chilled

So, the SC is essential? What exactly are those Justices doing all day anyway? They each have all kinds of law clerks/aids, etc......gotta pass more Citizens United type stuff...but

This is exactly right.

Do you know if the Wal-mart class action suit for women is done?

If for nothing else with all the bickering going on with the left we have to stick together for the next Supreme Court appointment. We can not have any more paid and brought for right wing Koch activist on the Supreme Court.

Bev,

The last I heard about the Wal-Mart case........Too big a class or sum such nonsense.

Thomas should be removed from the bench......he never speaks anyway, perhaps he's a battered man, and not allowed to speak at home....he's traumatized!

Impeach Thomas and Alito! Send them packing, with NO benefits! That'll save some money. lol

Thank you chilled

I've been saying impeach Thomas, Scalia and Alito for a long time now.

Beverly:

Evidently no one is trying to hear that BS you're spewing. Dang give it up, IT AINT GONNA HAPPEN. Is that plain enough for ya'

Impeach someone because they are not liberal.....LOL

JoAnnaSmith1

But who will plow the streets?

So you live on a street that needs to be plowed, you must be in alaska because every where else the snow has melted.

I told you all, Joanna is really sarah palin!!!

Somebody tell me how seniors will be able to afford to pay 68% of their medical care costs when they are retired:

Duly noted.

So what's the Democrats plan to reduce the deficit/debt?

Of course House Budget Chairman Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said President Barack Obama’s budget strategy is to “do nothing, punt, duck, kick the can down the road” while the debt remains on track to eventually hit 800 percent of GDP. Ryan added that the CBO is saying it "can't conceive of any way" that the economy can continue past 2037 given its current trajectory.

So how do you think medical costs will be paid for when that happens?

Source: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/rep-ryan-obama-s-budget-path-do-nothing#

Amy, Portland--- Does Ryan think that Republican retirees are going to go along with his plan? They probably are thinking " He's not serious, is he? " As a heart attack!

Paul Ryan's district just voted 60% Kloppenburg; 40% Prosser. Mr. Ryan has something more than the budget to worry about. In 20 months he may be looking for a job...as a Lobbyist.

Tom,

Ryan's plan also calls for raising the age when you qualify for Medicare to 67. Seems to me the age at which one begins treating heart disease begins well before 67 for many people. If folks wait to 67 to get treatment, because they don't have health insurance, they will be a lot sicker. (Maybe that's the idea, kill oldsters off quicker.)

JoAnnaSmith1

Ryan's plan dismantles Medicare AND lowers taxes for the wealthy and the corporations. How the heck does that make sense? If you are serious about reducing the deficit why would you cut revenues?

And you posted an "Opinion Piece" from a Democrat and you take that as gospel. Post facts Amy, not BS and get these fools fired up on your BS opinions.

Amy, good point, but Ryan doesn't care about that little nugget, he's probably hoping no one will notice.

Ryan has completely ignored that Bush 43 tried to convince people that privatizing social security was a good thing; even Frank Luntz's suggestion to call if "personalizing" didn't work. Those of us who make a good living and are fortunate to work at a firm that has 401K's have private or personal retirement accounts. Social Security is the safety net if things go wrong with our investments in the stock market.

Ron. That's great news and you're right--Ryan may have more to worry about that his budget which he says is a "cause".

3WolvesandaMoon

Are you arguing that Ryan's doesn't raise the amount seniors pay for health care? That he doesn't raise the age to 67?

JoAnnaSmith1 is wondering to herself "how the heck WOULD I pay 68% of my healthcare costs after I'm retired."

Amy B. Portland ME: Ryan's plan dismantles Medicare AND lowers taxes for the wealthy and the corporations. How the heck does that make sense? If you are serious about reducing the deficit why would you cut revenues?

"Ryan's plan does this! Ryan's plan does that!". Well, at least it's a plan. It's better than the one Obama has, which is nothing but to run up $13 trillion more in debt in 10 years.

