Real Cuts vs Fake Cuts

With the deadline for the Super Committee fast approaching Tea Party Patriots have put together this little clip to explain real cuts vs fake cuts.  As witnessed in the fights over the Debt Ceiling increase and Continuing Resolutions, the definition of "spending cuts" is much different in D.C. than it is in the real world in which we live.

In D.C. a spending cut is defined as spending less than they were GOING to spend, in the real world a spending cut is defined as spending less than you ARE spending....

It’s as simple as that. So when the Super Committee (or any politician) comes out with a plan, look at the summary tables at the back of the plan, after it’s published. Look at the level of spending at the start of the timeline, and look at the level of spending at the end of the timeline (the timeline is usually ten years).  If the number they end up with is smaller than the number they started with, that’s a REAL CUT. If the number they end up with is bigger than the number they started with, that’s a fake cut, a.k.a. business as usual.  

Don’t allow the politicians to use gimmicks to lie to you. When you hear the inevitable outcry about Drastic Cuts® destroying the country, you first must look at the numbers and check to see if they increase or decrease.

Click Here for contact info on members of the Super Committee and tell them you want REAL cuts!

Contact the "Super Committee"

The “Super Committee” was formed as a condition to the “Debt Ceiling” debate, this past late-summer’s effort to increase federal spending authority for the president without really saying so. We believe it is an unconstitutional construct, but it is there and we have to deal with it.

This Super Committee, comprised of twelve Congressmen (six from each party; half from the House and half from the Senate) was tasked to reduce the deficit. If the Super Committee does not come to bi-partisan terms, and Congress fails to pass the recommendations they propose, automatic “cuts” kick in.

Democrats are looking to pass $1.3 trillion in tax increases, with a similar amount in cuts, over the next 10 years. As usual, especially with the likes of Sen. John Kerry and Sen. Patty Murray sitting on this Super Committee, the Democrats are pushing for more spending on top of the tax increases. The same game plan they have been preaching for the last 3 years.

For a good analysis on the Super Committee, see this from The Heritage Foundation.

It appears that those involved are NOT attempting to look for real cuts. And any cuts to Medicare/Medicaid will be overturned as soon as the next Congress convenes.

Republicans offer to cut deficits by about $2.2 trillion over a decade; about one-third of that coming from increases in items such as Medicare premiums, the sale of public lands and airport fees -- measures that increase government revenue without raising taxes. The GOP plan also assumes that tax reform would generate economic growth that would also lift revenues.

The GOP plan would also cut about $500 billion from Medicare over the next decade and $185 billion from Medicaid, officials said.

Democrats say that elsewhere in the budget they plan to reduce deficits by more than $3 trillion over the coming decade, while financing a $450 billion jobs bill along the lines that President Barack Obama is recommending. The same worthless “jobs bill” that was defeated in the Senate.

Tea Party Patriots has railed over the last 2 ½ years - Reduce the size of government; Slash spending and Repeal Obamacare - for trillions in savings!

Credit rating agencies, yet again, have stated emphatically that nothing less than $4 to $5 trillion in spending cuts will stem another downgrade in the U.S. credit rating... but, apparently, members of the Super Committee believe their half-baked ideas (that they know will be rejected) will lead to some sort of consensus (and maybe political gain) in 2012?

Write to the Super Committee - but don’t just stop there; e-mail, phone, fax, and tweet!

Click here for a direct link to the Super Committee website.

Whatever you can do - create a presence, from Tea Party Patriots groups all across the country!

The lobbyists are all there, waiting to add more dollars to Super Committee members’ campaign coffers! We have millions of members, enthusiastic Patriots who stand for their Country, NOT Party! Put pressure on them for: NO increase in ANY taxes, and CUT spending, PERIOD!

“Super Committee” Members

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) Committee Co-Chair
Twitter: @RepHensarling

Phone: 202-225-3484
Fax: 202-226-4888

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) Committee Co-Chair
Twitter: @PattyMurray

Phone: 202-224-2621
Fax: 202-224-0238
Toll Free: 866-481-9186

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
Twitter: @ChrisVanHollen

Phone: 202-225-5341
Fax: 202-225-0375

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
Twitter: @SenJonKyl

Phone: 202-224-4521
Fax: 202-224-2207

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)
Twitter: @JohnKerry

Phone: 202-224-2742

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA)
Twitter: @SenToomey

Phone: 202-224-4254
Fax: 202-228-0284

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)

Phone: 202-224-2651
Fax: 202-224-9412

Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH)
Twitter: @robportman

Phone: 202-224-3353

Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA)
Twitter: @RepBecerra

Phone: 202-225-6235

Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI)

Phone: 202-225-3561
Fax: 202-225-9679

Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC)
Twitter: @Clyburn

Phone: 202-225-3315
Fax: 202-225-2313

Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI)
Twitter: @RepFredUpton

Phone: 202-225-3761
Fax: 202-225-4986

Tweeting to the Super Committee, should have a # setup... Example below-

@RepHensarling #SuperCommittee – NO tax inc., CUT spending #tpp

@RepHensarling #SuperCommittee - Repeal Obamacare, Save $2T #tpp

Will the U.S. become a Medicaid Nation?

