Paul Ryan's version of the "700 Club"

2 x 350 = $700 ... wine with HedgeFund fundraiser!

Paul Ryan Wine Tasting Protest at Racine Office, Tuesday July 19th from Matt Brusky on Vimeo.

WI 1848 Forward: Paul #Ryan's version of the "700 Club" #elites vs #47% #1% #Janesville

Path to Prosperity: Rep Paul Ryan in Chicago 5/15/11

Rep. Paul Ryan is still talking and will be in Chicago 5/15.  Sounds like he will have a "big" turnout?  The author is selling how Medicare is going to go bust.  There are plenty of solutions other than making sure those who depend on Medicare do go bust.  Ironically the Ryan plan was one of those divide and conquer plans - he just forgot that parents care about their kids and until something is done to reform the "healthcare lobby" they know we will all go broke and some sort of voucher may get you a toothbrush under Ryan's Path to Prosperity.  I am sure we will all be welcome at The Economic Club of Chicago.

MoveOn plans to greet Paul Ryan in Chicago with ‘angry opposition’ over Medicare

The aricle is from  -May 14th, 2011 11:55 am CT  Keith Liscio Chicago Conservative Examiner

WI 1848 Forward: Path to #Prosperity: Rep Paul #Ryan in Chicago 5/15/11 #AARP #47% #Janesville

Who is Representative Paul Ryan(?) representing!?

Do you know what is at stake in 2012 if the issue gets put out of mind?  Is it time for a Grover Norquist style pledge - "I will support Medicare and funding for Medicare so help me Grover".  Perhaps -  "I will support SeniorCare, I will support BadgerCare so help me Scott Walker".


NYTimes: Medicare makes Buffalo NY race competitive - 
NYTimes: G.O.P. Medicare Plan Shakes Up Race for House Seat By RAYMOND HERNANDEZ Published: May 5, 2011
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I wrote this in the first of several blog entries included below (4/11) -

I wonder if the strategy is to make certain that if Ryan's policies are rejected the nuclear fallout misses the rest of the conservatives.  If he fails he will survive and show up in a think-tank and if he succeeds he will be running for Vice-President.  So much for fanciful thinking - that's all for now, folks!

The following article from the Wall Street Journal today (5/4)  seems to answer the question or does it!  The ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) ideas just go away for a little while and then come back again and again.  In the meantime Governor Walker is still poised to radically change Medicaid and/or Medicare in Wisconsin - so remain vigilant and vocal!  Read the detail - the devil is hiding there.

GOP, White House Talk Deal on Debt

GOP leaders and the White House are discussing a deal that would enact strict deficit targets and some spending cuts to win Republican votes for lifting the ceiling on how much the federal government can borrow.

The deal would defer contentious decisions about Medicare, Medicaid and taxes until after the 2012 elections. If such an agreement were reached, it would allow both sides to assure financial markets and the public of their commitment to reducing the deficit and then use next year's campaign to lay out their competing visions for the future of major government programs.

"We're not going to get a grand slam agreement. We're not going to get a big, comprehensive agreement, because of the political parameters," Rep. Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who chairs the House Budget Committee told reporters Wednesday. "My hope at this moment is to get a single or a double."

Now do you know what is at stake in 2012 if the issue gets put out of mind?

The links are included here for several blog entries related to Paul Ryan (The first and last help illustrate the amount of coordination ALEC achieves and how!) -

Who is Representative Paul Ryan?

Who is Paul Ryan? NPR/WPR 4/28 report

Paul Ryan on upper income taxes ... in Wisconsin ... listen! Milton

Fixing Medicare: Obama Vs. Ryan (Who is he?) 4/18

FDR vs Paul Ryan, 1938 all over again

FitzwalkerStan to Annex Ryangoria - Healthcare Medicaid Medicare

A video is repeated for convenience -

WI 1848 Forward: Who is Representative Paul #Ryan (?) representing!? #AARP #47% vs #elites #Janesville

2013 Who is Paul #Ryan ? #NPR / #WPR 4/28/11 report - Still the same #Speaker in 2015

GOP Budget Architect Heads Home To Mixed Reviews by Chuck Quirmbach

From the source - the title will take you to audio (4min) and transcript -

"He's gonna save us money by cutting some of our social programs, but yet he's going to give that money, that same money, back in tax cuts to the people that least need them?" Prell said. "To me, that is pretty much lying — that's two-faced, that's dishonest, that's Paul Ryan in a nutshell."

