Right-Wing Attacks Medicare In TV Ads

A few weeks ago the right-wing Republicans in the House of Representatives made a huge mistake. They voted to abolish Medicare for anyone under the age of 55 years old, and replace it with a government voucher which would have to be used to purchase health insurance from private insurance companies. These vouchers would be woefully inadequate, because the private insurance companies don't want to insure the elderly (because they are almost guaranteed to get sick and need to use that insurance) and would make that insurance very expensive.

The current Medicare program covers ALL Americans 65 and older, but the Republican voucher system is guaranteed to leave many millions of low-income elderly people without any insurance at all, and would increase medical costs for those who could afford the private insurance. It's just a very bad deal for all of America's elderly (except for the rich).

And the American people know it's a bad deal. Every poll taken shows that huge majorities of Americans (of all ages) oppose the Republican plan to abolish Medicare (and regardless of Republican claims, that's exactly what their plan does). Even majorities of the people in their own party oppose the abolishing of Medicare and they have been quick to tell the GOP congressmen in their Town Hall meetings.

But the Republican congressmen are nothing if not stubborn. They refuse to admit they made a mistake in trying to abolish this very popular program. Instead they have started to lie about the plan they proposed. They say it does not abolish Medicare (even though it obviously does for everyone under 55). They say it would give the elderly the same choice in insurance that members of Congress have (a ludicrous suggestion at best). They say Medicare is doomed if their plan is not accepted (even though both Medicare and Social Security would be solvent far into the future by simply making the rich pay the same percentage as every other American does).

Now they are running TV ads putting forth these same lies. I saw this add several times just yesterday. I think they hope if they tell these lies long enough and loudly enough they can fool the people.

A group called the 60 Plus Association is shelling out $1.4 million dollars for the TV ads. This group calls themselves the "conservative alternative to the AARP", but they are more than just conservative -- they are way out on the right-wing fringe. One tip-off is that their national spokesman is fundie-right-wing nut-job and ex-celebrity Pat Boone (who made his career back in the sixties by stealing songs from Black artists).

The obvious question is where does this group get its funding. But don't expect to go to their website and find that out. They keep their donors secret. They do admit they have received donations ranging from $1 to $1,000,000, but refuse to divulge who gave them that money. They try to give the illusion that the money comes from donations by millions of elderly people, but if any of you believe that I've got some oceanfront property in Amarillo I'll sell you real cheap.

Personally, I smell the stench of money from John Birchers like the Koch brothers or fringe right-wing groups like FreedomWorks or the American Enterprise Institute (the same people who funded the teabaggers).

This silly group is nothing more than a front for rich right-wingers (who don't want to pay their fair share of taxes). And these TV ads are nothing more than an effort to lie to the American people and propagandize for the GOP plan to abolish Medicare. Don't believe their ridiculous lies!!!