From NewsMax --

America is in danger of becoming a Medicaid nation. It will bankrupt our government, make private health plans unaffordable, and rob the elderly of the care they've been counting on.

The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction — the supercommittee — should repeal the vast expansion of Medicaid enacted just 18 months ago as part of President Barack Obama's health law. That brand new entitlement, not in effect yet, threatens the nation’s future solvency.

The Obama health law converted Medicaid from a safety net to a permanent health entitlement in place of private insurance. A decade from now, when the temporary surge in Medicare demand caused by the baby boom generation subsides, Medicaid will cost more than Medicare and continue to grow.

According to actuaries from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (Health Affairs, July 28), Medicaid spending will increase faster than Medicare spending even in the coming decade, and the two programs will cost about the same by 2020. That’s amazing, considering the wave of baby boomers entering Medicare.

Medicaid spending will top $900 billion in 2020 (state and federal funds) up from $343 billion in the last year of the George W. Bush administration. The Obama health law makes more people eligible and increases benefits.

The president promised to reduce the number of uninsured by making health plans more affordable. But twice as many of the uninsured will gain coverage by enrolling in Medicaid as in private health plans. The actuaries estimate that Medicaid enrollment will reach 75 million people in 2014.

In addition, the actuaries cautioned that some workers and their families will be forced into Medicaid, when large employers drop coverage and choose to pay the $2,000 penalty, a mere pittance compared with the expense of providing what the Obama health law deems “essential” coverage.

McKinsey & Co., management consultants, found that 30 to 50 percent of employers polled were considering dropping coverage in 2014; Towers Watson, another consulting firm, found 9 percent and Lockton Benefit Group reported 19 percent of its middle-market clients likely to drop coverage.

When employers stop providing insurance, workers with household incomes below 138 percent of poverty ($30,500 for a household of four) will qualify for Medicaid. The Medicaid rolls could swell beyond the actuaries’ already alarming predictions.

The more Medicaid is expanded, the more the costs are shifted onto private health plan premiums. Medicaid shortchanges hospitals and doctors, paying only about 86 cents for every dollar of care delivered. Doctors and hospitals make do by shifting the cost onto patients with private coverage, pushing up their premiums.

The 9 percent premium hike employers experienced this year is partly due to the increase in Medicaid rolls during the downturn. The cost shifting will get much worse in 2014.

To avert these unintended consequences, the Medicaid expansion should be repealed. The Supercommittee should target Medicaid, not Medicare.

Keep in mind that the Obama health law reduced future Medicare funding by over $500 billion, largely by slashing what hospitals and doctors will be paid to care for seniors. At that time, CMS Chief Actuary Richard Foster cautioned Congress that these cuts are so severe that some hospitals may be forced to stop accepting Medicare. Then the debt hike deal signed this Aug. 2 cut another 2 percent from payment rates to care for seniors.

Now the president’s deficit reduction proposal calls for a third round of reductions, this time by $248 billion, including even further reductions in what doctors and hospitals are paid to care for seniors.

The more Medicare reimbursement rates are cut, the less likely it is that doctors and hospitals can afford to provide hip replacements, bypass surgeries, cataract operations, and the other procedures that have transformed the experience of aging.

The president’s rhetoric makes him sound like a defender of the elderly. He threatened to “veto any bill that takes one dime from Medicare benefits seniors rely on without asking the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations to pay their fair share.”

But numbers tell the truth. The president is robbing Grandma to spread the wealth by radically expanding the Medicaid entitlement.

Democrats Backdoor Elderly to provide Healthcare for Illegal Immigrants

Just like they did in the Debt Ceiling fight, the Democrats in D.C. are stooping to their usual low and are again using scare tactics on the elderly. While ignoring the truth is something they do well, the calls for no cuts in Medicaid/Medicare spending by the Democrats in D.C. -- are NOT because of their concern over the elderly.

With the Supercommittee deadline fast approaching the Democrats in D.C. are playing both sides and coyly hiding behind their calls for no cuts in Medicare/Medicaid, or any other social services for the matter. 

In fact, and truth be told -- they do not want any cuts in Medicaid/Medicare not because it will hurt the elderly, but because these cuts may negatively impact their plans for Community Health Centers that will serve illegal immigrants...

From NewsMax --

Again we see the left pulling the emotional heartstrings and victimizing the elderly by using scare  tactics to

The culture war is moving from when life begins to how it should end. Like a drum beat, supporters of the Obama agenda are protesting that the elderly are consuming too many health resources, and their care needs to be cut back.

The current target of this unrelenting campaign against the elderly is the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, which is charged with devising a plan to reduce federal deficit spending by Nov. 23.

