Why We Lost: The Big Picture

American Thinker ^ | By Jay Haug

[Perdogg]

Critics of the Republican loss in the presidential election, which returned the status quo to Washington for another four years, have spent a number of weeks analyzing the reasons for the debacle. Pundits have put forth demographics, messaging, the Obama turnout machine, and a whole host of other assertions to show why Republicans must go back to the drawing board and reinvent themselves. No doubt this sifting process will continue for months to come. Though John F. Kennedy's oft-quoted dictum that "victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan" still holds true, it appears the orphans are having a national convention asking themselves, "Who's your daddy?" Now that Mitt Romney appears to be fading from the scene, Republicans have not quite decided either who will come off their fairly strong bench to lead the party, or what the Republican message for the future will be.

[Windflier]

Damn, where’s the ‘like’ button?

[kabar]

You are missing the point. The premiums you pay for Medicare Parts B and D only cover 25% of the costs to Medicare. The other 75% is picked up using the General Fund.

According to the Trustee's report, the General Fund picked up $222 billion in FY-2011 for Medicare Parts B and D (SMI). With 10,000 people retiring every day for the next 20 years, these costs will continue to increase and the General Fund, by law, picks up 75% of the costs.

"But this is just the beginning of Medicare's problems, because it also has two other programs: part B, which covers doctor's visits, and part D, which pays for prescription drugs.

The unfunded portion of Medicare part B is already covered by general revenues under current law. The present value of that is $37 trillion or 2.8% of GDP in perpetuity according to the trustees report (p. 111). The unfunded portion of Medicare part D, which was rammed into law by George W. Bush and a Republican Congress in 2003, is also covered by general revenues under current law and has a present value of $15.5 trillion or 1.2% of GDP forever (p. 127).

[Finny]

APOLOGY to blue unicorn -- I didn't mean to imply that blueunicorn6 thinks or even said that "the majority of Americans are stupid leeches and mooches and frightened children," though alas, that's how my post came across. Sorry, unicorn!

[Finny]

Thanks! :^)

[Theodore R.]

You are on to something here. Many “conservative” voters are so uninformed in school board elections that they either sit them out or vote for liberal names on the ballot that they have “heard of.” Most school board members everywhere are primarily interested in getting funds for “the children.”

[Theodore R.]

When Herman Cain gave money to a woman other than his wife without telling his wife, he was finished. But he looked like a good choice until that was revealed.

[X-spurt]

Well I don’t know whether you don’t have any experience with Medicare and are just copy and pasting info from somewhere else or if you are serious in your thinking us SS / Medicare users are ripping you off.

My give-away was your “The unfunded portion of Medicare part B”. The un-funded part of Part B is paid by those of us that elect to BUY IT at about a $100 a month. Then you also don’t seem to know that Part B does not cover all and we have to buy private MediGap insurance to cover the significant portion Part A and Part B do not cover. Then if electing to BUY Part D we have to pay the 25% you claim, then Co-pays and deductable. Top it all off with the most non-sensical confusing coverage regulations on the planet.

I don’t argue that Medicare is some super good deal for us having to use it or to the taxpayers. It sucks, but is what Congress stuck us with. Adding up all the Medicare “Parts” and MediGap insurance, my cost is higher than I could have bought on my own, if the Gubmit would allow it.

[The Right Stuff]

It’s more than that. My 77 year old father, for example, thinks “religion should be out of politics.” It’s ridiculous, given his financial background and I was absolutely shocked that he would vote for O because of this given all the bad stuff that’s coming down the pike with this bozo in office. Also my well-educated and recently employed college aged son didn’t vote because he thinks the gay marriage issue shouldn’t be in the party plank. He, BTW went to a Christian school his entire life. THIS trumps the economic consequences he will definitely suffer as a result? Also, all the “super conservatives” who sat out the election and got us a way more horrible result are to blame, IMHO.

[kabar]

Well I don’t know whether you don’t have any experience with Medicare and are just copy and pasting info from somewhere else or if you are serious in your thinking us SS / Medicare users are ripping you off.

