In MSNBC Smackdown, Propagandist Betsy McCaughey Proposes Eliminating Medicare For Some Seniors
In MSNBC Smackdown, Propagandist Betsy McCaughey Proposes Eliminating Medicare For Some Seniors
This morning, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) and health care provocateur Betsy McCaughey took their health care debate to MSNBC’s “Morning Meeting” hosted by Dylan Ratigan. In a heated exchange that lasted almost 15 minutes, the two sparred over Medicare cuts, the public option, and health care spending.
Weiner insisted that a robust public plan could restore competition to concentrated health care markets and reduce health care costs by an estimated $150 billion. McCaughey, the architect of the false “death panels” myth, continued her scare-mongering campaign against seniors: “The elephant in the room here is that all these bills are devastating care for seniors and the Baucus bill is the deadliest of all!”
Throughout the interview, McCaughey was constantly on the defensive, complaining that she was being shut out of the debate. “Anthony, you are ignorant about health insurance,” she said, before insisting to Ratigan that “this will go down in history as one of the most browbeating interviews in television history.” “I hope that it does,” Ratigan replied. “And maybe you’ll learn at that point then to answer questions as opposed to go on television and cast accusations.” Watch a compilation:
After repeatedly refusing to explain how she would reduce health care spending, McCaughey finally proposed “inching up the eligibility age [for Medicare] one month a year until 2043 when the eligibility age reaches 70.” That could “put Medicare on a firm footing without cutting care for Medicare recipients.”
“That was a solid answer to your question,” Weiner exclaimed facetiously. “Take away 100% of Medicare for people 65 to 70.” According to the Congressional Budget Office, which McCaughey credited with the idea, eliminating “younger beneficiaries” from the Medicare program would do little to control costs. “Outlays for Medicare would [still] rise to 7.7 percent of GDP by 2050,” the CBO concluded.
Weiner pounced on McCaughey’s solution, which could cut as many as 11.3 million seniors from Medicare. “You want to gut Medicare,” Weiner told McCaughey. “You just said on this show you wanted to cut Medicare for everyone 65 to 70, isn’t that right?”
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
Eliminating Medicare is only the start for these animals. They won’t stop until they bring back feudalism.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:07 pmI’m catching this as soon as I get home.
Needless to say, you’ve pretty much hit bottom when you get schooled by Dylan Freakin’ Ratigan.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:10 pmCorporate Communism – that’s a KEEPER!
October 6th, 2009 at 1:11 pmAnthony Weiner is a HERO!!! He’s what our Dems ought to be.
Take note, you wimpy spineless lumps (and I’m talking to you, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi et. al)!
October 6th, 2009 at 1:11 pmThis is just like the Republican’s plan for Social Security. They want to save it by killing it.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:13 pmBetsy McCaughey = Death panel advocate.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:15 pmYeah I saw the interview. She was brutally bad. She said nothing _ as most Republicans do _ and then whined A LOT! Kudos for Ratigan for being persistent.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:16 pmDylan Ratigan doesn’t usually have a firm grasp of the facts. But he’s a tenacious little sucker. This is the second time I’ve seen him go off on somebody that deserved it. His show is only slightly less annoying than Dr. Nancy Sneiderman’s and not as disgusting as Joe Scarborough. I know, I need a life.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:16 pmMcCaughey also knows that if you eliminate Medicare for people between 65 and 70 that you’d drive that group of elderly into the loving arms of private insurers at astronomical costs.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:18 pmMcCaughey is trying to give Orly Taitz a run for her money in the batsh#t crazy olympics.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:18 pmMcCaughey didn’t get enough after Jon Stewart smacked her down for lying about death panels. Now she’s on MSNBC getting her a$$ handed to her again. What a dingbat brawd!
October 6th, 2009 at 1:18 pmHer mama should have had an abortion. Nasty statement. Nasty woman.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:19 pmGood for Ratigan and Weiner. McCaughey is a shill for insurance companies. Now, if we want to talk about REAL death panels, that would be called “insurance” companies.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:19 pmstaring to like dylan ratigan
October 6th, 2009 at 1:19 pmDeath Panels and Betsy just died, live on TV.
