Marco Rubio was simply awful this morning on Meet the Press. His contradictions and factual distortions are just another indication that Republicans are only serious about ideology, not actual solutions.
Let’s start with his Medicare claims:
Well, it would take three things. Number one is, Medicare as we know it goes bankrupt, so it can't not--you know, you can't sustain it the way it is. I mean, anytime--anywhere between five and the next 12 years, Medicare as we know it will go bankrupt…
Uh no. According to the Medicare Trustees, the new healthcare law extended the core program’s solvency by 12 years, all the way to 2029.
The ACA makes significant progress toward making Medicare financially viable. But while it is projected that the Medicare HI Trust Fund is adequately financed until 2029, and the Social Security OASI and DI Trust Funds are adequately financed until 2040 and 2018, respectively, the significant longer term financial imbalances of the programs still need to be addressed.
Never let a little thing like facts get in the way of a good fear campaign. (Somebody correct me if the Trustees have revised this projection).
Now, let’s see if there’s anything coherent in what Rubio has to say generally. According to the senator:
And all the people that are out there attacking the Ryan plan, my question is, "Where is your plan? Introduce your plan. Because if your plan is to keep Medicare the way it is, then your plan is bankruptcy, and that doesn't work for anybody."
So Democrats have no plan to cut Medicare spending – got it.
But then:
The Ryan plan doesn't cut Medicare. Actually, it increases funding in it. And the only people in this town that have voted to cut Medicare are the people that supported Obamacare, that cut half a trillion dollars over the next 10 years out of Medicare and is using it to fund a healthcare experiment somewhere outside of Medicare. The only people in this town that have voted to cut Medicare spending are the people who voted in favor of Obamacare. That's a fact. And so the truth is the people...
Oh, so Democrats have cut Medicare spending to control costs and stave off “bankruptcy”.
So either Obama and Democrats have no plan to deal with Medicare, OR they’re the only ones who have actually voted a plan into law to address the issue. Jeesh.
My hope is that Florida voters see this guy as a pawn in the ideological movement to privatize Medicare.
He also said some stupid shit about the debt ceiling, but I’m too tired to get into that.