately affect only senior citizens. State law there now requires residents to buy private health coverage. The Massachusetts health care voters who turned out for Brown were senior citizens, and the anger there reflected what Obama seeks to do to Medicare.
Pacifica and FSRN consistently recognize and support identity politics for practically every group there is. But for them, senior citizens don't exist.
From the beginning of this republic, senior citizens have always shown up in disproportionate numbers at the ballot box and, since Roosevelt, have voted Democratic. Obama's starting a fight with high turnout, Democratic base voters and turning them into opponents of his health plan must rank as one of the most stupid political moves in the history of this country, unless cutting Medicare and screwing seniors was a object of the exercise from the beginning. If that were true, the assault on seniors would make sense. However, Congressmen or Senators on the ballot this November might care to disagree.
As the Pacifica winter fund raising season comes, Pacifica should remember that senior citizens also make donations in disproportionate numbers and should consider the morals of the Massachusetts election against starting class battles with senior citizens.