Medicare Under Siege: Mitt Rmoney Will Cut Benefits For Current Seniors

... and fuck the "contract across generations" that has bound our society in one form or another for almost a century. Brian Beutler explains:

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But the ticket also contends that a key difference between Obama and Romney is that Romney won’t change Medicare at all for existing beneficiaries — only future ones. Recent statements from his advisers and surrogates, suggest the claim is false.

As outlined in a memo the campaign released Saturday, Romney plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act in its entirety, and thus to spend over $700 billion more on the program in the coming decade than the government would spend if the health care law stands.

That commitment would leave Medicare poised for insolvency in 2016, years before he proposes to phase in the voucher system. Which means Romney would have two options: find new Medicare cuts or taxes to extend the life of the program, or preside over its demise.

On Fox News Sunday, Romney adviser Ed Gillespie tried to address the conundrum. “There are other reforms as well. As you know Governor Romney supports increasing over time bringing the Medicare eligibility age in line with the Social Security retirement age.”

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There is a third option Beutler didn't mention: Rmoney could go jump in a lake. It would save the American people considerable grief.

When I paid my taxes for my parents' generation to receive Medicare, I did so in the then-scarcely-questionable assumption that a younger generation would pay my way when my time came. Now Rmoney wants, not merely to whack Medicare, but to funnel that money straight into the greedy hands of the wealthy bastards he thinks he represents. What a deal! It's a lot like what he intends to do to Social Security (see recent post): take all the money we paid into these programs all our working lives, and hand it out to his rich cronies.

Rmoney is threatening to change the rules in the middle of the game, rules on which everyone but the wealthiest 0.001% of Americans depend to stay alive. If Rmoney denies me my well-earned retirement, I will have nothing to lose, through no negligence on my part. We all know what people who are left with nothing to lose do, don't we? Good... I don't have to explain it to you.