-
Farewell to the Spectator
December 16, 2011 | 8 comments
-
Tentative Praise for Ryan’s New Bipartisan Medicare Plan
December 15, 2011 | 3 comments
-
The Day Ahead: Thursday, December 15
December 15, 2011 | 0 comments
-
Examiner for Romney, National Review Against Gingrich
December 14, 2011 | 39 comments
-
Paul Ryan to Introduce New Medicare Plan with Democrat Ron Wyden
December 14, 2011 | 4 comments
The Spectacle Blog
Yesterday, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a staunch fiscal conservative who’s co-chairing the deficit supercommittee, chided Democrats for refusing to consider a Medicare reform plan with bipartisan origins:
Rep. Jeb Hensarling said he believes Democrats “have negotiated in good faith” but so far they have not produced a plan that fundamentally addresses the major drivers of the debt: Medicare, Medicaid and health care.
“Republicans put a plan on the table that solved the problem,” Hensarling, R-Texas, said. “They rejected it and we said, ‘O.K., if you don’t like our plan, how about a bipartisan plan?’ We would be willing to negotiate around the Rivlin-Domenici Medicare plan. It’s not our version, it’s a bipartisan version. That’s something maybe we could meet on [but] we haven’t seen that.”
I don’t know whether it would “solve the problem,” but Hensarling is right that the Rivlin-Domenici plan is a bipartisan one. Devised by Clinton budget director Alice Rivlin and former Republican senator Pete Domenici (who are members of the Bipartisan Policy Center), the plan isn’t perfect, but it represents a credible strategy for reforming Medicare to improve quality and control government spending. The basic idea would be to introduce market forces into the insurance market for seniors by capping spending growth and allowing private plans to bid against traditional Medicare to offer insurance in a gven area.
Hensarling has introduced the Rivlin-Domenici plan in supercommittee negotiations because it really could be a useful compromise point. In other words, it would address the debt problem in a way that could be acceptable to both Republicans and Democrats.
It’s worth noting that Mitt Romney’s platform for reforming Medicare is very similar to the Rivlin-Domenici model, meaning that Hensarling is probably on the same page as Romney. One major difference between Hensarling’s and Romney’s support for this particular approach is that Hensarling is proposing it as a final compromise. It’s Romney’s opening bid.
View all comments (5) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Joseph Lawler
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/11/17/hensarling
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
Current Issue
- The End of the Castros?
- Wincing at Cumberbatch
- Her Unrequited Letter
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
martin j smith| 11.17.11 @ 1:44PM
Romney needs to be vetted and you can bet there will be a hit piece on him from the LEFT. Some you on Am Spec make me feel that the Republican Party is on a tight rope and its existence depends on the 2012 election. I for done do not have that much faith in Romney any more than most others. They must battle it out and the voters will decide not you.
Dai Alanye | 11.17.11 @ 2:12PM
The ideal, obviously, is to minimize Federal participation in medical insurance. The best program for that is a form of medical savings account, with some kind of transition for those who are older than thirty or so.
If Lawler keeps blogging in this vein we should start calling this site The American RINO.
Paglia guy| 11.17.11 @ 3:21PM
The RINOism on this blog is becoming quite a Spectacle! Grow a pair, guys! We're part of the 79%! (Gallup finds 21% of the American people describe themselves as "liberal.")
Socialists Oppose Capitalsim| 11.22.11 @ 4:35PM
“The basic idea would be to introduce market forces into the insurance market for seniors by capping spending growth and allowing private plans to bid against traditional Medicare to offer insurance in a gven area.” - what a relief to hear something that actually make sense, not that the plan is great, but common sense is great to hear in this time of reformation; the current healthscare tax is deplorable – it's full of mandates, and authority given to more agencies, rather than the people, who are paying for this intrusion – it's not the same as forced car insurance – people that made the car insurance mandate were not progressive socialists, and character – does – matter.
-redstate.com Obama Nominee Donald Berwick’s Radical Agenda May 12 2010 - “Any health care funding plan that is just equitable civilized and humane must, must redistribute wealth from the richer among us to the poorer and the less fortunate. Excellent health care is by definition redistributional.” - **Donald Berwick (Obama administration nominee to run Medicare and Medicaid)
--nypost-com O's radical pick for Medicare O's radical pick for Medicare June 16, 2010 - “Controversy is mounting over Dr. Donald Berwick, President Obama's nominee to run Medicare and Medicaid -- and for good reason. Berwick's writings reveal that he would make radical changes -- seniors beware...... in Berwick's plan, many -- perhaps most -- primary-care providers would not be physicians...seniors have been able to call any doctor who takes Medicare, get treatment and have the federal government pay. Not in the future...He argues for a different focus, social justice...These subgroups -- which can be defined by age, disease affliction or socio-economic status -- should be the "unit of concern," not the individual patient...A fervent ideologue, Berwick puts social engineering ahead of the individual patient's needs. In contrast, most doctors understand that their duty is to heal each patient who comes to them.”
Berwick loves socialism --- he will fall right in line with the progressive socialistic/Marxist administration. PLEASE call your reps., and be critical --- we are not experiencing politics as usual --- the debate is not Democrat vs. Republican --- the debate is capitalism/private enterprise vs. socialism/Marxism/totalitarian control.
-ronpaul-com/Ron Paul: End Obama’s Corporatist Healthcare Mandate! April 18, 2010 HR 4995 “Last week I introduced a very important piece of legislation that I hope will gain as much or more support as my Audit the Fed bill. HR 4995, the End the Mandate Act will repeal provisions of the newly passed health insurance reform bill that give the government the power to force Americans to purchase government-approved health insurance...Second, the mandate is unlikely to remain “minimal” for long. The experience of states that allow their legislatures to mandate what benefits health insurance plans must cover has shown that politicizing health insurance inevitably makes it more expensive. As the cost of government-mandated health insurance rises, Congress will likely respond by increasing subsidies for more and more Americans, adding astronomically to our debt burden. An insurance mandate undermines the entire principle of what insurance is supposed to measure – risk...Instead of calling this socialized medicine, we should call it corporatized medicine, since the reform is to force us all into being customers of these corporations, whether we like it or not...”