Sen. John McCain just offered the first Republican motion as part
of the Senate health care debate, which would remove roughly $500
billion in Medicare cuts and send the legislation back to the
Finance Committee.
While Republicans don't have the votes to pass their amendments,
the Senate floor debate gives Republicans the opportunity to
highlight areas of the Democratic health care bills that are
unpopular, and the proposed cuts to Medicare are a large reason
why older Americans remain among the most opposed to the health
care push.
But even though it's true that Democrats should be called out on
their claims that the proposed cuts will not affect benefits,
Republicans have gone overboard in demagoging the issue to the
point where they themselves are protectors of entitlement
programs that are bankrupting the nation.
McCain, who typically raises hell about any earmark, no matter
how tiny, was just on the Senate floor urging his fellow
lawmakers to "preserve the solemn obligations we have made to our
senior citizens."
Statements such as these, aside from making a mockery out of the
idea of Republicans as the party of small government, help
enshrine the third rail status of entitlement programs that need
to be substantially cut if we have any chance of averting the
looming fiscal collapse of the United States.