Prell said he doesn't believe Ryan's argument that trimming tax loopholes for the wealthy and corporations would offset cuts in tax rates.

Ryan acknowledges the House budget is going to have a tough time passing the Senate and competing with the president's proposal, which seeks smaller changes in Medicare. When asked at one session if it'll take a Republican election sweep next year to get his program enacted, he said he would push for compromise this year.

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Paul Ryan Cosponsors New Fetal Personhood - Bill Posted: 01/09/2013 12:34 pm EST- HuffingtonPost

WI 1848 Forward: v2 2013 Who is Paul #Ryan ? #NPR / #WPR 4/28/11 report : #Fetal Position : #NARAL #WOW #Janesville

WI 1848 Forward: 2013 Who is Paul #Ryan ? #NPR / #WPR 4/28/11 report : #Fetal Position : #NARAL #WOW #Moral ?

v2 Walker's War on HealthCare : Our Obsolete Approach to Medicaid

2/14/2013 ... Walker's Valentine to Kids ... get a job so you can pay for your own healthcare ... no more BadgerCare for you ... see what his new budget may do?!

All seems consistent with what he said a year ago ...

~  4/25/2011 -Governor Walker Op-Ed in NYTimes ... click Title!

Not a lot of content!  Makes a lot of statements that sound like facts but ...!

For example, from the source ...

We need to modernize not only Medicaid’s benefits and service delivery, but also its financing. In good times, the open-ended federal Medicaid match encourages states to overspend. Amazingly, the program is now viewed by some states as a form of economic development because each state can at least double its money for each dollar spent. That matching feature penalizes efficiency and thrift, since a reduction of $1 in state spending also means forfeiting at least one federal dollar, often more.

What does this mean?  I guess it means states waste a $1 so they can get another $1 ... I don't think so!

It is always so easy to claim something is old or outdated or inefficient!  When Governor Walker talks about those kind of things you have to be cautious about what he really means and rather than soundbites have a public discussion before he uses the legislature as his rubber stamp!

Do Not Forget ... he wants to write all the rules himself ... don't bother the legislature with any oversight!



PBS - Need to Know - The battle over Medicare and Medicaid

Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

v2 #Walker 's War on #HealthCare : Our Obsolete Approach to #Medicaid #BadgerCare #wwJd

#PBS - Need to Know - The battle over #Medicare and #Medicaid

Background on Medicare and Medicaid ... do you remember ... then and now! What does Ryan really want to do ... let alone Walker!

11/11/11 #Medicaid: Death by a 1K Cuts or 10K or More - Making It Personal

Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

Other national perspective -
Medicare - in the NYTimes 4/12 in Politics

WI 1848 Forward: #PBS - Need to Know - The battle over #Medicare and #Medicaid vs #Ryan #elites #1% #Janesville

Paul Ryan on upper income taxes ... in Wisconsin ... listen! Milton

I think this is his Town Hall meeting in Milton?

Channel3000 same meeting ... at the end 19 more stops ... in WI?

WI 1848 Forward:#Paul Ryan on upper income taxes - in Wisconsin ... listen! Milton : 47% #aarp #medicare #Janesville

What does Health Care cost you per year ( WI )?

10/18/2017  ... and now Trump tries to destroy HealthCare Markets ... withdrawing $

5/2/2017 Consumer Reports

How the Affordable Care Act Drove Down Personal Bankruptcy

...Filings have dropped about 50 percent, from 1,536,799 in 2010 to 770,846 in 2016 (see chart, below). Those years also represent the time frame when the ACA took effect. Although courts never ask people to declare why they’re filing, many bankruptcy and legal experts agree that medical bills had been a leading cause of personal bankruptcy before public healthcare coverage expanded under the ACA. Unlike other causes of debt, medical bills are often unexpected, involuntary, and large....

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Get an education look at these links ... a two person family (my guess) in Wisconsin spends $6500 each in a healthy year (with pretty good coverage plus expenses) ... sort of confirms the National Geographic graphic ... so beware of your cost and if Walker or Ryan get the changes they are looking for ... ask if your life is more or less complicated or your health care costs you more or less

More links for thought ...
Ezra Klein - WashPost 2010 - America spends way, way, way more on health care

Compares health care expenditures among nations.  The NatGeo graphic source is in the next link and is much more readable - it needs to be seen full size.