Among those calling for less care for seniors is H. Gilbert Welch of Dartmouth Medical College.

“If you were hoping to play the ‘death panel’ card, now’s your chance,” Welch says to his critics. “But don’t play it and then pretend you care about the budget.”

That brazen statement — pitting grandma's well-being against the nation's fiscal health — is a false choice. Future federal healthcare spending can be significantly reduced by repealing the expansion of Medicaid and the billions poured into medical and interpreter services for illegal immigrants under the Obama health law before these provisions go into effect.

The Obama health law, enacted 18 months ago, raided Medicare to fund new entitlements for low-income groups — in essence, robbing grandma to spread the wealth.

The law reduces future funding for Medicare by $575 billion over 10 years, and applies most of it ($410 billion) to increase Medicaid enrollment and benefits. The Obama health law transforms Medicaid from a temporary safety net to a permanent alternative to private health insurance.

Medicaid spending will top $900 billion in 2020 (state and federal funds), costing about the same as Medicare. That’s amazing considering the wave of baby boomers entering Medicare in this decade.

In addition to expanding Medicaid, and contrary to the president's promise, the new law allocates billions of dollars to expand services largely for illegal immigrants, including $11 billion for community health centers serving those ineligible for Medicaid. Why should grandma's care be cut to free up resources for lawbreakers?

This year the Department of Health and Human Services announced an Action Plan to increase spending on “promotores” or “trusted local people to serve as community health workers” and software for people with limited English to enroll in government programs.

Cuts to Medicare are not about reducing federal spending. They are about redistributing healthcare. More...

You ask what are these Community Health Centers? The Department of Health & Human Services at the future expense of Medicaid/Medicare for the elderly just funded 67 of them for an initial cost of $28.8 million...

From CNSNews -- (Emphasis Added)

Even if (when) the U.S. Supreme Court rules Obamacare to be Unconstitutional, the ruling will have a hard time defunding programs such as these. The elected elite in D.C.will just look for other ways to continue funding for these Obamacare-born Community Health Centers at the expense of the elderly in this country for the benefit of illegal immigrants.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Tuesday that it has awarded $28.8 million to 67 community health centers with funds from the Obamacare health reform law.

Of that $28.8 million, "approximately $8.5 million will be used by 25 New Access Point awardees to target services to migrant and seasonal farm workers," Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Spokeswoman Judy Andrews told CNSNews.com. HRSA is a part of HHS.

Andrews said that grant recipients will not check the immigration status of people seeking services.

“Health centers do not, as a matter of routine practice, ask about or collect data on citizenship or other matters not related to the treatment needs of the patients seeking health services at the center,” Andrews said.

Further, the grant recipients are required to serve "all residents" who walk through their doors.

“The Program’s authorizing statute does not affirmatively address immigration status,” said Andrews. “Rather, it simply states that health centers are required to provide primary health care to all residents of the health center's service area without regard for ability to pay.”

These Obamacare disbursements seem to contradict a claim President Obama famously made in a nationally televised speech to a joint session of Congress on Sept. 9, 2009.

“The reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally,” Obama said then. More...

Super Committee will hold Public Meeting on Discretionary Spending

According to Senator Max Baucus, the Super Committee will be holding at least one public meeting and it will address discretionary spending. Also, that no final decisions will be made behind closed doors.

From USA Today --

The joint deficit reduction congressional committee will hold one, maybe two, public meetings next week, and no decisions are being made behind closed doors, Sen. Max Baucus, a member of the committee, said Wednesday.

The Montana Democrat said the first meeting will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday and will cover discretionary spending, those parts of the federal budget that are not mandated, such as Medicare and Social Security.

The meetings have been closed thus far to prevent interest groups from influencing members, he said.

"We're really going to keep all of this to ourselves. Once a proposal gets up to the public domain interest groups will jump all over it -- it makes things difficult," Baucus said.

No votes or final decisions will be made behind closed doors, said Baucus, who promised to open up Congress when first elected to the U.S. House in 1974.

"There were decisions made by members of the House and Senate in that Congress that were made not in public and that's wrong. This is different. All votes and all decisions will be made in public," Baucus said.

While it is good they are negotiating privately to keep the discussions focused, that no public input has been taken to formulate their 'great compromise' is suspect.  It smells more like the typical "we know what's best" elite establishment attitude of D.C.

Newt Gingrich offers up probably the best description on the Super Committee...

"If you want to understand how totally broken Washington is, look at this entire model of a [deficit] supercommitte, which has now got a magic number to achieve and if it doesn't achieve the magic number then we'll all have to shoot ourselves in the head. So when they come back with a dumb idea to merely cut off our right leg, we will all be grateful that they are only semi-stupid instead of being totally stupid." – Newt Gingrich

Most likely we will see a "plan" that is fiscally unappetizing to most and then, like the debt ceiling / default fraud, we will be told we must take it or we face imminent doom.