This is exactly why the White Wing surrounds themselves with borg-like wannabes.
If a true debate or open forum is allowed, their talking points and accusations quickly go up in smoke.
Anthony Weiner is someone to keep an eye on. He’s a New Yorker who’s life experiences suit him well in debates or arguments.
Betsy, on the other hand, showed how truly shallow and unexamined her false claims and threats are.
Buh-bye, Betsy, buh-bye.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:21 pmShayne says:
…Dr. Nancy Sneiderman’s…
Dr. Nancy will be gone as soon as the Swine Flu scare is over…..BORING.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:21 pmMcCaughey wants us to wait until we’re 70 to retire. So all those 50s housewives who in many cases never worked a day in their lives outside the home should be able to waste money on their government sponsored, big corporation run Medicare supplements and we can just wait until we’re 70 to retire, if we live that long.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:21 pmToo bad she didn’t say this on Fox News. Republicans will never hear about it.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:22 pmI wouldn’t be too sure. Although she doesn’t use the word “rationing” every time health care reform is mentioned like she used to. That’s when I really wanted to smack her upside the head. But I still turn her off just so I don’t boost her ratings.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:24 pmOctober 6th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
McCaughey’s entire education was in the field of HISTORY ; how does that make her a healthcare “expert” , as she (delusionally) believes it does ?
Does it have anything to do with being listed as a member of the board of directors of the Cantel Medical Corporation until she resigned on August 20, 2009 ??????????
October 6th, 2009 at 1:25 pmThe GOP:
“Killing the elderly makes our healthcare system the best in the world.”
The GOP:
“Murder is Job #1.”
The GOP:
October 6th, 2009 at 1:25 pm“Who needs Medicare?”
Lobotomized birds
October 6th, 2009 at 1:28 pmSee Betsy’s hollow logic…
Then sing, pleasingly
She seems to have completely lost the image she’s been trying to create of trying to be helpful in any way. She comes on shows and she’s all like “I found these problems in this bill that are going to hurt people,” and by the end of it she’s advocating things that would hurt people far worse than the “problems” she was initially complaining about, which were all lies anyway.
Remember her interview on the Daily Show? Stewart was just stuck going in circles with her. When you’re reduced to holding up a piece of paper and arguing about what the words on it literally say, you’re getting nowhere.
She’s got a terminal case of stupid.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:28 pmBetsy tap dances almost as good as Shirley Temple . .
She should be made to show her 2008 tax return before opening her mouth on TV. Wunder how many Big Papas are in Betsy’s closet, duh . .
October 6th, 2009 at 1:32 pmLOL, Shayne, I turn Dr. Nancy off because she’s BORING.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:38 pmShe also needs another Plastic Surgery. (not that there is anything wrong with that)
Dylan got my attention yesterday with the corporate communism tag he began using over and over for the corporate prostitutes that avoid competition with lobbyists. He is right on. I watched this and he laid the ground rules up front and this healthcare industry shill wanted to do all the talking and tried to change the ground rules midstream and when he wouldn’t let her she began the whine and complain that he was a bad moderater. I loved it when he told her that she was a bad answerer! After the show, he verified the numbers she questioned and verified them from right winger think tanks. She is a liar shill for the healthcare industry.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:38 pmRobertSeattle says, “Corporate Communism – that’s a KEEPER!”
I agree 100%.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:44 pm.
Props to Dylan Ratigan for tolerating Betsy McCaughey’s berating interviewee style. When confronted with a question SHE doesn’t like, she attacks the host. “You’re being partisan.” “This is the worst interview in history.” “etc.”
Umm… Betsy. Maybe you’re the worst guest…
… E V E R!!! In HISTORY!!!
