The 2022 midterms have consequences as the GOP House majority begins its war on government spending by refusing to raise the debt ceiling and demanding a reduction in expenditures, instead. Heads up, GOP. Seniors are "woke" in 2022, and they helped stop the red wave in the midterms. They have become aware of the damage the GOP House could do to seniors. Seniors were once a GOP dependable voting block. Last November, the key block shifting to Democrats were seniors, accounting for making the expected red wave a ripple.
"A post-election AARP survey points to one reason why — voters ages 50 and up, who represented 61% of the electorate in 63 of the most competitive congressional districts and helped give Democrats there a 2% edge" How older voters impacted midterms vote in key congressional districts (cnbc.com)
The usual GOP dogma is that more government spending is bad and more government debt is even worse. We will hear the GOP's platitudes and generalities as the debate over the debt ceiling begins. Their initial posture: We will support raising the debt ceiling if we cut expenditures. This is hostage holding without specific ransom. GOP has a charming and deceptive habit: They never specify what government expenditures they want to reduce and hope voters would continue in the dreams of traditional GOP platitudes by being the party of superior fiscal responsibility. . Voting against raising the debt ceiling is irresponsible since it does nothing to reduce expenditures and it would devastate retirement funds by making the US a risky place in which to invest. However, the debate is an opportunity for Democrats to make deeper inroads into the support of senior or near-senior-age voters in 2024 planning for retirement.
The GOP cannot be left getting away from being vague, but there are clues since their chief gripes have been about the infrastructure bill and, above all, the "inflation reduction act". So what do they propose? What expenses would they cut? Social security? Medicare?
We can, however, assume that there will be legislation introduced by the GOP to cut social programs, aid to Ukraine, or roll back benefits of the "inflation reduction act." They could either starve the programs by cutting funding, privatize social security, or cut the taxes on the rich, which were the payfors for the "inflation reduction act." Rolling back the benefits has re-election risks and those hurt the most would be seniors and affordable health care: ( Attack ads: "did you know your representatives voted to make you pay more again for your diabetes meds and health care insurance"? Or did you know your representative wanted to finance social security in the casino of Wall Street?") The restoration of tax cuts to the rich without cutting budgets and benefits will just add to the debt.
Top of the GOP ire is the misnamed"inflation reduction act" passed by a partisan vote before the GOP eaked out a House majority. The legislation should have been the "deficit reduction act" since the impact, per the Congressional budget office, would be to reduce the deficit of $300 billion over the next ten years. When it comes to family finances, the cost of health care for seniors and those who could qualify for Obamacare are the big winners.. The task of the Democrats is to bring the meaning of this home to those who live on a budget and to draw the contrast with GOP House members who are on the record for rolling this back.
Here is what the GOP could try to roll back per a bullet point summary provided by Democrats.Inflation Reduction Act One Page Summary (senate.gov). In the debate over the debt limit, this is the first time in 2023 for Democrats to strike with pointed messaging while the iron is hot. The last time will be in 2024, when all House members will stand again for re-election, and their votes in 2023-2024 will be on the record. Here is a summary provided by Democrats.Inflation Reduction Act One Page Summary (senate.gov) .
Seniors need to be woke as well to attacks on mail-in voting, a major drive by election deniers and many in the GOP. The greatest beneficiaries of this are seniors and what the GOP anti mail in vote advocates make it harder for seniors to vote. MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: An election denier aspires to be Colorado state GOP chair after GOP losses in 2022
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some more background:
In addition to reducing the debt by $300 billion over ten years: "• Lowers energy costs, increases cleaner production, and reduces carbon emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030 • Allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices and caps out-of-pocket costs to $2,000 • Lowers ACA health care premiums for millions of Americans • Make biggest corporations and ultra-wealthy pay their fair share • There are no new taxes on families making $400,000 or less and no new taxes on small businesses – we are closing tax loopholes and enforcing the tax code.
"Beneficiaries will see three significant changes in 2023.
"The first is the $35 monthly cap on insulin, which will affect more than 1 million insulin users who have Part D through Medicare Advantage plans or free-standing plans purchased along with traditional Medicare.
"From 2007-20, beneficiaries’ aggregate out-of-pocket insulin costs quadrupled, even though the number of users only doubled. They spent an average $54 a month on insulin in 2020, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis.
"The cap will save average users at least 35% and applies immediately without requiring them to first pay the Part D deductible, which amounts to $505 in 2023. About 10% of Part D insulin users, such as Lubin, paid more than $1,300 out of pocket in 2020 and will save much more. Although all Part D plans must cap the cost, they aren’t required to offer every form or brand of insulin" (inferring changing plans is an option when there is part D open enrollment again).
Helpful background: Per AARP, good lay explanation: The deficit is the difference between what the U.S. Government takes in from taxes and other revenues, called receipts, and the amount of money it spends, called outlays. The items included in the deficit are considered either on-budget or off-budget.
You can think of the total debt as accumulated deficits plus accumulated off-budget surpluses. The on-budget deficits require the U.S. Treasury to borrow money to raise cash needed to keep the government operating. It borrows the money by selling securities to the public.
The Treasury securities issued to the public and to the Government Trust Funds then become part of the total debt.
What's the Difference Between the Debt and the Deficit? (aarp.org)
If Ron DeSantis is the GOP nominee in 2024, what is his record on public policy issues including those important to seniors?. From my 1/17/2023 blog posting:
The political positions of Ron DeSantis have been recorded from his 2012 United States House of Representatives elections and his tenure as Representative, the 2016 United States Senate election in Florida, and during his tenure as governor of Florida. DeSantis is considered a conservative
No comments:
Post a Comment