Disqus - Latest Comments for jane

Re: Is McCain-Land Calling Kristol An Obama Supporter?

jane — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:24:40 -0000

McCain Health Care Plan:

The Wall Street Journal is out with a story that has a far large implication for millions of Americans, if John McCain is elected. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Sen. McCain’s senior policy adviser, said Senator McCain would pay for his health plan with major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid, a move that independent analysts estimate could result an average cut of $1.3 billion a year in to the government Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Analyses by the non-partisan Tax Policy Center and Urban Institute Health Policy Center regarding the measure found that the McCain health care plan would “dramatically change how many Americans obtain health insurance coverage, make coverage less accessible for those with health problems, have a high budget cost but have little effect on the number of uninsured.” Surely, there are ways to make the programs more efficient. But a cut that large would most likely affect those currently covered by the programs. If this is the case, the McCain campaign should be more open in discussing or explaining what are its real intentions especially, to those who mostly depend on Medicare and Medicaid programs for health care - - the elderly, chronically ill, disabled and those with below poverty level income.

Re: Letter: Palin a clear winner in veep debate

jane — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:08:42 -0000

Do Seniors’ Deserve This?

While the cost of living has quadrupled, the group of people most negatively affected group in the society is the seniors, who are on fixed income. And some of us who had managed to invest in stocks and lived on interest incomes during the boom years in the mid to late 1980s have just witnessed the major evaporation of savings we made over our life time disappear in a span of weeks. We not only lost the interest income but the principle amounts as well. Surprisingly, it does not appear that this down slope of our standard of living would soon improve. On Sunday, I could not believe listening to statements by Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Sen. McCain's senior policy adviser that if elected, Senator McCain intends to reduce medicare and medicaid spending to offset tax cuts to pay for his proposed health plan. He further elaborated by saying that the savings would come from eliminating or reforming payment policies to lower the overall cost of medicare and medicaid. In addition, he will increase medicare premiums for the wealthier seniors.

On Tuesday October 7, 2008 while in Pensacola, FL the VP candidate attempted to explain the matter but made it worse. She said that if her ticket was victorious they would give every middle class American family a 5,000 dollar tax credit to pay for health care. But, she did reiterate that their administration would impose a spending freeze on government that would cover all, but the most vital functions, “We have to do this. You know, we’re in a hole. What do you do when you’re in a hole? You don’t want to be there. You stop digging.” The more I listen to these candidates the more I get distressed that the ills of this generation are being pushed to its seniors or passed to the future generation - our grand kids.

Re: McCain Helped Keating Friend in ‘05

jane — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:52:49 -0000

Re: Collateral Damage

jane — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:26:43 -0000

Battleground States Endorsement
Over the last few days, Democrat Barack Obama racked up a bevy of newspaper endorsements from battleground states that, as much as they praised him, soured on Republican John McCain.
"We believe the person best equipped by temperament and intellect to firmly grasp the reins of government and guide it safely forward in these uncertain times is Barack Obama," said the Toledo Blade. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch opined that Obama "has emerged as the only truly transformative candidate in the race. In the crucible that is a presidential campaign, his intellect, his temperament and equanimity under pressure consistently have been impressive. He has surrounded himself with smart, capable advisers who have helped him refine thorough, nuanced policy positions.
"Meanwhile, Mr. McCain, the senior senator from Arizona, became the incredible shrinking man," the Post-Dispatch added. "He shrank from his principled stands in favor of a humane immigration policy. He shrank from his universal condemnation of torture and his condemnation of the politics of smear. He even shrank from his own campaign slogan, 'County First,' by selecting the least qualified running mate since Arthur Sewall in 1896."
The Dayton Daily News complained that "Sen. McCain's campaign has been as disappointing as his move toward party orthodoxy. He has run a relentless stream of commercials that have been discredited by nonpartisan fact-checkers. He has articulated no vision for the country other than to suggest that it should believe in him as an individual, as a war hero of independent judgment. His selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate was stunning. Sen. Obama is the more promising leader. With his agile mind, often pitch-perfect judgment and preternatural calm and self-confidence, he seems built for the job of sorting through this thing, if anybody can." The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the State Journal in Madison, Wisconsin, were among other papers backing Obama.