.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:46 pmMcCaughey’s solution for seniors -
1. Find an nice slab of ice and float out to sea…bye, bye granny.
2. A pit full of hungry wolves, give granny a shove…bye, bye granny.
3. Solent Green…bye, bye granny.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:46 pmWOW
October 6th, 2009 at 1:48 pmBetsy the scare-monger was tag-teamed by Dylan and Anthony. She thought she could simply repeat her ridiculous, insurance-favoring, comments and beat back any challenge. (i.e., Tort reform? That is such a small part of health care, but it keeps the insurance companies very happy.)
Ratigan can recognize b.s. when he sees it in Betsy.
Weiner is a formidable debater.
What a sick women she needs to be in a straight jacket and lock up till she can tell the truth friggn nut job.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:49 pmThe woman is such an idiot…and her tow-the-line spew, is SO anti-American…that I’m at a loss for words.
She is non-credible.
Period.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:49 pmShe has a great plan for saving Medicare? No, she has a great plan for health insurance companies. She failed to mention that her plan would force the 65 to 70 year olds into the private insurance plans. And the insurance companies will reap a fortune with expensive plans that people at that age will be forced to buy.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:49 pm“I hope that it does,” Ratigan replied. “And maybe you’ll learn at that point then to answer questions as opposed to go on television and cast accusations.”
whoa… credit for that, mr. ratigan…
so he CAN be smart…
October 6th, 2009 at 1:53 pmGreat smackdown, Rep. Weiner!
October 6th, 2009 at 1:54 pmExpose McCaughy for what she is.
A traitor to the welfare of the American people,
selling out her political credentials
by enlisting in the army of corporate pirates to lie for a fee.
Like many others, I happened to catch this live this morning and Weiner and Ratigan were having none of her nonsense. This woman is a pathological liar and a fraud…..remember when Jon Stewart let her have it on the Daily Show?
The republican’s would love to do away with medicare and then do the same thing to Social Security. They have no new ideas and are bankrupt when it comes to meaningful reform.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:56 pmSlightly off-topic but relevant to this thread…I had an interesting conversation with a 70 year old person who just had a bypass operation. She stated that her doctor told her that if Obama’s health plan passes that she wouldn’t have been able to have her operation and that she would die, period. I find that difficult to believe but I don’t know much about Medicare and such. What I’m wondering is…How does the Doctor know what legislation will be passed? And what was the doctor’s ultimate motive for saying that? If anyone has any thoughts, I would appreciate them. Thx!
October 6th, 2009 at 1:56 pm.
Every time Betsy McCaughey speaks…
… Another “DEATH PANEL” wins.
.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:57 pmAfter the humiliating intellectual spanking John Stewart gave this idiot, why is anyone still bothering to interview her? She brought a copy of the House bill on the Daily Show with her, and when Stewart asked her to show where in the bill her egregious claims came from, she either couldn’t find them or read passages that meant the literal opposite of what she was claiming.
Here’s a hint for the MSM – this is not a credible source.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:57 pmOne way to rein in Medicare costs is to “means test” beneficiaries. That is, what you co-pay for your Medicare benefits is based on your net worth and your imcome. Got a lot? Pay more. Got a little (like my grandparents), pay a little.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:59 pmI had to watch this youtube clip a second time. It’s so unusual to listen to a television anchor stand up for middle class, working class, poor, and homeless Americans.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:01 pm38 – the vast majority of doctors FAVOR healthcare reform. Polls out yesterday indicate that approximately 75% of MD’s in the US favor reform.
Your friend’s doc is a card-carrying lying wingnut member of the 25%, and is full of shit.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:01 pmWhy doesn’t McCaughy just come out and speak the truth. Republicans would do away with Medicare in a heartbeat if given the chance.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:02 pmBetsy and the rest of her ilk are all against the welfare of all Americans with their incessant fear mongering and bullying tactics that will not work any longer except on their very own SHEEPLE and that list is very small as they keep consuming their own, thank goodness…….
