Thursday, May 26, 2011

On Medicare, The Left Hand Doesn’t Know What the Far Left Hand Is Doing

Just one day after Bill Clinton publicly argued that Democrats need to propose reforms to Medicare, the New York Times published an editorial agreeing with the former President:

Democrats cannot expect to build their entire 2012 campaign around attacking the Ryan plan….Sooner or later, Democrats will have to admit that Medicare cannot keep running as it is – its medical costs are running out of control, and a recent report showed its trust fund running out of money in 2024, five years earlier than expected.  Bill Clinton was right on Wednesday to warn his party that it must bring down those costs if it is to have any credibility on the deficit and the economy….At some point in the next year, Democrats will have to do better than [attacking Republicans]….It might require, as Mr. Clinton put it, giving up some short-term political gain, but voters might also appreciate a dose of honesty and realism in their political diet.

Recall that last December, President Obama defended the tax relief compromise on the grounds that he couldn’t just appeal to the liberal base: “The New York Times editorial page does not permeate across all of America.”  Apparently however, the New York Times editorial page has not yet permeated in Washington when it comes to Medicare, as the desire for “short-term political gain” has resulted in the lack of a plan from Democrats in Congress.

President Obama has released a “plan” – or at least a version of one in press release form – that centers around giving even greater power to a board of unelected bureaucrats.  But even here, blogger Ezra Klein asks why the President “doesn’t empower the board to experiment with…any form of cost sharing.”  Here again, a liberal has questioned whether and why Democrats – in this case, the White House – are being so timid, failing even to contemplate the thought of an increase in Medicare co-payments, quite possibly for the same political reasons the New York Times outlined.

Meanwhile, Moveon.org is calling to “take Medicare cuts off the table,” and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee believes “these popular programs should be taken firmly off the table” – positions that would lead to Medicare becoming insolvent in as little as nine years.

To sum up:  Even liberal opinion leaders like the New York Times and the Washington Post have criticized Democrats for “leading from behind” when it comes to Medicare reform – failing to put forward bold and specific ideas.  Will they finally come forward and propose constructive solutions to America’s entitlement crisis, or indulge their desire for “short-term political gain” by appealing to their far-left activist base?