Home > Uncategorized > Bill Clinton: Responding to Medicare and Medicaid attacks on Obama

Bill Clinton: Responding to Medicare and Medicaid attacks on Obama

Post on September 6, 2012 by 15 Comments »

In five minutes out of his speech at the Democratic National Convention last night, President Bill Clinton gave one of the best and shortest summaries I’ve heard for how Obamacare defended and improved Medicare and the need to protect Medicaid:

YouTube Preview Image

No related posts.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Comments (Closed):15

  1. Frank Burns
    September 6, 2012 at 3:19 pm

    Clinton: “For the last two years, health care spending has grown under 4 percent, for the first time in 50 years. So, are we all better off because President Obama fought for it and passed it? You bet we are.”

    THE FACTS: That’s wishful thinking at best. The nation’s total health care tab has been growing at historically low rates, but most experts attribute that to continued uncertainty over the economy, not to Obama’s health care law.

    We should also keep in mind that Clinton was convicted of perjury while in office and remember the lie he told us on TV while wagging his finger.

  2. Alex
    September 6, 2012 at 3:20 pm

    But this represents some of the least-liked math in Washington, because it uses a sort of “double counting” of Medicare savings. The Medicare Trust Fund counts the health law’s $716 billion in savings as going back into its coffers. The Congressional Budget Office counts them as paying for provisions in the Affordable Care Act, like closing the donut hole. In reality, it would be very, very hard for a Medicare dollar saved to achieve both these purposes. In fact, it would be impossible.

    This accounting isn’t unique to the Affordable Care Act. Budget wonks have regularly used this double counting for Medicare savings generated by Congress. There are some defenders of this accounting method. But it is one of the points that the Affordable Care Act’s Medicare savings regularly gets attacked.
    SO MUCH FOR BILL’S DEFENSE OF THE ACA PROVISIONS ! ALSO HE DIDN’T CARE TO MENTION OBAMA’S RAID ON MEDICARE TO PAY FOR PAYROLL TAX DEDUCTION.

  3. Adam Searing
    September 6, 2012 at 3:36 pm

    “Alex” – you fake person, you! I wondered how long it would take you to comment. Come on, join us real Americans and let us know who you actually are. Don’t cower behind your anonymity like a frightened child. But no, maybe it’s time to make up another name for the blog and become someone else you can then agree with as “Alex.”

  5. david esmay
    September 6, 2012 at 3:40 pm

    What do you have to substantiate those FACTS, Frank? Are you going to quote Heartland or Heritage, or some med cost conspiracy theorist?

  6. Adam Searing
    September 6, 2012 at 3:42 pm

    Frank – there is not a single thing Clinton said in the clip I posted above that isn’t 100% true. It’s nice to quibble with stuff like why health care costs are rising more slowly now, but let’s talk about Medicare and Medicaid.

  8. Adam Searing
    September 6, 2012 at 4:00 pm

    And obviously the slow economy plays a large role in slowing health costs, but it has slowed so much, there is some thought that the reorganizing of care towards more prevention, more efficiency, and better outcomes – already going on as hospital systems anticipate the ACA changes – is playing a role in the lower costs. The proof will be as the economy picks up if we continue to see lower health cost growth. One thing people forget is that there are multiple places in our country where we deliver health care to the same types of people with better outcomes at a much lower cost than in most of the rest of the nation. We already know how to save substantial amounts of money – maybe these changes are just spreading faster than we thought.

  9. gregflynn
    September 6, 2012 at 4:06 pm

    Adam, leave “Doug” out of this.

  10. Alex
    September 6, 2012 at 4:40 pm

    I’m still trying to figure out the math on extending Medicare for another 8 years. If the Medicare cost is around $500 billion a year, how can the $716 Billion extend the trust fund for eight more years and do all of the other things too ? Can someone help me figure this out ?

  11. Adam Searing
    September 6, 2012 at 5:00 pm

    “Alex” – come clean, buddy, come clean! You know it will feel good to tell the truth about who you are. Just think of the relief from not having to hide anymore man – think of the relief!

  12. david esmay
    September 6, 2012 at 6:12 pm

    Let’s play a guessing game. Is Alex, Junior Berger, Thom Tillis, Pam Tillis, Mel Tillis, Phil Berger, Art Pope’s illegitimate love child, Steven Laroque, or Frances Jenkins the crossdressing/blogging intern at Civitas.

  13. Frank Burns
    September 6, 2012 at 6:38 pm

    Adam,
    When you tell the truth, you should tell the whole truth so help you God. Clinton said nothing about the creative accounting with Medicare. The Medicare Double Count: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304299304577346332422834276.html

    By not mentioning this, Clinton is committing fraud to the American people. Just as Obama and Pelosi did when they passed this bill. Clinton is an expert on misdirection.

    The Obamacare plan does cut $716 Billion from Medicare. I refer you to the Congressional Budget Office. http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/43471-hr6079.pdf

  14. Alex
    September 6, 2012 at 8:04 pm

    I wish Adam could just answer the question instead of worrying about who I am. As Bruce Willis said Adam….” I’m just a fly in the ointment” so to speak, someone to keep you honest, someone to hopefully keep you thinking instead of repeating the same old worn-out Democratic cliche’s, someone who doesn’t think taxing a few thousand millionaires is the answer to all of our problems. If you don’t know the answer Adam, don’t be embarrassed to admit it.

  15. Adam Searing
    September 7, 2012 at 9:48 am

    “Alex”, “Doug”, “Juan Gonza”, “frances”, “David Wordslay”, and “Andrew” are all made-up names from the same person. It isn’t worth responding to his comments. So, when you see “Alex” get agreement from “Doug” it shouldn’t be surprising. And when you see “Juan Gonza” parrot the line that “Doug” took it should be expected. I guess it’s flattering that the NC right-wing machine feels funding someone to spend enormous amounts time on our blog is worthwhile, but ignoring the anonymous posts he wouldn’t dare confess to writing under his own name should be easy.