"Medicare for the Win" - Josh Marshall, TPM - another important read

[NRaleighLiberal]

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/medicare-for-the-win

"If you know this site you know that social insurance is a big thing for me. Our public debate is so stunted on this front that you may not even know what I'm talking about. You may know them as 'entitlements', a term which is technically accurate but is usually used by those wanting to prune government spending. In any case, I'm talking particularly about Social Security and Medicare. I've been writing a lot about the latter in recent days for a very specific reason: Medicare is a hugely important and hugely successful social insurance program for tens of millions of Americans and Republicans aim to repeal it in about six to eight months using a mix of bamboozlement, word play and lies. When I say tens of millions I am speaking of current beneficiaries. But assuming the program is not abolished the overwhelming majority of us will be beneficiaries in the future. Less appreciated is the way Medicare protects money that goes to buying homes and raising children from being spent on the health care of indigent, bankrupted parents. These intergenerstional benefits are under-appreciated but profound. If Medicare is abolished in 2017 it will be a calamity.

But the politics of Medicare are also highly relevant to this political moment.

It's not an either/or. The policy and politics are entirely harnessed together. And preserving Medicare will yield political benefits which will allow Democrats to defeat other Trump/GOP initiatives that will do the country grievous harm.

Trump's election has sprung into overdrive a debate we've been having in the world of politics for more than a year: Is Trumpism largely about economic distress tied to globalization and neo-liberal economics or is it mainly driven by a white racial backlash against minorities Trump supporters believe are cutting to the front of the line in the race for economic preferment and cultural centrality? I largely put myself in the second camp. But as I think most people realize, these are not mutually exclusive explanations. And whichever side of the equation you come down on, what the Democrats need are issues that cut across the regional/racial/class divide we saw in the 2016 election.

Medicare does that."

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Marshall is doing some of the best reporting on this, and best elevation into public eyes....I find it really important to read his stuff on a daily basis, particularly on this issue.

[Stuart G]

1. k and r...nt