We thought that House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryans attempt to reform Medicare had struck a fatal blow against the third rail mentality in Washington -- that cultural defect whereby politicians run in terror from anything new no matter how necessary it is.
Unfortunately we are being proven wrong -- not by voters and not by Democrats Mediscare tactics but by Republicans who are going wobbly distancing themselves from Ryan in search of a political advantage. Given the dire need for Medicare reform these Republicans are imperiling the nations future to say nothing of the GOPs political fortunes.
Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich provided the first sound bite for Democrats 2012 ads when he denounced Ryans plan as radical and right-wing social engineering. From the opposite end of the spectrum Sen. Rand Paul R-Ky. criticized Ryans plan for spending too much even though it may be Medicares only hope for long-term sustainability.
Then came
Sen. Scott Brown R-Mass. a rising moderate star in the GOP. Brown wrote in a Politico op-ed that he will vote no on Ryans plan and instead wants a plan that protects those who have been counting on the current system their entire adult lives and that gradually phases in changes to give our future seniors enough years to adjust to the new normal.
Of the three mens criticisms Browns are the most disappointing. They sound less like genuine objections than excuses for a no vote that Brown believes to be politically expedient. Ryans plan does everything Brown demands: It gives the next generation of retirees a decade to prepare for changes. It also protects senior citizens from grave threats buried in the current system.
Last Fridays report from Medicares actuary shows that doctors are refusing to see Medicare patients because of the programs low reimbursement rates which are about to be cut again in 2012. Ryans is the only plan on the table that eliminates this threat while simultaneously preventing the programs insolvency. It raises doctor reimbursements for those currently on Medicare and then establishes a system for future retirees with sustainable promises that will attract doctors rather than driving them away.
If Republicans want to leave President Obama in office and return to the minority in both houses of Congress they can follow the example of Gingrich Paul and Brown. When an innovative idea is proposed use it to your political advantage. First attack it preferably with a circular firing squad. Then run away and distance yourself from it. Then go out for drinks on Capitol Hill and ask your colleagues why nothing ever gets fixed in Washington.