Graphic - The Cost of Care Posted Dec 18,2009 - National Geographic

Graphically depicts health care expenditures vs life expectancy among nations.  You need to see it large.

More thoughts - do any of the countries depicted have a Paul Ryan Health Care System?  Except for Mexico and the United States they all seem to have Universal Health Care.  We spend roughly $2900/yr more to die two (2) years younger than the Swiss.  As I recall the Swiss use private insurance but manage (regulate it) very uniquely?

That thought led to this link -
Healthcare in Switzerland - Wikipedia

#Trump how? What does #HealthCare cost you per year - real info? : ExGov #Walker ExRep #Ryan vs #Switzerland #AARP #ConsumerReports #Medicare #ACA ( #PayItForward system otherwise #Bankruptcy #WOW Early Death) #47% -WI 1848 Forward

Fixing Medicare: Obama Vs. Ryan (Who is he?) 4/18/11

Clicking on the title will take you an earlier blog posting about Rep. Paul Ryan!

Pulled Up From Below:

So let me add a caveat about projections like this ... they are practically worthless!  An interesting exercise but the numbers in 2032 will not be even be close under either of Ryan or Obama plans!

Ryan's plan appeals to the "market place" to do the allocation ... if you can afford it you can have it!  The market place approach will have huge transactional costs to be borne by the consumer - these costs can be money or personal time trying to make a choice.  This is what Walker wants in Wisconsin.


This piece is worth evaluating carefully -
Fixing Medicare: Obama Vs. Ryan - Planet Money 4/13/2011

It starts with a graphic.  The dashed line on the graphic shows the expected revenues (government) out to what looks like 2032.  Stacked on top of one another from top to bottom is first Social Security, then combined Health (Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP and Exchange Studies), then comes Other Noninterest Spending (which I assume includes Military).  Then on a solid line above the dashed  Revenue line is the label Total Primary Spending.

The Revenue line being below the Total Primary Spending line implies deficits.  The first thing to notice is the combined colored area (Health) keeps getting wider as time goes by and the other areas between their respective boundaries remain the same width.  Can you put your finger on the problem?

From the article ...

In the long run, growth in the federal deficit is all about health care — particularly Medicare, which accounts for the biggest chunk of government health spending.

President Obama and Rep. Paul Ryan, the Republican chair of the House budget committee, both recognize this.  Both want to slow the rise in Medicare costs. But they want to do it in very different ways.

The whole thrust of this article is to illustrate the difference of approaches of Paul Ryan and the Obama Administration.  The way I interpret Ryan's plan is he makes the lines stop diverging, i.e., no growth in expenditures will be allowed.  Obama has to find a way to do this too!

Under the Ryan plan, according to the CBO's estimates, the government would pay less for Medicare, and individual seniors would pay more.

Under Obama's plan, the government, rather than individual seniors, would still be on the hook if health costs keep rising so quickly.

So let me add a caveat about projections like this ... they are practically worthless!  An interesting exercise but the numbers in 2032 will not be even be close under either of Ryan or Obama plans!

Ryan's plan appeals to the "market place" to do the allocation ... if you can afford it you can have it!  The market place will have huge transactional costs to be borne by the consumer - these costs can be money or personal time trying to make a choice.

The Obama approach -

But the Obama plan aims to make it easier for the federal government to slow the rise in Medicare costs.

If costs kept skyrocketing, a special panel would come up with ways to "reduce the rate of growth ... while not harming beneficiaries' access to needed services." Congress would then have to accept the panel's recommendation or make other changes that achieve comparable savings.

What seems to be lacking in any of these discussions is what or how might the tax system be modified to moderate the assumed growth of health costs, or other more direct intervention to make the market place perform in a way we might like.  We use the marketplace to regulate things like airline routes, telephone service, radio and television - at least in ways different from today.  After all we have been deregulating for the last 40 years and where are we now.   Regulation no doubt has some rigor mortis problems but my right to live or die ... how should that be decided ... my genetics and my bank account, or the lottery.  The lottery  ... the more you spend on tickets the more likely you get health care - but you still have to win!
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More links for thought ...
Ezra Klein - WashPost 2010 - America spends way, way, way more on health care

Compares health care expenditures among nations.  The NatGeo graphic source is in the next link and is much more readable - it needs to be seen full size.

