August 12, 2012 by David K. Sutton
Republican David Frum Scripts Democratic ‘Paul Ryan’ Attack Ad
David Frum, former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, pens an attack ad for Democrats in a short piece on The Daily Beast:
You’ve worked hard all your life. You’ve paid Medicare taxes for almost 30 years. But under the Republican plan, Medicare won’t be there for you. Instead of Medicare as it exists now, under the Republican plan you’ll get a voucher that will pay as little as half your Medicare costs when you turn 65—and as little as a quarter in your 80s. And all so that millionaires and billionaires can have a huge tax cut.
Frum is definitely no shill for the Republican Party and he proves it again with this piece. He appears to call it as he sees it, which often is in opposition to his own party. It’s refreshing to say the least.
The substance of his ‘Democratic attack ad’ is spot on. There is nothing false or exaggerated. The Paul Ryan Budget would end Medicare as we know it. Instead of lowering taxes for the rich from 35% to 25% (as Ryan’s budget would do) why don’t we instead raise taxes on those who can afford to pay higher taxes and work to improve the Affordable Care Act.
What we need is Medicare for all, not Medicare for none. Medicare for all would go a long way to fixing the program as it would turn the current high-risk insurance pool into a broad insurance pool that includes all Americans, young and old, sick and healthy. It would be one system that would greatly reduce administrative overhead. We either decide as a nation that we don’t want to leave people behind and that everyone deserves access to health care or we decide that we don’t care, and everyone needs to fend for themselves.