You struggle to see the forest for the trees Amy. That makes you similar to other Liberals around here. Ryan is taking a leadership position to solve a very difficult problem with very real consequences if it is not addressed. It is just so easy to be critical of his plan, especially if you don't have one of your own.

Ryan's plan is a hybrid of the Presidents Debt Commission (of which he was a part). That Debt Commission provided a path to economic solvency for the federal government. It's a plan that will work if implemented. I'm certain there are other plans that will achieve the same goal. If you don't like Ryan's plan, please, provide us a different one that achieves the same goals.

Amy, wouldn't it be nice if Obama or the dems came up with a competing plan?

Or are you of the opinion that nothing seeds to be done? How about this, what do you think will happen if drastic measures are not implemented?

$99 billion was added to the debt last week Amy. Do you understand the significance that?

Amy:

SS was meant to be a supplement, not to retire on. I know people depend upon it but that does not change the intent.

Ryans plan doesn't even touch people over 55. Democrats are attacking his plan because they have none. When all of these baby boomers jack this system up within the next few years, the next POTUS will be dealing with this issue. Obama could care less, his azz will be gone when the shyt hits the fan and most of those Democrat Congressmen/women keeping up all of that noise will have died off.

Somebody needs to slap the taste out of Van Hollen and Weiner's mouth the way they are lying and demonizing that man's plan. They take their sorry butts on MSNBC where they can spew without being challenged and will get cheered on.

JoAnnaSmith1

"It is just so easy to be critical of his plan" Dismantling Medicare and Medicaid involves life or death issues. In a previous post I described the last decade of my parent's lives, the $250,000 of their savings we spent caring for them and the relief when Medicare paid for my mother's nursing home. Maybe you have never confronted the challenge of caring for the elderly. I don't have the Veteran's benefits or savings that my parents did. How the heck am I going to take care of myself when I am elderly?

Amy B, Portland ME: JoannaSmith1 is wondering to herself "how the heck WOULD I pay 68% of my healthcare costs after I'm retired."

Amy, if the debt/deficit problem isn't addressed, and addressed soon, how to pay for 68% of your healthcare costs will be the absolute least of your problems.

Amy: How the heck am I going to take care of myself when I am elderly?

Well, I just don't think stealing money from future generations to pay for our mores of today are the best way to conduct our business Amy. What gives you the right to steal that money from the children of today, the taxpayers of tomorrow, for your needs? Who told you that was a moral thing to do?

"Ryans plan doesn't even touch people over 55." NOW.

Ryan's plan would apply to me when I turn 67. I can tell you right now, I won't be able to afford to pay 68% of my health care costs when I am that age. (I just had a breast biopsy that cost over $3000.00 Thank God I have insurance through my employer. How could I afford to pay when I am retired?)

JoAnnaSmith1

"Ryan's plan does this! Ryan's plan does that!". Well, at least it's a plan. It's better than the one Obama has, which is nothing but to run up $13 trillion more in debt in 10 years.

You struggle to see the forest for the trees Amy. That makes you similar to other Liberals around here. Ryan is taking a leadership position to solve a very difficult problem with very real consequences if it is not addressed. It is just so easy to be critical of his plan, especially if you don't have one of your own.

===============================================

Meanwhile,JoAnnaSmith1, Actual Economists Criticize Ryan's Budget Plan.

[snip]
because the mechanism Mr. Ryan is using to incentivize people to seek better coverage for the price is to expose them to the risk that they will suffer from disease for which their insurance doesn't cover them. The threat that you will suffer illness with inadequate treatment because you can't afford it and your insurance doesn't cover it is certainly a pretty strong motivator for most people to seek better insurance. But the purpose of insurance is to insulate people from risks like that. Furthermore, individuals do not have negotiating power when they go up against health-insurance companies. You and I don't know what the risks or costs of different illnesses and treatments are, and we don't have the time or expertise to evaluate the legal fine print of insurance agreements with the care and attention devoted to them by the insurance companies
who write them.


