Gibson votes to kill Medicare - AGAIN

Isn't it just like a Republican to double down on failure? Faced with the loss of NY 26 and overwhelming poll numbers showing how much the American people hate the Ryan Budget and its Medicare-killing provisions, Chris Gibson cast a second vote to kill Medicare and raise health care costs for New York seniors.

But while Gibson is doubling down on the House Republican plan to end Medicare, he is still refusing to end taxpayer giveaways to Big Oil or tax breaks for millionaires. In a procedural move, Gibson voted to accept the House Republicans’ controversial budget which includes the Republican plan to end Medicare. Gibson’s plan is for millionaires to get a $100,000 tax break and seniors to get a $6,400 medical bill.

The move Gibson used to signal his unwavering support for big oil and millionaires and "let them eat cake" attitude toward the rest of us, was his support of a “deeming resolution” in H. Res. 287 which states “the provisions of House Concurrent Resolution 34 […] shall have force and effect […] in the House as though Congress has adopted such concurrent resolution”. [H. Res. 287, Vote #382, 6/1/11]


The result: millionaires get more than a $100,000 tax cut in GOP Budget, while seniors get a $6,400 medical bill. [Tax Policy Center via Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 4/20/11, 4/07/11]


Gibson voted to end Medicare by supporting the Republican budget. [H Con. Res. 34, Vote #277, 4/15/11]; opposed a measure that could have cut taxpayer subsidies to big oil when he voted to bypass consideration of the Big Oil Welfare Repeal Act of 2011 (H.R. 1689) which would repeal key taxpayer funded subsidies for oil and gas companies. As reported by The Hill newspaper, “House Democrats intend to force a vote on a measure that would eliminate a key oil industry tax break when Republicans bring a bill to expand domestic oil and-gas drilling to the floor Thursday.” [H Res 245, Vote #293, 5/05/11; The Hill, 5/04/11; CBS News, 5/04/11]

But it is not just us saying Gibson wants to kill Medicare. Read what others are saying:

• Wall Street Journal: The House Republican Budget for 2012 Would “Essentially End Medicare.” “The plan would essentially end Medicare, which now pays most of the health-care bills for 48 million elderly and disabled Americans, as a program that directly pays those bills.” [Wall Street Journal, 4/4/11
• Nonpartisan Congressional Research Service: Individuals Would Not Be Able to Enroll in Current Medicare Program. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) found that the Republican budget ends Medicare: “Individuals who become eligible (based either on age or disability) for Medicare in 2022 and later years would not be able to enroll in the current Medicare program. Instead, they would be given the option of enrolling in a private insurance plan through a newly established Medicare exchange.” [CRS Report, 4/13/11]
• NCPSSM: GOP Budget Plan Destroys Medicare and Cuts Social Security Benefits. Max Richtman, executive vice-president of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, said the Republican budget would destroy Medicare: “Over time, this will destroy the only health insurance program available to 47 million Americans.” [NCPSSM press release, 4/5/11]
  

Sadly, his supporters in NY 20 just don't get the implication, preferring to keep their heads buried in the sand, thinking Gibson is doing the right thing for his constituents. 

NY-20: Gibson rallies the tea party

Guest post: was taken from DailyKos where it originally appeared. It is posted here with the permission of the author, blogger devtob.

For a career Army officer, Republican Chris Gibson, who easily won NY-20 in 2010, has become a pretty good politician.

Though he was recruited for NY-20 by the GOP establishment, Gibson knows he has to keep the tea party radicals happy, even if he occasionally upsets them on sideshow issues like NPR funding.

So Wednesday evening, Gibson did a tele-town hall with tea party types, and it was a love fest.


There is a podcast-like recording of the conference call , though it apparently has been edited to remove the first few questions and a probable Gibson colloquoy with Bircher/tea party leader Spyder (the weird cut happens around 17:05, just after the thing really starts).

I wonder what that's about.

After the cut, Gibson is asked about Ron Paul's bill to audit the Federal Reserve.

Gibson said he was a cosponsor, adding:

"Ron Paul's becoming a friend, he's had me over for dinner, I go to his office to chat."

Gibson is not a Bircher, but he knows his small audience here, which generally supports the Bircher candidate for the GOP presidential nomination -- Ron Paul.

