Paul Ryan Will Save Social Security & Medicare

NOT!

The original title of this entry was “Paul Ryan Contradicts Himself & Pimps his Mother.”

For behold, it’s a case of “The pot calls the kettle ‘black.'”

First, he is a career politician damning “this board of bureaucrats,” of which he is a founding, card-carrying member.

Paul Ryan has never held an honest, private sector job a day in his life (if you count driving the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile during summer in college), and has ONLY had political jobs since he first started working.

He has completely IGNORED the findings of the Congressional Budget Office, the Office of Management and Budget and the Governmental Accountability Office, all who have independently found that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act decrease the budget and has NOT taken ANY money from Medicare, Medicaid or the Social Security Trust Fund (SSTF).

You know the saying: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Secondarily, he took Social Security Survivors Benefits after his daddy died, and went to college on that dime. Perhaps, on principle, he should apologize, and return that money to the Treasury… with interest.

Thirdly, you gotta’ feel something – probably contempt – for a guy who would pimp his own mother.

Now, there is ONE THING Congress COULD do to make the SSTF solvent for at least another 100 years: Make it a HANDS-OFF account, used ONLY to pay claims upon it.

Right now, it’s a virtual slush fund from which politicians of BOTH parties have dipped to pay for their pork barrel projects, like the late Republican Alaska Senator Ted Stevens’ infamous “Bridge to Nowhere.”

In essence, while the SSTF books balance, the SSTF is a bit like a petty cash fund at an office. Typically, the petty cash fund contains less than US$100, and is used for incidental expenses like occasional lunch with clients, parking, postage, etc. Any money taken out is replaced with an IOU. The IOUs + cash on hand = $100. Typically, the IOUs are repaid with in a two-week period, at most.

But, if there are IOUs totaling $100, and no cash, the books still balance because the total equals $100.

Similarly, the SSTF has been raided to pay for many things – some of questionable value, some perhaps more so – and the cash replaced with Treasury Notes, which are a type of Federal IOU.

If Congress enacted a law making the SSTF a HANDS-OFF ACCOUNT (also known as “ear marked”), which would be used EXCLUSIVELY to pay for Social Security claims, it would be solvent for at least 100 years more.

If  you don’t believe me, here’s what the Social Security Administration says: “Money flowing into the trust funds is invested in U. S. Government securities. Because the government spends this borrowed cash, some people see the trust fund assets as an accumulation of securities that the government will be unable to make good on in the future. Without legislation to restore long-range solvency of the trust funds, redemption of long-term securities prior to maturity would be necessary.”

https://www.socialsecurity.gov/oact/progdata/fundFAQ.html

In the first Presidential Debate series of the 2000 election year held Oct. 3, 2000, at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, former Vice President Al Gore, Jr. debated former Texas Governor George W. Bush. Both candidates were asked how they would treat Social Security and Medicare.

Q: What is your Social Security plan?

GORE: I will keep it in a lockbox. The interest savings, I would put right back into it. That extends the life for 55 years. I am opposed to a plan that diverts 1 out of every 6 dollars away from the Trust Fund. It would go bankrupt within this generation.

BUSH: We want to allow younger workers to take some of their own money & put it in safe investments so that $1 trillion grows to $3 trillion. The money stays within the system.

GORE: I give a new incentive for younger workers to invest their own money. My plan is “Social Security Plus.” The governor’s plan is “Social Security Minus.” Your future benefits would be cut by the amount that’s diverted into the stock market. And if you make bad investments, that’s too bad.

BUSH: Your plan is “Social Security Plus Huge Debt.” If we don’t trust younger workers to manage some of their own money, it’s going to be impossible to bridge the gap without causing huge payroll taxes or major benefit reductions.

Source: (X-ref Bush) Presidential debate, Boston MA , Oct 3, 2000 

Al Gore: Put Medicare in lockbox so seniors can afford prescriptions

GORE: I will put Medicare in a lockbox. Under the governor’s plan, if you kept the same fee-for-service that you have now under Medicare, your premiums would go up by between 18 and 47%. There’s a man here named George McKinney. He’s 70 years old, he has high blood pressure, his wife has heart trouble. They have income of $25,000 a year. They cannot pay for their prescription drugs. Under my plan, half of their costs would be paid right away. Under Bush’s plan, they would get not one penny for four to five years, and then they would be forced to go into an HMO or to an insurance company, but there would be no limit on the premiums or the deductibles.

BUSH: I cannot let this go, the “We’re going to scare you in the voting booth.” Under my plan, the man gets immediate help with prescription drugs. It’s called “Immediate Helping Hand.”

GORE: If you make more than $25,000 a year, you don’t get a penny of help under the Bush prescription drug proposal for at least four to five years.

Source: Presidential debate, Boston MA

Remember the “doughnut hole”?

The one that was created by BIG PHARMA wrote which created it in the Medicare Part D law they wrote under the Bush administration?

Yeah… that one.

The one wherein the “voucher” ran out (that is, were NOT covered by insurance) and ALL expenses had to be paid “out of pocket” by the insured.

Yeah… THAT one.

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PAUL RYAN: MEDICARE SHOULDN’T BE A PIGGY BANK FOR OBAMACARE

Mitt Romney Press | August 18, 2012
Location
Boston, MA
United States

“Medicare should not be used as a piggy bank for Obamacare. Medicare should be the promise that is made to our current seniors period, end of story.”  –Paul Ryan
Remarks
 The Villages, FL
 August 18, 2012

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PAUL RYAN: “My mom has been on Medicare for over ten years and I won’t tell you exactly how many years over ten years she’s been on it. She plays tennis every week. She exercises every day. She planned her retirement around this promise that the government made her because she paid her payroll taxes into this program which she had this promise with. That’s a promise we have to keep. Here is what the President won’t tell you about his Medicare plan, about Obamacare. The President raids $716 billion from the Medicare program to pay for the Obamacare program. What’s more, in addition to that, he puts a board of 15 unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats in charge of Medicare who are required to cut Medicare in ways that will lead to denied care for current seniors. You want to know what Medicare is saying about this? From Medicare officials themselves: one out of six of our hospitals and our nursing homes will go out of business as a result of this. Four million seniors are projected to lose their Medicare advantage plans that they enjoy and they chose today under this Obamacare plan. What’s worse is the President’s campaign calls this an achievement. Do you think raiding Medicare to pay for Obamacare is achievement? Do you think that empowering a board of bureaucrats to cut Medicare [is] an achievement? Neither do I. Medicare should not be used as a piggy bank for Obamacare. Medicare should be the promise that is made to our current seniors period, end of story. Here is what Mitt Romney and I will do: We will end the raid of Medicare. We will restore the promise of this program and we will make sure that this board of bureaucrats will not mess with my mom’s health care or your mom’s health care.”
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http://www.mittromney.com/news/press/2012/08/paul-ryan-medicare-shouldn%E2%80%99t-be-piggy-bank-obamacare