As you all know (unless you’ve been hiding under a rock in a deep, dark cave) we will see some significant changes in government this coming January when the Republican Horde arrives to take over Washington D.C.
The current Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, per Jonathan Chait on NYMag.com, “Paul Ryan Says Medicare Privatization Is On”. In a recent appearance on FoxNews Ryan told Brett Baier, “Because of Obamacare, Medicare is going broke.”
Which Chait and MSNBC have both identifed as a lie, because the opposite is actually true. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA/Obamacare) has reduced inflation in medical spending and reduced costs and has extended the lifespan of the Medicare Trust Fund by more than a decade. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities “Medicare is not bankrupt and healthcare reform has improved the program’s financing.”
Perhaps the Republicans have forgotten that this is something which George W Bush proposed and got smacked down hard for, the result of the 2006 mid-terms was The People’s response, turning the (D) 44 — (R) 55 configuration of the Senate into a (D) 49 — (R) 49 with 2 Independent seats (Bernie Sanders’ first term and Joe Lieberman’s last).
None of which is likely to sway Republican plans to hold another vote to repeal the PPACA in the opening days of the 115th Congress once Ryan takes up the Gavel in the U.S. House — and this time they’ll have a majority in the U.S. Senate willing to accede, but more importantly, a Republican President who may well sign such a bill if it ends up on his desk.
The incoming Trump Administration is floating his Cabinet picks, and Mother Jones covers the publicly identifiied possibilities in a piece (quite accurately) titled “Trump's Cabinet Is Going to Be as Bonkers as You Thought. Buckle up.” From Chris Christie to Sarah Palin (yeah, you thought you’d heard the last of her, but zombies never die — because they’re already dead!) and bad and worse options for seats in Interior and Attorney General and the rest of the 15 current Cabinet seats. Because Trump noted during the campaigning that he would lean towards getting rid of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Sure, why not, the environment is in great shape “Believe me!”
These and a whole host of other bad acts are already on the agenda. Come January 3, 2017, the new Congress will be sworn in and installed and ready to open for business.
Unless WE do something, that business will include the destruction of the progress of the past 60 years, across the board.
"But what can I do,” you may be asking, “didn’t I vote for someone else, isn’t that my part? What else can we voters do now? The election is over.”
Well, yes — and no. The election is over. But we citizens have an ace in the hole which we need to pull out and slap down on the table before that new Congress opens it’s first day of business.