There was no explicit discussion of how Gibson voted to end Medicare, after saying he opposed vouchers during the campaign. Presumably none of the Bircher/tea partiers cared that Gibson lied, because they think Medicare is unconstitutional.

But Medicare did come up implicitly in a brief discussion of the NY-26 debacle for the House GOP.

Gibson offered banal talking points, rallying the troops, and never mentioning Medicare (at 27 to 28):

"Let me just say this, don't lose heart about what happened in NY-26.

Do not take counsel of your fears, there's a myriad of explanations. But at the end of the day, we go forward.

We've got the right plan, the only plan out there that meets the vision, we've got the only plan that is pro-growth and fiscally responsible, that's gonna put America back to work and begin to move us back towards a balanced budget, that pays down the debt over time.

Join me at the barricade, and this country will go forward."

When Gibson said "pro-growth and fiscally responsible," he slowed down and almost whispered.

Like a pro.

The dog whistle in that word salad is that Gibson wholeheartedly supports the radical Ryan Republican budget, which would eliminate Medicare, decimate Medicaid, cut taxes even more for the wealthy and corporations, and do little to reduce the deficit, let alone pay back the debt, for 10 years.

Bircher/tea partiers on the call surely heard the dog whistle, and presumably lapped it up.

In his farewell, Gibson said he would remain true to working for "job creation, deficit reduction and protection of freedoms."

Of course, no one asked what he had done for job creation, other than what Republicans always do, to little real effect -- cut taxes for the rich even more, while decrying the deficit and the debt largely caused by tax cuts.

And, in this instance, Gibson's vote to help needy billionaires had ZERO effect, since the radical Ryan Republican budget will not be enacted in this Congress.

Naturally, Gibson told his far-right base that he looks "forward to interacting" with them "as we go forward."

IMHO, Gibson will be tough to beat next year, in whatever district he gets after redistricting.

Sure, he's lying about Medicare, and speaking in inoffensive GOP cliches that mask the real Republican platform -- lower taxes for the rich and fewer services/programs for the non-rich.

But he's become an accomplished political liar, repeating Boehner talking points with Boy Scout conviction, and I fear that act will convince too many voters.

Another Gibson lie about Medicare

Rookie Rep.Chris Gibson voted to kill Medicare, and substitute a voucher program that will impoverish future seniors.

Gibson has dutifully lied that he voted to "preserve and protect" Medicare by killing it, and he has also lied, at every opportunity, that the Ryan/Boehner Republican plan to kill Medicare would have no impact on current (and some future) Medicare beneficiaries.

Gibson knows next to nothing about Medicare, and is only repeating Boehner/Ryan talking points on how to lie to his constituents.

Unlike Gibson, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.does know quite a bit about Medicare.

Also unlike Gibson, Sebelius is not a serial liar.

Sebelius noted today that the Ryan/Boehner Republican plan to kill Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act, will indeed affect current beneficiaries:

"The Affordable Care Act takes a huge step in closing the donut hole, 50 percent this year of the cost of drugs purchased in the coverage gap would disappear, and over time the whole coverage gap would disappear. Seniors now qualify for screenings -- cancer screenings, mammograms, a variety of preventive care without copays out of pocket. That would disappear."

So, current Medicare beneficiaries would pay a lot more for drugs and preventive care under the Ryan/Boehner Republican plan to kill Medicare.

But, naturally, seniors of limited means who rely on Medicaid and Medicare will suffer more -- that's the Republican way.

The Medicaid cuts in the Ryan/Boehner budget would affect poor seniors immediately, according to Sebelius:

"Medicaid cuts would start right away, so those seniors would be the first to be impacted. The voucher plan doesn't hit for 10 years, but not only do the new benefits for every senior go away, but the dually-qualified seniors -- the poorest, oldest, sickest seniors, who are often in nursing homes, would have their benefits cut immediately."

The Ryan/Boehner Republican budget that Gibson supports and lies 24/7 about will not become law, because there is a Democratic Senate and President, for now.

But Gibson's constituents must be reminded that he voted to kill Medicare via a voucher system he said he opposed during the campaign.

And that, coupled with his vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Gibson supports today's seniors paying a lot more for their health care.

Gibson will surely lie a lot more about his plan to kill Medicare, cripple Medicaid, and screw current and future seniors from now until Nov. 6, 2012.

He should be called on it every time.