Ryan Panics over Gingrich "social engineering" comment, public opposition!

When Rep. Paul Ryan loses his cool, a funny thing happens; he starts saying incredibly dumb things. The side of Ryan we normally see is a guy who uses carefully tested terminology to conceal his real intentions. How many times have you screamed at the TV when he promises retirees his Medicare changes won't effect those 55 and older, as if that were the issue, and as if the young won't need the same coverage when they're seniors. For example, in the clip below provided by Ed Schultz, Ryan makes this bizarre statement:

Ryan: "Our budget also gets get health care spending under control, by empowering Americans to fight back against sky rocketing costs." 

This pits individual purchasers, like an 80 year old senior, against the largess of insurance providers. Imagine a company giving in to the demands of a retiree, threating to go elsewhere if they don't control skyrocketing costs. Ryan is making that claim.

The dumbest and most revealing comment was this one:

Ryan: "...Our plan is to give seniors the power to deny business to inefficient providers." (big applause)

What do patients know? Will we rely on our own fears or depend on a marketing flyer from a provider that says they're the best with the lowest price? John Nichols also responds:



If you've ever had to see a doctor, you know just how really removed Ryan is from the system in place now (I'm a recovering hypochondriac). This is an "imagined" system he so desperately wants to change for pure ideological reasons. This is the free market flaw. Will heart surgeons compete with each other while the patient is being prepped in the emergency room or surgery center? Will providers consolidate  and control all prices?

We don't go out and buy health care, like a consumer product, we seek it when we desperately need it.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Ryan flips his pessimistic fear message around, the one where Medicare disappears and goes broke, leaving seniors with nothing, in the following convoluted statement:

jsonline: Ryan … raised the prospect of a "shared scarcity mentality" inflicting untold hurt on Americans …

"Shared scarcity represents a deeply pessimistic vision for the future of this country - one in which we all pay more and we all get less. I believe it would leave us with a nation that is less prosperous and less free," said Ryan.

He's describing his own pessimistic vision and plan that makes seniors pay more for less.