October 6th, 2009 at 2:04 pmMcCaughey is a COMPLETE waste of space. She is trying desperately to carry out the republican mission of 1) LYING about the terms of ALL the bills (3 House-2 Senate)that will be submitted for consolidation in the various house/senate committees; and, 2) Paying immense lip service to scare tactics being put out by various republican congress folks, republican lobbying groups like Freedom Works, Americans for Prosperity that are PAID BY THE HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES to dissuade the public of change to anything!
She’s already been exposed by almost every reputable news provider/commentator (these are different folks) that she has been exposed to as a COMPLETE HACK..She got DESTROYED by Jon Stewart – now Dylan Ratigan and Rep. Weiner from NY !! AND..the Health insurance company she was working for FIRED HER – just recently…What a whack job…
October 6th, 2009 at 2:04 pmActually, the private insurance companies won’t write policies for anyone over 65 because seniors are considered too high a risk. It would be a return to the days prior to LBJ when seniors lost everything just to pay medical bills.
Yes, the Repubs have been longing for the return to the feudal state since the days of Reagan.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:08 pmIn MSNBC Smackdown, Propagandist Betsy McCaughey Proposes Eliminating Medicare For Some Seniors
– - Michelle Cottle tackles Betsy McCaughey:
Since her earliest days in the spotlight, McCaughey has presented herself as a just-the-facts-please, above-the-fray political outsider. In reality, she has proved devastatingly adept at manipulating charts and stats to suit her ideological (and personal) ambitions. It is this proud piety concerning her own straight-shooting integrity combined with her willingness to peddle outrageous fictions–and her complete inability to recognize, much less be shamed by, this behavior–that makes McCaughey so infuriating. In this way, perhaps most of all, she resembles the tell-it-like-it-is good ol’ girl Palin, whose scorching self-regard and ostentatious disdain for politics-as-usual infuse even her most self-serving fabulisms. Palin, of course, hawks homespun wisdom, faith, and common sense, in contrast to McCaughey’s figures and footnotes. But both women have an uncanny ability to shovel their toxic nonsense with nary a blink, tremor, or break in those dazzling smiles. People of goodwill and honest counsel don’t stand a chance.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:08 pmWhy is it that all of the right says they are fiscally conservative when it comes to medicare cuts like waste full spending on unwanted office visits ,unwanted and unneeded procedures and fraud that are costing millions of $$$$$$ and yet they are telling seniors that it will hurt their care instead of the facts about wasteful spending and fraud that need to be brought under control,just more HYPOCRITTTER speak from Betsy and her ilk from the right.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:09 pmI watched this live and I’ve got to ask – why does this woman think she can win a debate? Has she won one in the past? Ever? I can see her on Fox just spewing, but a debate with questions- why? She’s got nothing.
As for Ratigan, I’ve got to say his looks just annoy me. How much does he spend on his hair? He’s hard to take seriously – but the past week or two he’s kicked some butt.
And Dr. Nancy? I think the first time I watched her she was in favor of rationing. I haven’t watched her since. Why not put a real doctor on.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:16 pmBetsy McCaughey certainly seems to be doing her best to serve her masters — even though she’s clearly running out of legitimate arguments (did she ever actually have any?)
This latest proposal of hers appears to be a perversion of a somewhat valid argument for gradually raising the age for collecting Social Security. In 1935, when FDR signed SS into law, the average life expectancy in the United States was 61.7 years. In 2005, it was 77.8 years. (That’s an average for all races and both sexes — http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005148.html ). One needn’t be an advanced mathematician to realize that when people are living 16 years longer than a system was designed for, there will eventually come a point when the system will have to be adjusted for that.
However, that’s a valid argument for raising the age limit on Social Security. Not Medicare. People still get sick at all ages. And it’s still cheaper to keep a healthy person healthy than it is to treat a sick person with a preventable condition.
Let’s pretend for a moment that McCaughey’s idea really would put Medicare “on a firm footing” by 2043. Even if Medicare was in a position where it needed no subsidizing by taxpayers, what does McCaughey think is going to happen to the people she just kicked out of the program? How many of these people are going to be able to afford to pay for private health insurance? How many of these people are going to even be free enough of pre-existing conditions to actually be able to GET private health insurance?