Graphic - The Cost of Care Posted Dec 18,2009 - National Geographic

Graphically depicts health care expenditures vs life expectancy among nations.  You need to see it large.

More thoughts - do any of the countries depicted have a Paul Ryan Health Care System?  Except for Mexico and the United States they all seem to have Universal Health Care.  We spend roughly $2900/yr more to die two (2) years younger than the Swiss.  As I recall the Swiss use private insurance but manage (regulate it) very uniquely?

That thought led to this link -
Healthcare in Switzerland - Wikipedia

WI 1848 Forward:Fixing #Medicare: #Obama Vs. #Ryan (Who is he?) 4/18/11: 47% 99% #AARP #ows #dems #Baldwin vs #elites

WI 1848 Forward: Fixing #Healthcare #Medicare: #Obama vs (Shift Burden to You) #Walker #Ryan  4/18/11: 47% #AARP

ALEC (Amer Legis. Exchange Council) and Medicaid

Great blog that includes historical data that illustrates the difference between strategic approaches to politics vs the here-and-now of tactics.

DailyKos - Sun Apr 17, 2011 - ALEC and Medicaid by MNDem999

What won't ALEC be working April 29th in Cincinnati OH?

Find more in this blog about Cincinnati Protest Rally

... and back home in Wisconsin and the Nation -

FitzwalkerStan to Annex Ryangoria - Healthcare Medicaid Medicare

See blog sidebar on Walker's War on Safety Net



WI 1848 Forward: #ALEC (Amer Legis. Exchange Council) and #Medicaid : #47% #99% #dems vs #Walker Dynasty #Koch Empire #1% #GOP

FDR vs Paul Ryan (Trump - GOP), 1938 all over again

 Although I am not a scholar on the history of the Great Depression, it has been described to me by my family and I have read about it ... which makes me as qualified as most of the people pontificating about the situation we find ourselves in today.  People like to disparage the economist Keynes these days ... all he said was that there was a little simple algebra that roughly describes the interactions of interest rates, employment, income and consumption!  Trust me ... it is still true!  You have a big crash, a reduction in income, a shrinkage of asset values and you are going to have a recession / depression!  What would you do ... Mr. President ... well Keynes would tell you to supplant the loss in consumption with Federal spending to boost / maintain employment or reduce low / middle income taxes or both ... but not if you are a conservative Republican!  In the latter case you focus on finding an anti-FDR solution ... contract spending, raise interest rates and increase unemployment.


Click the Title ... from the source ... New Deal ... Wikipedia

Despite Roosevelt campaigning heavily against anti-New Deal Republicans and anti-New Deal Democrats, Republicans gained many seats in Congress in the 1938 midterm elections and the Democrats opponents of the New Deal retained their seats,^[2] resulting in the WPA, CCC and other relief programs being shut down during World War II by the Conservative Coalition (i.e., the opponents of the New Deal in Congress); they argued the return of full employment made them superfluous. As a Republican President in the 1950s, Dwight D. Eisenhower left the New Deal largely intact. In the 1960s, Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society took New Deal policies further. After 1974, laissez faire views grew in support, calling for deregulation of the economy and ending New Deal regulation of transportation, banking and communications in the late 1970s and early 1980s.^[3] Several New Deal programs remain active, with some still operating under the original names, including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC), the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The largest programs still in existence today are the Social Security System and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Paul Ryan ... just what does he believe?  He tries to have it both ways ... reduce spending, his spin is incredible  - I'm watching Charlie Rose - who seems no match for the sound bites!  Paul Ryan says that Obama gives us platitudes ...  Ryan says "growth and prosperity" ... platitudes!!!!

Be very wary of Ryan ... "we have decided to act" ... "debt crisis" ... "attach spending controls" ... lacking specifics ... buzz, buzz!  Euphemisms!

Charlie Rose now has Stephen Pearlstein from Washington Post ... we will see ... is not politics interesting!

The wisdom is, it seems, is that Obama is a dumb ... I think it is more ... give them (Ryan, et al)  enough rope to hang themselves!


