Subtitle: All Ayn Rand’s Demon Spawn, All The Time!
Following on from Betty Cracker’s earlier post, and mistermix’s post below, I’d like to draw your attention to another potential killer for Romney’s campaign.
On more than one occasion in the past, Romney has suggested doing away with the Veterans Health Administration completely and replacing it with a voucher system. He wants to completely contract out the operations of the Veterans Benefits Administration and the National Cemetary Administration. At the time he made these suggestions in public back in November, it went over like a lead balloon and he dropped it quietly. There’s a reason why. The VA’s buracracy may be a royal pain the ass for Vets, but we loves us our socialized health care system. We love it so much, we consistently call it the best in the world.
Well, now Vets can say goodbye the the Veterans Administration and say hello to the Voucher Administration. Because there’s no better way to show Veterans that you honor them than cutting their benefits by 50% and shoving them out on the street so that you can give another tax cut to the wealth inheritors. And make no mistake. This WILL happen under a Ryan/Romney administration. And lets face it–the fact that Romney acceded to having Paul Ryan shoved down his throat to shore up relations with the base is every indication that Romney knows who’s in charge, and who will dictate policy to him. It’s a rehash of the Cheney regency all over again
lgerard
I prefer to call them “coupons”
it is more descriptive
Leadpipe
As long as he can hold a pen he’s the right choice for the ogliarchs.
Villago Delenda Est
Once again, Rethuglicans show their true attitude to those that they carelessly throw in harm’s way.
Soldiers, to them, are like kleenex tissue. To be used and thrown away.
Mitt Romney, draft dodging coward. Paul Ryan, never served. These are your Rethuglican nominees.
Any veteran who votes for these assholes deserves to be fucked over by them.
MattF
Hey, Alpo for everybody, not just grannies.
beltane
@lgerard: The Dems are going to have a field day at the convention with the Rmoney/Ryan “coupon books”. It will be a glorious thing to behold.
Valdivia
I like calling it GrouponEconomics.
JGabriel
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lgerard:
That was the reasoning the GOP used to come up with a voucher system: “It’ll be great, we’ll get tons of votes. Old people LOVE coupons!”
.
gnomedad
And then Zombie Reagan bursts out of his chest?
amk
sooner, but haven’t many vet orgs bought into mittbot’s ‘Obama is preventing the vets from voting in Ohio’ white lie ?
Davis X. Machina
I would temper any expectations about a mass revolt by older voters against the GOP.
That demo went GOP by 20 points in the mid-terms.
It went for McCain by 10, in a race McCain lost by 7.5
In 2008 the over-60 vote went to the candidate who wasn’t the ultimate winner for the first time in 40 years.
Voters are not reliable homines oeconomici. The white, working-class vote doesn’t behave that way, as been pointed out here countless times. The 60+ vote doesn’t — and won’t.
People volunteer to shoot themselves in the foot at the poll all the time. The Tories went to the country in the last general election in the UK and not only promised, up front, to do things expected in theory to make things worse, they had a track record of doing precisely those things before, when they did make things worse, and what is more, they did them within in the memory of most voters.
And they got within a Nick-Clegg’s-ego-length of the finish line.
We’re dealing here with a tranche of voters who want all change to STOP!. And then to be rolled back. And parties responsible for those changes to be punished. Who turn out to vote more reliably than any other demographic, by the way….
I think this pick has no lasting, detectable impact in the race… for either party.
fraught
You can’t be an Objectivist and a Catholic at the same time. If you claim to be, you’re lying about one or the other. Ayn Rand don’t like no liars.
Jennifer
More on the theme:
Romney’s the guy who robs you of your livelihood for personal profit; Ryan’s the guy who makes sure he doesn’t have to pay any taxes on the money he stole to support all you layabout parasites who aren’t working because Romney looted your company and shut it down.
Jennifer
Or to build on Obama’s theme:
Romneyhood/Friar FuckYou.
beltane
@Davis X. Machina: On the other hand I do know of several elderly Republicans who voted for Clinton in ’96 because they were terrified that Bob Dole was going to take away their Social Security. In this case, Ryan’s youth will also hurt him to a degree-he’s just the type of sleazy looking young thug who rubs old women (not men, alas) the wrong way.
Soonergrunt
@amk: Yes, they did. I blogged about that earlier in the week, here.
I wonder what they’ll say this week. I won’t be terribly suprised if most of them either downplay or ignore it. The leadership of the American Legion and the VFW are all Republican hacks.
mamayaga
With all the whooping and high-fiving, I haven’t seen any hard information on the one way this news could get better: does Wisconsin law require Ryan to now resign from Congress? Anybody know?
Jennifer
@Davis X. Machina: Yep, I gotta agree that the oldsters won’t abandon the GOP, for several reasons. The first is racial solidarity. The second is that seniors are no longer in the game. Most of them haven’t suffered as much in this depression as the rest of us – they were already retired, so they had no jobs to lose, they didn’t have to fear loss of health care from loss of a job, or worry about rising health care costs, a great many of them live in homes they had already paid off or were close to paying off, so foreclosure wasn’t a worry for them, while many of them took a hit in their investment portfolios in 2008, as of last year, those values had climbed back up to pre-crash levels, and in the meantime, they had guaranteed income in the way of social security checks coming in.
You’d think that a lot of them would be concerned about how pulling the plug on the goodies they’re getting would affect their children, but you’d be wrong. I’m not sure why they are so callous about their kids’ and grandkids’ futures, but perhaps it’s just that they know they’ll be dead soon so they won’t be around to see their offspring and descendents living in the poverty they voted for.
ExurbanMom
I like very much your turn of phrase: “wealth inheritors.” We need to use this much more often. I’m sick to death of hearing the phrase “job creators”–what a crock of shit that is.