Ah — they can always to go an emergency room if they need care. Which the rest of us will pay for when they can’t.
McCaughey is fighting a losing game. The system is designed to funnel money to private health insurers. A process that accelerates with each passing year. This industry has already become — what? a sixth of our economy? What will it be next year at the rate it’s going? How long will it be before half of everybody’s income gets put through the health care system with a fat slab of it winding up in corporate pockets? And how many people will find it insane when this gravy train needs to be subsidized more and more by taxpayers?
The system isn’t sustainable. Fortunately, the Betsy McCaugheys of the world are looking more and more ridiculous as more people are grasping the reality of the situation:
1. It’s cheaper to keep a person healthy than to wait for them to get really sick before giving them health care.
2. When somebody can’t afford to pay for health care, it will have to be subsidized by someone else (that would be the rest of us).
3. If taxpayers are going to subsidize the health care of people who can’t afford it on their own, why would they want to pay a for-profit company for it? I’d much rather my tax dollars go to providing health care without financing somebody’s corporate jet.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:17 pmSaw this link about this woman this morning at Crooks and Liars…
Should tell you alot about his woman and her tactics…
http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/no-exit?page=0,0
October 6th, 2009 at 2:18 pmAnyone notice that the conservatives get pissed when you point out that what they are saying is completely wrong by speaking the truth?
What the Republicans/conservatives want is what the corporations want: get rid of all government controls out of health care. Get rid of medicade/medicare and completely turn everything over to the private HMO’s. Then they could run it the way they want to run without anyone saying otherwise. Under their plan or lack of plan, who cares if cost sky rocket, more and more people go uninsured, and more people die each year because of that as long as they are still making that all mighty dollar!
This is why we need a public health option and this is why we need more regulations/control over the health care industry.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:20 pmIf government funding of genetic research means we get to clone Weiner and Grayson I’m all for it!
October 6th, 2009 at 2:23 pmPeople keep saying that Betsy McCaughey’s plan would force the 65 – 70 year old seniors into the hands of private insurers. It won’t do any such thing. If people actually retire, or are laid off because of their age (and yes, despite laws to the contrary, it does still happen all too frequently), how many of them will actually be able to get private health insurance due to a “pre-existing” condition?
What it would really do is force people in that age range to spend all of their retirement funds on health care and leave them completely destitute, if not already dead.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:24 pmmissmolly – I agree. Raising the age requirement for Social Security could be supported by a good argument. Besides, anyone that has been saving money in a 401K or IRA, can begin using those funds at the age of 59.5. This allows people to semi-retire early. I would ague against raising the age where someone can begin withdrawing without a penalty from their IRA or 401K. Medicare is something completely different and the age qualification should not be changed unless a Single Payer is put in place for everyone thereby eliminating the need for a separate government insurance for seniors.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:26 pmIt’s great that Ratigan and Weiner took McCaughey down, but we are left to ask why major news organizations continue to give her a platform. Yesterday, Jamison Foser (Media Matters) observed that “They run her op-eds, they host her on television, they quote her, they allow her falsehoods to shape the public debate about health care. They do this despite knowing that she’s a liar.”
http://mediamatters.org/blog/200910050009
October 6th, 2009 at 2:27 pmAs a New Yorker, have to say I’m quite proud of the way Anthony Weiner handles himself. She is a despicable corporate punditute.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:29 pmThere’s an extended daily show episode with her, and combined with this, it’s just so obvious that she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. She’s on the side of profits, not people.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:34 pmRepublicans don’t want death panels, just death.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:34 pmMs This is a classic…ms mccaughey whines, interrupts and stomps like a spoiled 4 year old who has been caught in a lie. She’s pathetic and so transparent. Too bad mccaughey….this is a real discussion and not one of your soft pedal fox news appearances…so you revert into a lying two year old. Greed and ego are all you’re made up of.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:37 pmPissedOffByTheLies says
October 6th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
I had an interesting conversation with a 70 year old person who just had a bypass operation. She stated that her doctor told her that if Obama’s health plan passes that she wouldn’t have been able to have her operation and that she would die, period. I find that difficult to believe but I don’t know much about Medicare and such.
