In a segment in which Bill O’Reilly wondered if he might be out of touch with “the pulse of the country,” he pretty much answered his own question in the affirmative as he suggested that Mitt Romney’s plan to privatize Medicare was just some kind of adjustment or modest reform.
The guest was George Stephanopoulos for a segment that Fox, ever eager to fan the flames of divisiveness, called “Ideological war raging in America.” Stephanopoulos said President Obama’s re-election was proof that “The country rejects any kind of radical transformation” of Social Security and Medicare. Stephanopoulos said, “They like Social Security. They like Medicare. They think those programs have made a difference. They think those programs have benefitted the country and I think every single election we’ve had in recent times have reinforced that ideal.”
Stephanopoulos argued that even Ronald Reagan did not want to radically transform Social Security or Medicare. The unspoken implication was that the current crop of Republicans do.
O’Reilly objected:
Romney didn’t do that. Romney didn’t say he was going to cut Medicare. All they want to do is basically privatize it for those who would voluntarily want to go into that track.
All they want to do? Other than ending the program altogether, it’s hard to think how Medicare could be more radically transformed than by privatizing it. And in fact, the Ryan-Romney plan was designed to end Medicare as we know it.
O’Reilly’s too smart not to know that, too. But losing Medicare is probably no biggie to those who live inside a 1% bubble.
Privatization of a popular plan such as Social Security is incredibly radical in that the vast majority of citizens like their SS just fine. However there are lots of investors who would love to get their hands on all that Social Security money. They could make a lot of money for themselves, and as they’ve proved in the recent past, the consumer could pay for the losses. Then the right wing would tell those who lost their money that they should have been more careful about their investments.
Hurricane Sandy has, in fact, awakened world-wide awareness of how incredibly vulnerable our so-called “modern” societies are. No power and the whole economy comes to a grinding halt.
“Water, education and health care are some of the things that should not be privatised without making sure people have a public service (aka non-profit) option. People without access to these things practically never enjoy the freedom to pursue other goals. "
Pardon me bemused: may I add electricity to this list? With the exception of Long Island, I’m sure there are LOTS of people on the northeastern seaboard of the U.S. who will agree with me, especially in light of the MASSIVE DEVASTATION caused by Hurricane Sandy. Kee in mind: over the last thirty years, lots of private power companies have been CUTTING CORNERS BIG TIME on upgrading and maintaining their grids, because remember: they have to satisfy their CBS (Constantly B***hing Stockholders) first — not their customers.
Water, education and health care are some of the things that should not be privatised without making sure people have a public service (aka non-profit) option. People without access to these things practically never enjoy the freedom to pursue other goals.
