Give Paul Ryan credit

In general, seniors vote Republicans and poor people don?t. So the easy play for Paul Ryan was clear: limit the entitlement-reform portion of his budget to slashing Medicaid. Then he could say he was taking a first step on entitlements without enraging the GOP?s core supporters.

He didn?t do that. Ryan ? and the GOP ? are proposing to privatize Medicare. They?re proposing to save money by giving seniors less than their now-private Medicare will cost. They?re endorsing a plan that is the single least popular option for balancing the budget ? below raising the retirement age, cutting defense spending or raising taxes on the rich.

I have my problems with Ryan?s plan, and I?m sure I?ll be telling you about them at great length in the days to come. But since I would have been criticizing Ryan if he?d cut health care for poor people while exempting the programs that benefit everyone else, it?s only fair that I give him credit for doing what he promised and taking on entitlements despite the possible cost.

That said, the underlying political economy here remains dangerous for Medicaid: seniors are simply more powerful than poor people. So one potential outcome in these negotiations is that Medicare is saved but Medicaid is slashed. That?s not good enough, obviously.

Source: http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=6c66c2e144740664e6ada87215e75320

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