I am on Medicare. It is not a matter of Medicare users ripping us off. It is the way Medicare is structured. The premiums you pay amount to 25% of the USG's total costs for the program.

My give-away was your “The unfunded portion of Medicare part B”. The un-funded part of Part B is paid by those of us that elect to BUY IT at about a $100 a month. Then you also don’t seem to know that Part B does not cover all and we have to buy private MediGap insurance to cover the significant portion Part A and Part B do not cover. Then if electing to BUY Part D we have to pay the 25% you claim, then Co-pays and deductable. Top it all off with the most non-sensical confusing coverage regulations on the planet.

Again, you are totally missing the point. The $100 you pay in premiums each month or double that if you are married, only pay for 25% of the GOVERNMENT'S COSTS OF MEDICARE PARTS B AND D. THE REST OF THE COSTS ARE FUNDED WITH MONEY FROM THE GENERAL FUND.

I don’t argue that Medicare is some super good deal for us having to use it or to the taxpayers. It sucks, but is what Congress stuck us with. Adding up all the Medicare “Parts” and MediGap insurance, my cost is higher than I could have bought on my own, if the Gubmit would allow it.

Medicare is a great deal. You get back three times in benefits compared to what you contributed.

This graph shows that the average man and woman (average defined in the study as average income over their working lives and living to the average life expectancy) who start receiving benefits in 2010 get over 3 times more in benefits than they pay in to the system! Of importance, the study accounts for inflation by calculating all past taxes and future payments in 2010 dollars to provide an accurate comparison.

If the notion that Medicare recipients are simply "getting back what they paid in" is false then where is the money coming from? Simply, the excess received is being borrowed from younger generations and the cost is more than we can bear.

[ansel12]

Your father and your son, both voted their religious beliefs, or in their cases, their anti-God beliefs, over everything else.

If “super-conservatives” are defined as Evangelical Christians, then they showed up and voted republican by 79%.

While liberals like your family members voted democrat, Romney left millions of votes on the table that a better candidate could have won, since he never actually ran any kind of a campaign.

[blueunicorn6]

No problem. You should see some of the stuff people write to me.....

“You are a nitwit. I don’t think you have the brains that God gives gophers. You didn’t just get hit with an ugly stick, they must have clear cut an ugly forest to use on you! Merry Christmas, Mom”

[SoConPubbie]

I suspect that the real answer isn't "drift" or "lack of direction". I suspect that it's positive action by motivated partisans acting under false colors inside the GOP. I suspect we have a small ring of closeted gay "Republicans" who are actively working for the destruction of Republicanism, conservatism, and the deist, theist, moral community called America, eating away at the core of the GOP like a powerful black hole, because they secretly hate God, America, conservatives, and the GOP, in no particular order.

Dead on!

It was and is PURPOSEFUL AND WITH INTENT.

[patriot08]

From the ‘We The People’ website:

http://dancingczars.wordpress.com/2012/10/27/update-ohio-voter-fraud-democrats-busing-in-somali-muslims-who-cant-speak-english-likely-arent-citizens/#more-64093

Update: OHIO VOTER FRAUD? Democrats busing in Somali Muslims who can’t speak English, likely aren’t citizens

John Husted Secretary of State for Ohio is a Republican. In the end he will certify the election. He has already fired two Democrats for allowing those in Ohio to vote early on the week ends which is against the law.

John Husted

As Ohio’s chief elections officer, the Secretary of State oversees the elections process and appoints the members of boards of elections in each of Ohio’s 88 counties.

The Secretary of State supervises the administration of election laws; reviews statewide initiative and referendum petitions; chairs the Ohio Ballot Board, which approves ballot language for statewide issues; canvasses votes for all elective state offices and issues; investigates election fraud and irregularities; trains election officials, and works with counties to train poll workers.

The Elections Division of the Secretary of State’s office also compiles and maintains election statistics, political party records and other election-related records.

While our men and women over seas will not have their ballots counted, Somalia’s, most of whom aren’t American Citizens and speak no English are being bussed into Ohio in an attempt to effect the outcome of a very close battle ground state.

To make matters worse, they need provide no identification and have interpreters “helping them vote.”