_____________________________________________________________
This person’s doctor is full of it. My husband is 73 years old and on Medicare. He also has a heart condition, and has had open heart surgery. Medicare has never given him any problem, and he has always been able to get whatever surgery, follow-up care, and preventive care his doctors deem necessary for him.
Most people I know who have had bypass operations have been over 65 and had their operations paid for by Medicare. In fact, I can think of a couple of under-65 people who got far more hassle from their private insurance company prior to their operations than any Medicare insured ever did.
The only two possibilities I can think of where Medicare might refuse to pay for a bypass operation would be A) if there was no medical need for it (which would scarcely be sending someone to their death), or B) if the patient was gravely ill with something else (last stages of cancer and in a coma, for example) and a bypass operation wouldn’t prolong the patient’s life. In either of these scenarios, I doubt any private insurance company would pony up the money for a bypass operation.
You’re also correct in noting that this doctor (unless he’s genuinely clairvoyant) has no way of knowing what any final health care reform plan will look like. My guess is that he’s a wingnut who’s twisted the proposed Medicare cuts to mean that people are going to die for lack of bypass operations, not realizing that the cuts are really designed to cut back on the number of Hoveround chairs going to people who don’t really need them.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:38 pmMissMolly & Cats,
I guess your saying it’s possible to raise the age qualification for SS, but are you advocating it?
It’s unrealistic to think people will be working into their seventies. How many businesses have you been to over the past few months and how many seventy year olds have you seen working? Just curious.
Also, the bit about having a 401. Again, that’s an argument of the haves vs. the have nots. I had a 401 some time ago and then the market took a big dip and in a matter of months I lost about 40% of it’s value.
Then misfortune hit and I got hurt on the job and had to close it altogether. I think you’ll find the numbers of workers with 401s are an increasingly small number compared to the rest of the working population.
If the age was raised, older workers would be forced to work for pennies compared to their younger counterparts – if they could find employment at all.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:40 pmLefty Liberal says:
People keep saying that Betsy McCaughey’s plan would force the 65 – 70 year old seniors into the hands of private insurers. It won’t do any such thing.
Yes, it would. The plans would not cover pre-existing, have high deductibles and copays. These people would be forced to buy insurance because they cannot afford to be without at that age. One illness or injury could be catastrophic.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:48 pmThere’s a great documentary waiting to be made about the wheelings and dealings of that foul being named Betsy McCaughey.
Michael Moore, pick up please!
October 6th, 2009 at 3:06 pmThat was one fine slapdown! Waaaaahhhhhhhh, Ratigan’s a bad moderator! :-D
TheZoo has a longer clip here.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:13 pmWeiner pounced on McCaughey’s solution, which could cut as many as 11.3 million seniors from Medicare. “You want to gut Medicare,” Weiner told McCaughey. “You just said on this show you wanted to cut Medicare for everyone 65 to 70, isn’t that right?
With Medicare facing a future bankruptcy, it will probably come to this to keep it alive.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:15 pmI watch an argument like this (calling it a discussion is silly) and I really want to have these people talk with one hand inside a pain box.
Shut up. Don’t interrupt, answer the questions posed to you (or at least come up with a good reason why it’s an improper question), and be civil or else you get tased.
The Republican technique has been yell, interrupt, accuse, interrupt, yell some more, and throw in whine about how badly they’re being treated. I watch this and feel the spirits of every teacher I have ever have to grab this woman and put a gom jabbar at her neck.
Our discourse is not going to be reformed until we start giving out whacks to go with this kind of behavior.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:22 pmRich H says
October 6th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
I guess your saying it’s possible to raise the age qualification for SS, but are you advocating it?
