Flip-Flop of Decade: McCain was FOR $1.3T in Medicare Cuts, before he was Against $400B in Savings!

As was noted on Keith Last Night Senator (and would've been President - if not for those darn meddling kids on Wall Street) John McCain has been railing heavily against the "unspecified cuts" proposed in the current Senate Health Care Bill.



Yes, we now have become completely unaware of the cuts we're previously fully aware of - especially the cuts proposed by Senator John McCain to the tune of $1.3 Trillion way - way back in - 2008!

John McCain Today - Pounding the Dead "Rationing" Horse:

Madame President, simply put, this motion to commit would be a requirement that we eliminate the half a trillion dollars in Medicare cuts that is envisioned by this bill. A half a trillion dollars in cuts that are unspecified as to how, and a half a trillion dollars in cuts that would directly impact the health care of citizens in this country. ... All of these are cuts in the obligations that we have assumed and are the rightful benefits that people have earned. ... I will eagerly look forward to hearing from the authors of this legislation as to how they can possibly achieve a half a trillion dollars in cuts without impacting existing Medicare programs negatively and eventually lead to rationing of health care in this country. That is what this motion is all about. This motion is to eliminate those unwarranted cuts.

John McCain Yesterday (From the October 6, 2008 Wall Street Journal)

John McCain would pay for his health plan with major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid, a top aide said, in a move that independent analysts estimate could result in cuts of $1.3 trillion over 10 years to the government programs.

The Republican presidential nominee has said little about the proposed cuts, but they are needed to keep his health-care plan "budget neutral," as he has promised. The McCain campaign hasn't given a specific figure for the cuts, but didn't dispute the analysts' estimate.

Mr. Holtz-Eakin said the Medicare and Medicaid changes would improve the programs and eliminate fraud, but he didn't detail where the cuts would come from. "It's about giving them the benefit package that has been promised to them by law at lower cost," he said.

McCain's proposed Medicare Cuts weren't intended as Savings to help maintain the solvency of the program, his were intended to pay for - wait for it- Tax Credits worth $2,500 per person or $5,000 per family to help them buy health insurance "on the open market". At the same time the McCain plan was to remove the Tax exemption which currently applies to all Employer Based Benefits Packages - so while McCain would've been handing Paul Half-A-Loaf in the back alley, he's also Mugging Peter around the Corner.

Nevermind the fact that Health Care Currently costs more than $6,000 on the open market for an individual and $12,000 for a family. Thanks for next to nothing Papa John - where'd you learn to balance a checkbook on the nose of your Wife's private Jet?

Let's also recall that during the 90's, the Gingrich Republican Congress also attempted to ramrod through massive Medicare Cuts - not just to the amounts being paid, but actual reductions in service - and that the only way then-President Clinton was able to stop them was to Shut the Entire Government Down - TWICE.

Via Thinkprogress:

In 1997, McCain (along with many Democrats) voted for a series of Medicare cuts as part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. That act decreased Medicare spending by 12.7% over 10 years and instituted the kind of payment updates that the Senate bill is now recommending. In 1995, moreover, Republicans sought to cut 14% from projected Medicare spending over seven years and force millions of elderly recipients into managed health care programs or HMOs. As Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich admitted, “We don’t want to get rid of it in round one because we don’t think it’s politically smart,” he said. “But we believe that it’s going to wither on the vine because we think [seniors] are going to leave it voluntarily.”

They absolutely tried to KILL Medicare, and now they claim to be it's "Savior"? Yeah, right - sell me another bridge why don'tcha this one's all rusty from all the piss you keep telling me is RAIN!

It's been some time since we paid attention to what Sarah Palin's favorite former Uber-Patriotic Arm Decoration/Bling Bling has been up to - but in the midst of this critical debate on Heath Care I think it's time we got our PUSH BACK ON, and hard.

Vyan