Long story short, John Husted, the Republican Secretary of State is responsible for certifying the election and to guard against voter fraud.

By BareNakedIslam

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two volunteer poll workers at an Ohio voting station observed van loads of Ohio residents born in Somalia — the state is home to the second-largest Somali population in the United States — being driven to the voting station and guided by Democratic interpreters on the voting process. No Republican interpreters were there.

HUMAN EVENTS A source, who wishes to remain anonymous, is a volunteer outside the Morse Road polling center. She has witnessed Somalis who cannot speak English come to the polling center. They are brought in groups, by van or bus. The Democrats hand them a slate card and say, “vote Brown all the way down.” Given that Sherrod Brown is the incumbent Democrat Senator in Ohio, one can assume that this is the reference.

Another source who also wishes to remain anonymous has seen Democrat interpreters show the non-English speaking Somalis how to vote the Democrat slate that they were handed outside. According to this second source, there are not any Republican Somali interpreters available. Complete article below.

The logical follow-up question is whether a non-English speaking person is an American citizen. Although Republican leadership in Ohio passed a voting reform law, it was repealed by the legislature itself after the Democrats threatened a referendum.
According to the Ohio Secretary of State’s web site, someone wanting to vote early in Ohio must supply one of the following in writing on the absentee ballot form, whether voting early by mail or in person: an Ohio driver’s license number; the last four digits of the social security number; or a copy of a current and valid photo identification, military identification, or a current — within the last 12 months — utility bill, including cell phone bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows the person’s name and address in addition to the voter registration acknowledgement.

The voter is not required to show the driver’s license or social security card, but must merely write it on the absentee ballot request form. While the individual would be required to show a utility bill, bank statement or other printed document if he or she chooses that option, this is in lieu of writing the driver’s license or social security number.

Therefore, the information cannot be checked against the Bureau of Motor Vehicles or other state databases.Essentially, a person is asked to check a box stating that they are a citizen, and the poll worker is to trust that they are the person who is listed on the item being shown or the information being written.
In other words, someone can be an illegal resident of the state of Ohio and the United States, get an apartment, turn on the heat, bring in the Columbia Gas bill, register to vote by the deadline, and vote by showing that same bill. There is then no verification that this individual is a citizen of the United States.

[X-spurt]

Again, I don't buy your claim or your “un-named” data and graphs.

I KNOW that I could get equal insurance coverage from pure private insurance for less than I pay out of pocket now for Part B, Part D, Part D co-pays and MediGap insurance to fill in the missing pieces with Medicare.

I do not argue that Medicare is not bureaucratic costs top heavy and wasteful. I do not agree that my use of Medicare is some gift from the taxpayers, its simply SOP government waste and ineffeciency. My portion was paid through years of taxes before retiring and now my out of pocket insurance expenses.

Any overage paid by Medicare Part A is due to a non-public alliance between medicare and hospitals and doctors by significant overbilling. Any hospitalization is played like a Stradivarius with any doctor within range submitting his bill and hospital doing unnecessary expensive testing all to get around the Medicare limitations. For instance, I just got recent Medicare statement that showed flu vaccination at Pulmonologist's office for $82 vaccine and $25 for giving the shot (I was already paying for an doctor's office visit on another issue) and Medicare paid it without a blink, because they are all in on the deal.

[kabar]

Again, I don't buy your claim or your “un-named” data and graphs.

Read the 2012 Trustees Report and you will see where the revenue for Medicare comes from and how it compares to benefits paid out. I am not making this stuff up.

Here is the article and graph on contributions versus benefits over a lifetime. There are links in the article to the various studies and other data.

I do not argue that Medicare is not bureaucratic costs top heavy and wasteful. I do not agree that my use of Medicare is some gift from the taxpayers, its simply SOP government waste and inefficiency. My portion was paid through years of taxes before retiring and now my out of pocket insurance expenses.