SBJules
I’m a senior & like most get the aarp magazine and maiings & seniors WILL know what Ryan-Romney want to do.
maya
I can see the TV ad: Limousine pulls up at a stop light; elderly, homeless vet on the sidewalk with a shopping cart; window rolls down; voice inside limo, “Care for some Gray Coupon?”
Soonergrunt
@beltane: Yup. The only sleazier guy they could’ve gotten would have been Eric Cantor. He looks just like the guy that convinced the widow Mrs. Smith down the street to invest in that Christian business program and then absconded to Brazil with his mistress.
beltane
@maya: The voice from inside the limo would never offer the elderly homeless vet anything, not even a teaspoon of Gray Poupon. Instead, the thug in the limo would demand the homeless guy hand over his last crust of bread in order to provide a treat for his pet Pomeranian.
Soonergrunt
@mamayaga: IANAL, but I don’t think the states have any say in that matter. As a practical course, the US Constitution bars a person from serving in two branches at the same time.
I wonder if he’ll run for reelection concurrently in his district while running as VP. Nothing says “I don’t believe this ticket can win” like doing that, a la Joe Lieberman in 2004.
beltane
@Soonergrunt: Speaking of Cantor, he is already on the defensive swearing that no, Romney/Ryan really truly aren’t going to throw the elderly to the wolves. Honestly, scout’s honor, etc.
Amanda in the South Bay
I don’t talk to any veterans IRL, but from what I’ve read online in various forums, a lot of vets (and people currently in) come across as the quintessential low information voter. A lot of them are blaming Obama for the drawdowns and cuts. They seemed to have forgotten who they voted for from 2000-2004. Anyways, a good reminder why I highly compartmentalize that part of my life.
Davis X. Machina
@SBJules: They’ll vote for them anyways, and by just less than 10%. Which wouldn’t matter, except for this: The Only Chart in American Politics That Matters.
mamayaga
@Soonergrunt: I think there are states that prohibit running for two offices at the same time — that’s what would make it better. I’m not assuming Ryan will win.
JCT
@SBJules: And given the excellent approach so far by the Obama team in slapping Mittens around, the will be reminding the seniors of this EVERY day. Romney and Ryan will be on the defensive about this budget of theirs by the convention. And then they will start to lie about it fueling the next round of ads. Rinse and repeat.
The excellent medical care at the VA is one of the unsung turnarounds of the past 20 years (similar to Kaiser). When I was in med school no one wanted to clerk at the VA. Now, as an attending, it’s my favorite affiliate of my med center. My late father in law preferred going to the Bronx VA over a major Manhattan med center. I couldn’t fault his choice.
And Soonergrunt is correct – these soulless assholes would gut it without a concern in the world.
amk
@Soonergrunt: Thanks. Amazing after what this admin has been doing vets from day one, that many fall for the mitt crap.
Brian R.
On CNN, Erick Von Erick der Erickson just took his tie off in solidarity with Paul Ryan.
Funny, I remember when Obama did that on the campaign trail Republicans like him said it was a sign of how unserious he was.
Speaking of unserious, Wolf Screamer wants to talk wardrobe. What a fucking tool.
mamayaga
@Soonergrunt: Just found it: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/8/03
Unfortunately, WI makes an exception for presidential/vice presidential nominees, so we’ll still have Ryan to kick around after he and Mitt go down in flames.
dww44
@Jennifer: Good analysis. I’m actually one of the demographic you describe with the exception that we managed to avoid the 2008 wipe out of our 401-K’s (then in IRA Rollovers) because we had fortuitously gone to cash a year earlier. Politically, I’m also the exception, as All of my peers, relatives and friends, are sticking with the GOP playbook. They have been brainwashed into thinking that the social safety net is the problem when evidence to the contrary is all around them. They will remain GOP’ers for the rest of their born days.
We have to get minorities and the young to the polling booths in greater numbers and we need to join the Obama campaign’s ground game post-haste to achieve workarounds of the voter suppression efforts. Can’t wait on legislation and the courts. Simply not enough time.
Gypsy howell
@mamayaga:
Well, there’s always the hope that Obama does so much damage to Ryan that he can’t get re-elected in WI either.
That would be a fabulous two-fer
Gypsy howell
@mamayaga:
Well, there’s always the hope that Obama does so much damage to Ryan that he can’t get re-elected in WI either.
That would be a fabulous two-fer
Gypsy howell
@dww44:
I had a long conversation with my 20-something daughter about what will happen to her generation when mom and dad no longer have guaranteed healthcare, and the kids are stuck trying to figure out how to pay for daddy’s heart bypass and nursing home stay.
A.J.
Whether that will ever happen I do not know.
But I do know from personal experience with the federal government and the VA, that the VA is one of the most powerful institutions in Washington because it is the only federal agency that has its own constituents. Heck, the EMPLOYEES can easily thwart any VA cabinet Secretary and their department managers. All they have to do is drop a hint to the DoD, the VFW, the American Legion, and stand back as the tidal wave starts to roll over everything.
wmd
Perfect for countering the “Obama cut Veterans benefits” message I heard earlier this week. It just became a whole lot easier to say cuts are coming out of misplaced deficit concern that boiled over last year during the debt ceiling debacle.
We’ve got the leader of that debacle front and center.
Publius39
@gnomedad:
Ahhh!!!! Kill it! Kill it with fire!!!
Sammy
The thing is that no matter what Mittens plans to do to destroy the support structure for veterans, they will still floick to to poss to vote for the republicans.
Caren
Ryan has these dorkville dead eyes and an effiminate voice. Any pimply faced adolescent who flimsy on to Ayn Rand is a neurotic pervert.