You are using an outdated browser.
Please upgrade your browser
and improve your visit to our site.

The GOP Game Plan On Entitlements?

National Review editor Rich Lowry does not share the prevailing bravado on the right about cutting Medicare and Social Security:

House Republicans are all-in entitlements, as Bob Costa and Andrew Stiles detailed in their piece yesterday. This is principled and brave (just like the intellectual godfather of this effort, Paul Ryan). We’ll have to see how it plays politically. The public opposes cuts in Social Security and Medicare, and most Republicans did nothing to signal on the campaign trail that they’d do anything to touch them — in fact, most of them ran against Obama’s Medicare cuts.

He's probably correct about this. Here, then, is his proposed solution:

The best course would probably be to put off Social Security for now (doesn’t get you much over the next 10 years, and is absolutely radioactive unless Republicans get bi-partisan cover); get a start on Medicare reforms (by repealing Obama’s cuts and then getting no more than the same dollar amount in more market-oriented ways — defusing the charge that they are “gutting” Medicare); and to be bold on Medicaid (a big contributor to the fiscal mess in the states and an issue where they can get support from governors).

I think Republicans will end up following this advice, so it's worth unpacking what Lowry means. Putting off Social Security is straightforward. On Medicare, Lowry proposes repealing Obama's Medicare cuts. Then he says to match those with different cuts, but in a more "market-oriented" fashion. I'm not sure what he means here. Since "market-oriented" Medicare benefits consistently cost the government more money -- they funnel profits through a private middleman but deliver no efficiencies -- I'm guessing this means repeating the Bush-era policy of chanting "free market" over and over so as to dismiss the budgetary costs.

And then "be bold" on Medicaid means cutting health care benefits for poor people. Since they don't vote for the GOP anyway, it's not exactly bold. But it would allow Republicans to say they attacked "entitlements." Yup, cut the cheap program for the poor, expand the popular program for the middle-class, wave it away with some privatization voodoo rhetoric -- I think that's the ticket.

Logo

Independent journalism matters

×

Ads help fund our journalism. Please disable your ad blocker so that we can continue striving to be the most influential magazine in Washington, D.C., with our breaking news coverage, in-depth political features, and much more.

Continue without disabling

Choose your Ad Blocker

  • Adblock Plus
  • Adblock
  • Adguard
  • Ad Remover
  • Brave
  • Ghostery
  • uBlock Origin
  • uBlock
  • UltraBlock
  • Other
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock Plus icon
  2. Click the large blue toggle for this website
  3. Click refresh
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock icon
  2. Under "Pause on this site" click "Always"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Adguard icon
  2. Click on the large green toggle for this website
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ad Remover icon
  2. Click "Disable on This Website"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the orange lion icon
  2. Click the toggle on the top right, shifting from "Up" to "Down"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ghostery icon
  2. Click the "Anti-Tracking" shield so it says "Off"
  3. Click the "Ad-Blocking" stop sign so it says "Off"
  4. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock Origin icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the UltraBlock icon
  2. Check the "Disable UltraBlock" checkbox
  1. Please disable your Ad Blocker
  2. Disable any DNS blocking tools such as AdGuardDNS or NextDNS

If the prompt is still appearing, please disable any tools or services you are using that block internet ads (e.g. DNS Servers).