KNOW MEDICARE TERMS AND PLAYERS

Know Medicare Terms And Players

By D. S. Mitchell

The Players

The seven people below, plus lobbyists, private citizens and trade organizations are expecting a big fight over entitlement programs.  Only congress can make major changes to Medicare.  And with the GOP majority in Congress, entitlements are in real danger.

Donald Trump:

Trump campaigned he would not cut Medicare or other public health programs.  But a recent change to his website and his full support of The American Health Care Act makes those promises doubtful. The AHCA is a bill constructed and promoted by Paul Ryan. A plan Ryan and Trump claim will “modernize” Medicare. The Trump website suggests the changes are to deal with “challenges” created by the retirement of the baby boom generation.  Trump will be under pressure from congressional Republicans to back major changes to Medicare. Trump is currently, supporting massive cuts to Medicaid.

Mitch McConnell:

Senate Majority Leader champions the rollback of federal support for social programs.  He has proposed significant changes to Medicare, such as raising the eligibility age. He favors slashing Medicaid across the board.

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Gorsuch Hearing

                     

Gorsuch Hearing

D. S. Mitchell

Gorsuch Hearings

I watched the Senators question 10th Circuit Judge, Neil Gorsuch, for about 4 hours this morning.  Although interested, I couldn’t watch any longer.  I had to get a few things done, so I shut off the TV so I could run some errands. I replayed the proceedings in my head. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) definitely has a point when he questions whether we should be considering appointing a judge that was nominated by President Trump. After all Trump is under FBI investigation for conspiring with the Russians to win the 2016 election.

Life-Time Appointment

Schumer reminded us this was a life-time appointment.  Why such a big hurry, he asked? Merrick Garland was held off for over a year while the Republicans prayed for a Republican President in 2016. So, I’m kinda like Schumer, it’s not really Gorsuch, it’s Trump, he may not have a year left in office.  Maybe we should hold off a bit.

I’m Back

Errands run I’m back and I immediately turn the TV on. The Gorsuch hearing is still going. I had my back to the TV so I didn’t see who was asking the questions, but I heard a man ask, “Who’s paying for all your TV ads?” Good question I thought. For at least two weeks every time there was a break in regular programming there was a commercial featuring Gorsuch.

“I don’t know,” Gorsuch answered flatly.

I say to myself, “Really?”

Who Pays For The Ads

There certainly are a lot of support ads for Neil Gorsuch. Why?  Since when do you see 100’s of millions of dollars being spent on television ads for a Supreme Court nominee? I’ve never seen anything like it. I want to know who and why is spending all the green.  It’s probably the NRA, or another gun advocates group. I can’t imagine who else it would be. From what I know about Gorsuch, besides being blindly conservative, he is a do or die 2nd Amendment guy.

What I Missed

Who knows what I missed in the two hours I was running errands, but from what I saw, I think the Democrats did a decent job keeping Gorsuch’s feet to the fire. If it comes to it they might as well confirm him. As conservative judges go, I think we could get a lot worse nominee than Neil Gorsuch. I hope I’m not wrong. But, like every thing else in politics, only time will give us the answer.

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