A conservative view on the Medicare bill

OK, so this bill does actually get poorer seniors a partial drug benefit, even if it only improves matters for about 15-20% of seniors at huge cost in bribes to the rest of the health care system, paid for by the taxpayer.

But what is “conservative” about stopping purchasers of drugs from bargaining for better pricing? Do conservatives believe that Walmart shouldn’t bargain for better pricing from its suppliers?

And then of course what is “conservative” about increasing the deficit to be paid for by younger taxpayers? A real conservative (called Maggie Thatcher in the UK) reduced taxation, eliminated the deficit and paid down the debt, and managed all that without dismantling the unversal coverage of the national health service. The fake “Conservatives” we endure in the US have a lot to learn.

Alan. Sorry, you have to parse my words more carefully. And my name’s not Bush so don’t accuse me of lying! (Grin)

I did NOT say Thatcher had improved the NHS (she actually did spend more money on it than the previous government as she claimed in the 1983 election, but it all went into court-mandated nursing salary increases in the early 1980s, and not into patient care, which as you say got more and more squeezed over the 1980s).

What she DID do was run a budget surplus and in 1987-8 the British government paid down some of national debt. And at the same time maintained the universal coverage/access system underlying the NHS–which is still freely available to all Brits and foreign residents. You may argue that the care they had coverage for/access to wasn’t as great as you might like, and you might also argue that the UK should spend more money on health. I’d agree with you. But I didn’t say she’d fixed that. (And by the way those problems are as old as the NHS which was set up in 1945!)

But for all her foibles Maggie did NOT borrow money from future generations and give it off in tax giveaways to the rich (she cut services and spending while she cut taxes for the rich and middle income people). Nor did she remove universal health coverage from the social contract. American “conservatives” just did the former with the 2 big Bush tax cuts and the $500bn increase in the deficit. They are now working on removing what little universal guaranteed coverage we do have (which is only for those over 65 or the very very poor now).

The Republicans in charge now are fake conservatives (or neo-cons). Love her or loathe her Thatcher was the real article