Baker: "Almost Everything In The Plan Has Been Tried And Failed." Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research wrote:



IHS Global Insight Economist: "I'm Not Quite Sure What Assumption ... Would Deliver 2.8 Percent Unemployment." Nigel Gault of IHS Global Insight questioned conservative claims that the proposal would reduce the unemployment rate to 2.8 percent:

http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2011/04/the-ryan-plan-is-fundamentally-immoral.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+EconomistsView+(Economist's+View+(EconomistsView))

The nice thing about Ryans plan being "serious as a heart attack" is that, under a just announced rider, cardiovascular related illness will no longer be covered under Medicare or Medicaid. This is expected to save the government some $50billion over the next 30 years.

In an unrelated matter, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Abbot Labs, and Merc & Co. announced they have received House approval to form a partnership to market a new cardiovascular drug. The drug is expected to prevent heart attacks in persons under the age of 55, but has limited effectiveness beyond age 65. The partnership is planning to issue an IPO (to be launched by Goldman Sachs) and is planning to be traded on the NYSE under a new symbol, expected to be "FU2."

Spanky-

You can't get blood out of a stone. Making elderly people and the poor pay 68% of their healthcare costs doesn't work if these people don't have any money. Unless you are prepared to let them die, and I don't think the country is, especially considering half of the Medicare recipients are children.

I guess the bottom line is, I don't think Ryan's plan will work. Hospitals and doctors don't provide free service. Government will still end up paying for their care. Sounds like it's just a shell game, to me.

Amy: Ryan's plan would apply to me when I turn 67. I can tell you right now, I won't be able to afford to pay 68% of my health care costs when I am that age.

If we double the debt again in the next 10 years (Obama's current plan), and are paying over $1 trillion dollars to service that debt, there won't be enough money for you to have a doctor within 100 miles of you to provide you with that health care. So your 68% obligation to pay for your health care costs will be $0. With the price of gas, you wouldn't even be able to drive the 100 miles to see the doctor. You perhaps though might be able to take a high speed train.

JoAnnaSmith1

And yet, there is enough money to lower taxes AGAIN?

My son`s best friend used to be a rush limbaugh listening republican until he married a girl from Norway and moved there. I talked to him last year right after he and his wife had their first child,I asked him how he liked living in Europe He said he loved it there, they take care of the people there, he said taxes are a little higher and food too but not so much that it makes much of a difference. I chided him about socialized medicine and he said he was wrong about it. Him and his wife both got time off with pay to spend with the new baby and everything was paid for. I bet everyone in their country pays their taxes.

Here's my plan Joanna, cut defense spending by 30 percent. Or allow all Americans access to the same health care active duty military gets.

Oh my dear Bev. You do understand that some feel they way you do about Brietbart, about MoveOn or Media Matters?

I mean seriously, you do get at least that one thing, right?

$99 billion in new debt in one week is really, really something, right Bev.? Can you give us a guesstimate as to what the total newly minted debt will be by the end of this year?

Are we really on pace to add over $3 Trillion just this year? Does that at all concern you or is all good in your world?

Beverly in Chicago

Ryan's proposal, which cuts $5.8 trillion in government spending over the next decade, would provide Medicare beneficiaries with subsidies to purchase private insurance starting in 2022.

This proposal sound alot like John mcCains health care proposal, giving people a block grant to purchase insurance across state lines, the only problem the grant was only 10k. everybody knew 10 grand would only buy a half ass Ins Policy. this proposal is the same thing, in the end what ever seniors can't afford the government will have to pick up the rest. this is where we are right now, if some one does not have ins and needs emergency care, the government picks it up the cost. in short, with ryans plan the government will be paying out more than now for the under insured.

also why are we in debt in the first place, George Bush. why are we getting more in debt, tax cuts.

Some people actually do depend on food stamps and hand outs it does not mean they are lazy or leaches some have had some bad luck and a little empathy would be nice. Is it not a good thing to help the unfortunates is this society anymore.

For Bev...no way. Its not the governments job to continue to help everyone who falls on hard times, its the job of family, friends & community.