This isn't about you. We cannot afford Medicare as it is currently structured. It will bankrupt the country. It is consuming the non-entitlement portion of the budget at an alarming rate. Obamacare is supposed to reduce reimbursements to hospitals and doctors by 31% starting next year. I doubt that will happen so the situation will actually become worse fiscally. Medicare Part A has been running in the red since 2008. Supposedly, Obamacare will extend the life of the program until 2024 until it starts having to reduce benefits. If the reductions don't happen, then Medicare Part A (HI Trust Fund) will exhaust all of its IOUs much sooner. Here is what the Trustees said:

"The HI fund again fails the test of short-range financial adequacy, as projected assets are already below one year's projected expenditures and are expected to continue declining. The fund also continues to fail the long-range test of close actuarial balance.The Trustees project that the HI Trust Fund will pay out more in hospital benefits and other expenditures than it receives in income in all future years, as it has since 2008. The projected date of HI Trust Fund exhaustion is 2024, the same date projected in last year's report, at which time dedicated revenues would be sufficient to pay 87 percent of HI costs. The Trustees project that the share of HI expenditures that can be financed with HI dedicated revenues will decline slowly to 67 percent in 2045, and then rise slowly until it reaches 69 percent in 2086. The HI 75-year actuarial imbalance amounts to 36 percent of tax receipts or 26 percent of program cost. "

I KNOW that I could get equal insurance coverage from pure private insurance for less than I pay out of pocket now for Part B, Part D, Part D co-pays and MediGap insurance to fill in the missing pieces with Medicare.

Then do it. I doubt you could given your age and whatever your medical history might be. You could have elected not to opt for Medicare Parts B and D.

Any overage paid by Medicare Part A is due to a non-public alliance between medicare and hospitals and doctors by significant overbilling. Any hospitalization is played like a Stradivarius with any doctor within range submitting his bill and hospital doing unnecessary expensive testing all to get around the Medicare limitations. For instance, I just got recent Medicare statement that showed flu vaccination at Pulmonologist's office for $82 vaccine and $25 for giving the shot (I was already paying for an doctor's office visit on another issue) and Medicare paid it without a blink, because they are all in on the deal.

12% of doctors don't accept Medicare patients now because the reimbursement rates are too low. If Obamacare reduces payments to doctors and hospitals by 31% starting next year, then the number of doctors not accepting new Medicare patients will increase even more. 40% of doctors don't accept Medicaid patients now. More people may be insured, but access will be more difficult.

In any event, read the Trustees Report for 2012 and you may learn something. Unfortunately, we have too many low information voters who don't understand how Medicare works and what dire straits we are in. They will learn soon enough.

[WOSG]

60% of people under 30 voted Obama.
70% of Latinos voted Obama.
single women voted Obama 2 to 1.
And of course Obama won the folks who dont go to church and make under $50,000.

SO ... figure out how to get young poor single latino women who don’t go to church to vote Republican, and we’ll be a majority party again.

Ideas?

[WOSG]

What he says is true.

Medicare part D has ‘worked’ as intended. Policy-wise, its not bad.

Except ... it grew the government and did NOT help the GOP politically. ALl the Dems did was move to the next target.

Just like with ANY issue, if you agree with a lib on A,B and C, they move on to crazier ideas X, Y and Z and demand you do those.

By growing the base for govt dependency, Bush aided the Dems not the GOP. Immigration reform will do the same.

[WOSG]

Photo of SOMALIANS brought to Ohio voting stations by the busload, 95% of whom did not speak English, and told to vote for Obama, straight Dem ticket- Here

‘Human Events’, report pollwatcher eyewitness to busload of Somalians at Ohio poll, spoke no English, told to vote Obama Here “

If its that easy WHY THE HECK NOT TELL THEM TO VOTE REPUBLICAN!

[WOSG]

“Oh really? WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Kosovo, Nicaragua, Bosnia, Libya, and now Syria were all propitiated by Republicans?”

OF COURSE NOT!

Dole got into hot water in 1996 stating truthfully that Democrats got us into every major war of the 20th century.

But try explaining that to short-attention-span 20 year olds who dont know real American history and were indoctrinated by some exhippie teacher guy who calls all Republicans warmongers.

[patriot08]

Reports were that there were no Republicans there to speak their language and instruct them.