It’s unrealistic to think people will be working into their seventies. How many businesses have you been to over the past few months and how many seventy year olds have you seen working? Just curious.
_____________________________________________________________
At the risk of getting off topic here, I’m not neither advocating nor opposing the idea of raising the age qualification for Social Security. I only mentioned it as the original argument that McCaughey was twisting to apply to Medicare.
I did point out that Americans are living on average 16 years longer than they did when Social Security was first enacted. Back in 1935, the average life expectancy was 61.7 years. Which means that less than half of Americans lived long enough to collect. Nowadays, Americans live to be 77.8 on average. Not only do more Americans live to collect SS, they collect for more years than ever before. And the age for collecting is still at the 1935 level. Even if the idea of retiring after age 65 appalls you, it’s pretty obvious this system isn’t sustainable forever.
How many workers do I see in their seventies? Not a whole lot, but some. But many septuagenarians could work — I’d bet that today’s average seventy year old is in better shape than the average sixty year old was in 1935. But most still retire in their mid-sixties because they can. And if they didn’t retire, there would be fewer jobs available for younger people just entering the job market. And if the age limit on SS was raised to adjust for longer life expectancy, that’s just one of the issues that would also have to be addressed (plus the cold, hard reality that any jobless person over 50 generally has a hard time finding employment in our youth-obsessed culture).
I’m sorry about your 401k experience. You’re not alone. And it’s for this reason that I’m opposed to privatizing SS.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:30 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Slowly but surely, the press/media is starting to call them out for their empty BS. And, since none of the Reichwhiners are particularly smart and/or honest, they crumble under direct questioning when honest answers are insisted upon.
I would be delighted to see more interviews that follow the path of this one. “You didn’t let me finish“. “You weren’t answering the question”.
That’s how TV journalism is done.
October 6th, 2009 at 4:08 pmScaling bask on Medicare ? That should make AARP happy !
October 6th, 2009 at 4:12 pmShe had it coming in Spades.. glad she got her lying a$$ kicked and exposed for wanting to gut medicare, the very thing she is using to scare people with. She is a whiney lying piece of work.
October 6th, 2009 at 4:18 pmI should add that I too would prefer to see better decorum from all parties but, it’s long past time for the press/media to step up and stop the BS. As annoying as “Tweety” is, the press/media at large should show a little more of the tenaciousness that he displays when he smells blood.
And, for the benefit of the stupid trolls? Yes. I think the same standard should apply to everyone on both sides of all arguments. Liars who won’t stop lying, and losers who won’t stop babbling despite having no real answers, should be shouted down if necessary.
October 6th, 2009 at 4:19 pmI should also probably add that I’ve never just hauled off and punched someone in my entire life but, if I were conducting an interview with some of the more annoying figures in the public eye, I would be tempted to do just that.
October 6th, 2009 at 4:24 pmMr Duke
Yeah more debt. That is bad. Its just too bad we have to take the medicine necessary to fix the horrific mess the GOP economic policies have left us in. Since MOST of the debt we have was racked up under Raygun and two Bushes your snivelling about the debt now has no credibility.
October 6th, 2009 at 4:28 pmWhat a frickin lying and distorting dingbat. She finally answers, then lies about her answer.
October 6th, 2009 at 4:32 pmMr.Duke says:
And the deficit didn’t matter until Obama was inauguratated in January, 2009? Get some education, wingnut!
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-08-12/the-gops-misplaced-rage/full/
October 6th, 2009 at 4:39 pmmissmolly,
Thanks for the reply. I understand what your illustrating, however, I do feel that it’s unrealistic in our society to think that people above retirement age would be able to retain their positions.
They would get weeded out by younger, less expensive workers, which is happening already.
Good points though, I’m not sure we’re in disagreement.
October 6th, 2009 at 4:59 pmHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
THATS THE PLAN!?!?!?!
RAISE ENTITLEMENT AGE ABOVE AVERAGE LIFE EXPECTANCY?
Keep going down our current path, and we wont have to change a thing to get life expectancy below retirement.