WI 1848 Forward: #FDR vs Paul #Ryan ( #GOP , # Trump , #McConnell ), #1938 all over again #AARP #47% #Medicare #Medicaid #SafetyNet #Janesville 

#Elites #1% WI 1848 Forward: EX-Paul #Ryan vs #FDR, #1938 all over again #AARP #47% #Medicare #Medicaid #SafetyNet #99% 

Who is Representative PaulRyan? Maybe VP? 4/11/2011

4/11/11 "Maybe VP" added 9/3/2012

The more I see him on the cable shows, hear his sound bites, hear and read about his proposed programs the more I realized I knew very little about him.  I may be resorting to stereotypes, I hope not, as a person is made up of many things - where did you go to school, what career steps did you take, who have you associated with, what kinds of endeavors have you engaged in, what  advantages or disadvantages have you had available or had to overcome - in sum how did you come to your philosophy of life and in Ryan's case how he thinks we can most effectively be served by our government(s) and live in our democracy.

So I present this very cursory introduction to a few probes for information.  I did say cursory - there is more to discover and comprehend, check and double check!

So I started with his name and searched the web ... looked at several sites for consistency and neutrality - Wikipedia looks pretty decent - after all sometimes these people write them all by themselves, sometimes with help and sometimes by scholars and sometimes by critics.  This provides an enormous number of links to follow I picked one that I had never heard about?  (I followed the links through the footnotes.)

Paul Davis Ryan, Jr.[1] (born January 29, 1970) from the first paragraph ...

Paul Davis Ryan, Jr.^[1] (born January 29, 1970) is the U.S. Representative for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district, serving since 1999. He is a member of the Republican Party and has been ranked among the party's most influential voices on economic policy.^[2][3][4]

Born and raised in Janesville, Wisconsin, Ryan graduated from Miami University and worked as a marketing consultant and an economic analyst. In the late 1990s he worked as an aide to United States Senator Bob Kasten, a legislative director for Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, and a speechwriter for former Congressman, and Vice Presidential Nominee Jack Kemp of New York. He won a 1998 election to succeed two-term Representative Mark Neumann in the United States House of Representatives.
Ryan is the chairman of the House Budget Committee, where he has advocated for his Roadmap for America, a long-term spending reduction proposal which has received mixed endorsement from his party. He is one of the three co-founders of the Young Guns Program, an electoral recruitment and campaign effort by House Republicans.

The link I followed was in the second section ... about early life ... Empower America - up popped Freedom Works - that made me go hmmmm!

FreedomWorks

FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity both originated from a campaign called Citizens for a Sound Economy, which split in two in 2004. CSE was set up by businessman David KochKoch Industries).^[2] Citizens for a Sound Economy merged with Empower America in 2004 and was renamed FreedomWorks, with Dick Armey, Jack Kemp and C. Boyden Gray serving as co-chairmen, Bill Bennett focusing on school choice as a Senior Fellow, and Matt Kibbe as President and CEO.^{[3][4][contradiction]} Empower America was founded in 1993 by William Bennett, former Secretary of HUD Jack Kemp, former Ambassador Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, and former Representative Vin Weber.^[5] In December 2006, Steve Forbes joined the board of directors.^[6]

The Koch family foundations were the largest donors to FreedomWorks' parent organization, Citizens for a Sound Economy, contributing nearly $13 million between 1985 and 2005.^[23]

Whether you believe this makes Paul Ryan credentialed or guilt-ed is your choice.  Looking at the underlying organizations that he has associated with helps me understand the policies that he proposes are nothing that should be unexpected and are not really new.  They are just being packaged and marketed in a way that takes advantage of the current political and economic circumstances.

I wonder if the strategy is to make certain that if Ryan's policies are rejected the nuclear fallout misses the rest of the conservatives.  If he fails he will survive and show up in a think-tank and if he succeeds he will be running for Vice-President.  So much for fanciful thinking - that's all for now, folks!

NPR story ... wonder if they knew that Paul went to Miami University ... just a coincidence ... listen carefully to the opening credits!

WI 1848 Forward: You Heard Here 1st! #PaulRyan? Maybe VP (4/11/11)? : #47% #99% #DEMS #Progressives vs #elites #1%

WI 1848 Forward: Who is Representative #PaulRyan? Maybe VP (4/11/11)? : #47% #99% #DEMS #Progressives vs #elites #1%