BTL:Will Democrats Stand and Fight or Surrender to GOP Plan to Dismantle Medicare?

Will Democrats Stand and Fight or Surrender to GOP Plan to Dismantle Medicare?

Interview with Damon Silvers, policy director with the AFL-CIO, conducted by Scott Harris



When the Republican-controlled House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed Wisconsin GOP Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget proposal that would have dismantled Medicare and defunded Medicaid, many inside-the-beltway journalists and media pundits praised the legislation as bold, innovative and courageous. But when the public learned more details about the measure, which would transform Medicare from a program that pays the medical bills of senior citizens over 65 years of age into a voucher system that provides inadequate subsidies to purchase private insurance coverage, public sentiment quickly soured. Republican legislators who voted for the bill were soon confronted by angry constituents who were anxious that the government programs they value and depend on would soon disappear.

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http://www.btlonline.org/2011/seg/110610af-btl-silvers.html