As we mentioned in last week's column, the Republicans seem to feel that this is a last ditch chance to have control of the White House potentially for a long time. Looking at the possible re-election of Barack Obama and then if Hillary Clinton runs in 2016 and then also wins re-election, that would be 16 years of Democratic control of the White House. And because of the GOP's lack of courting minorities to it's party along with the changing demographics (the statistical facts) of the country, the future does not bode well for Republicans in terms of overall voter support.
With that in mind, the election comes down to the two big questions that were outlined in today's program. One, what should should Medicare be structured and, even larger, what should the roll of government be? With the vice-presidential selection of Paul Ryan, these two questions come into acute focus.
Governor Bob McDonnell (R-VA) described Mr. Ryan as a guy with real solutions, but those solutions need to be examined. The governor said that the Medicare Trust Fund is going broke and hence something needs to be done. Mr. Ryan's budget plan reduces spending on Medicare by eventually turning into a voucher system where seniors are given an allotment of money and are encouraged to then use that money to find their own private insurance. The question of whether it would effect seniors right now, the answer is technically no, at least not anyone over 55 years of age.
However, also in Mr. Ryan's budget is the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, known to all as Obamacare. This would effect seniors right now. Under the Affordable Care Act, the doughnut hole for prescription drugs for Medicare recipients will be closed so seniors will not have to pay extra out of pocket for medication that should be covered in the first place. On it's face, the prescription drug benefit that the Bush Administration put in place never made sense. The federal government, under Bush, provides a huge windfall of cash for the pharmaceutical companies, creating a deficit that it didn't put on the books and the result was that seniors had to pay more.
Given what Mr. Ryan's budget would do to fundamentally alter the federal government's relationship with its citizens, we find that calling his selection to the Republican ticket 'admirable,' as Peggy Noonan did, very odd to say the least. Mr. Ryan's budget plan disproportionately shifts the burden of the deficit to the middle class while asking no sacrifice from the wealthiest in the system. It's not a secret who would benefit the most from Mr. Ryan's policy proposals.
It comes down to whether you believe that a country's government should have some responsibility to help its people in economic ways. The Democrats believe that a government should provide assistance and the Republicans not so much.
Round table:Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed (D-GA), Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, Wall Street Journal Columnist Peggy Noonan, NBC's Political Director Chuck Todd, and Congressman Ted Cruz (R-TX)
With that in mind, the election comes down to the two big questions that were outlined in today's program. One, what should should Medicare be structured and, even larger, what should the roll of government be? With the vice-presidential selection of Paul Ryan, these two questions come into acute focus.
Governor Bob McDonnell (R-VA) described Mr. Ryan as a guy with real solutions, but those solutions need to be examined. The governor said that the Medicare Trust Fund is going broke and hence something needs to be done. Mr. Ryan's budget plan reduces spending on Medicare by eventually turning into a voucher system where seniors are given an allotment of money and are encouraged to then use that money to find their own private insurance. The question of whether it would effect seniors right now, the answer is technically no, at least not anyone over 55 years of age.
However, also in Mr. Ryan's budget is the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, known to all as Obamacare. This would effect seniors right now. Under the Affordable Care Act, the doughnut hole for prescription drugs for Medicare recipients will be closed so seniors will not have to pay extra out of pocket for medication that should be covered in the first place. On it's face, the prescription drug benefit that the Bush Administration put in place never made sense. The federal government, under Bush, provides a huge windfall of cash for the pharmaceutical companies, creating a deficit that it didn't put on the books and the result was that seniors had to pay more.
Given what Mr. Ryan's budget would do to fundamentally alter the federal government's relationship with its citizens, we find that calling his selection to the Republican ticket 'admirable,' as Peggy Noonan did, very odd to say the least. Mr. Ryan's budget plan disproportionately shifts the burden of the deficit to the middle class while asking no sacrifice from the wealthiest in the system. It's not a secret who would benefit the most from Mr. Ryan's policy proposals.
It comes down to whether you believe that a country's government should have some responsibility to help its people in economic ways. The Democrats believe that a government should provide assistance and the Republicans not so much.
Round table:Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed (D-GA), Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, Wall Street Journal Columnist Peggy Noonan, NBC's Political Director Chuck Todd, and Congressman Ted Cruz (R-TX)
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