Steele: Republicans Didn't Bankrupt Medicare In A Vacuum

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RNC Chairman Michael Steele just appeared on CNN, where he continued to make the case that we can't risk President Obama's health care proposals at a time when Medicare is going bankrupt. And then something funny happened: Suzanne Malveaux asked him about the fact that the Republicans were the ones who bankrupted it.

Malveaux pointed out that in 2003, the Republicans passed a huge expansion of Medicare, the prescription drug benefit, without any method of paying for it through tax increases or other spending cuts. There then followed this exchange:

Steele: The reality of it is, it didn't happen in a vacuum. it wasn't Republicans by themselves, the Democrats were part--

Malveaux: But certainly, Republicans were partly responsible--

Steele: Because you have the White House, and you don't have the Congress. There's a partnership here. My point is now, you've got one party that's got control of the entire process here. So this is an opportunity for us to have an honest discussion about how we're going to address what is fundamentally an important issue to a lot of seniors around the country.

Steele appears to have been mistaken. In fact, Republicans had control of both houses of Congress as well as holding the White House in 2003, albeit by smaller margins than the Democrats do today.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/08...in-a-vacuum.php

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Whether the claim is true or not, Steele shouldn't have conceded it. He's not a very good chairman.

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The Republican playbook regarding health care reform:

1. Delay.

2. Deflect.

3. Deceive.

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4. Whine

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5. Absurd talking points.

6. Fat-cat lobbyists.

7. Campaign donations.

8. That river in Egypt.

9. Hypocrisy.

10. No solutions of their own.

Edited August 27, 2009 by Tahoma

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11. Pretend they are for Medicare and the Democrats are against it.

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12. Pretend they care at all.

13. Pretend that private health insurance companies will not flock to the state which offers the lowest common denominator, just like the credit card companies did when they were deregulated.

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14. And smell of cheap perfume.

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15. Or cheap cologne (in Reverend Ted's case).

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15. Or cheap cologne (in Reverend Ted's case).

which leads to...

16. They like forbidden homosexual encounters because they are so taboo.

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11. Pretend they are for Medicare

They are. That's why they want to keep the guvmint out of it.

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15. Or cheap cologne (in Reverend Ted's case).

which leads to...

16. They like forbidden homosexual encounters because they are so taboo.

Have you noticed that the worst homophobes and homohaterz are usually Conservatives who turn out to be homos themselves? Should we ask Danno about this?

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11. Pretend they are for Medicare

They are. That's why they want to keep the guvmint out of it.

Damn straight!

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[Tahoma 2,292]

11. Pretend they are for Medicare

They are. That's why they want to keep the guvmint out of it.

So true!