In case anyone is becoming discombobulated by the latest antics of the Hate Talk Express, I'd like to pour a little cold water on your worries. Yesterday, John McCain's campaign said he'd cut (I think he meant "Gut") Medicare in order to pay for his health care "plan", which purportedly would pull a few million out of the ranks of the uninsured (Obama's plan will cover upwards of thirty million). Of course it's BS (he has no plan) but his campaign was stupid enough to say this, so, in the immortal words of Alec Guiness, "It's a Gift." Diaried by dansac here, in case you missed it:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
McCain will claim he can find the trillion or so he needs by cutting Medicare "waste" and bureaucracy. There are 45 million people receiving Medicare this year. Not one of them is going to buy the argument that there is a trillion dollars of fat to be cut. Rather, these folks believe what they see. And what they see is their portfolios shrinking to nothingness. The Dow has dropped 1100 points in 3 days. That is all their hopes, all their dreams, all their plans for their children and grandchildren, disappearing before their eyes.
The vanishing of decent pensions have forced most retirees to rely on their investments and the value of their homes. The vast majority of those folks approaching retirement have in the last week seen their life's savings and their shiny, gleaming hopes for a tranquil and comfortable retirement explode in their faces, leaving them staring into a very dark and unsettling abyss. Their home values have already plummeted. Any investments not in fixed securities are being shredded. And bonds are being threatened as well. Three (3)% of our GDP currently goes to Medicare coverage of about 45 million people (in 2080 it'll be 11% GDP but that's another story). The idea that McClown would threaten Medicare, the literal lifeline to the one constituency that still provides him some measure of respect, is beyond comprehension. 45 million people. Now that is a voting bloc. They are feeling raw and ripped off. And they're looking for someone to blame.
Tonight those people aren't going to want to hear about Mr. Ayers, or Mr. Wright. They're going to want to hear how each candidate plans to pull us out of this economic nightmare. And they are ready to blame someone for causing it, too. They're not going to want to hear about terrorists, or Sarah Palin. They're freaking out--literally Freaking Out.
Obama has the chance tonight, if he chooses to take it, to drive a wooden stake through the heart of the Republican Party not just for this election cycle, but for many. many years to come. He will probably choose to play it safe, and secure his moorings to the victory he is approaching, but there has never been a better opportunity to place the blame exactly where it belongs, on the shoulders of the Republican Party whose economic philosophy led to this debacle. It will be interesting to see how far he takes it, but McCain's Medicare gaffe seems like a perfect pitch for Obama to whack this election and the Republican Party out of the park for good.