October 6th, 2009 at 5:08 pmLizCoro says:
Betsy tap dances almost as good as Shirley Temple . .
… more like Godzilla.
.
kasinca says:
Dylan got my attention yesterday with the corporate communism tag he began using over and over for the corporate prostitutes that avoid competition with lobbyists.
Using words like “communism” primarily for their negative context rather than for their definitive applicability is usually a GOP trick. But as often as not it works, so I say good on ‘im.
.
pops7154 says:
What a sick women she needs to be in a straight jacket and lock up till she can tell the truth friggn nut job.
Not covered; it’s a pre-existing condition.
.
Mr.Duke says:
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. predicts…
Interesting crowd of people you’re taking your talking points from there, Mr.Duke…
October 6th, 2009 at 5:40 pmmissmolly says:
And the age for collecting is still at the 1935 level. Even if the idea of retiring after age 65 appalls you, it’s pretty obvious this system isn’t sustainable forever.
…… And if the age limit on SS was raised to adjust for longer life expectancy, that’s just one of the issues that would also have to be addressed (plus the cold, hard reality that any jobless person over 50 generally has a hard time finding employment in our youth-obsessed culture).
The retirement age has been hiked:
http://www.ssa.gov/retire2/agereduction.htm
October 6th, 2009 at 6:09 pmHere is a listing of SOME fraud cases of health insurance companies who have been fined or have paid settlements. These are the companies those who would deny us a public option want us to do business with. EVERY major health insurance company is a criminal enterprise. http://bit.ly/hjqbX
October 6th, 2009 at 6:47 pmI left out one of the most heinous crimes committed by a health insurance company. UnitedHealth Group defrauded 110 MILLION AMERICANS FOR 10 YEARS! From America For Purchase blog http://bit.ly/12T6iK
October 6th, 2009 at 6:51 pmWhen 45,000 Americas a year who already have insurance die because of denial of service, denial of coverage, and 1 million Americas go bankrupt because of medical expenses, then the system is broken. The solution proposed by the Baucus bill is to mandate health insurance coverage which, without a public option, will force another 45 million Americans to be abused by the criminal organizations called health insurance companies. Baucus proposes the premiums will not COST an individual more than 12% of their salary. But it doesn’t limit criminal health insurers from charging more than 12% of someone’s salary for that premium. So where does the difference come from? All of us. The bill allows insurers to charge whatever they want to maintain the CEO salaries of $122,000 per hour and the difference is paid with taxpayer money. This is a HUGE windfall for health insurance companies who will still not be satisfied with 350% profits and they will continue to defraud America because it is Corporate Communism. Without a public option the health insurance corporations have no competition, they are a Communist enterprise. A criminal Communist enterprise.
October 6th, 2009 at 6:59 pmEl Bruce said:
Remember her interview on the Daily Show? Stewart was just stuck going in circles with her. When you’re reduced to holding up a piece of paper and arguing about what the words on it literally say, you’re getting nowhere.
The really pathetic part of all that was she was WRONG. She couldn’t find the part of the bill that dealt with doctors counseling their patients but I did. She insisted that the language was a doctor “must” make certain points to a patient. She insisted it did NOT say “may” or “might” but “must”. In other words she said the bill INSISTED that a doctor discuss certain topics, it did not give the doctor a choice. In fact the language WAS “may” NOT “must”. It was right there for anyone to see. Pathetic woman.
October 6th, 2009 at 7:09 pmIt’s about time someone smack that bltch down a notch or two. All she does is run around and use scare tactics to further the insurance industry. This bltch is bought and paid for. I guess that make her a WHORE!
October 6th, 2009 at 10:46 pmShe’s a Cucking Funt.
Hated her since she was Pashmuckies Lt. Gov.
BLECK!!!
October 7th, 2009 at 9:37 amThank you for your sharing.!
October 11th, 2009 at 5:02 pmjust ignore it..vajina daraltma
October 13th, 2009 at 6:07 am