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Opinions/Editorials Title: Tea Party Drowning In Sea Of Hypocrisy I'm done trying to hack through the tea party thicket of self-contradiction, self-delusion and self-serving positions. My last straw is Rand Paul, a tea party favorite and now Republican nominee for senator from Kentucky. What damns Paul wasn't the flap over his views on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Presumably, Paul isn't a racist. He's just a privileged white guy -- a doctor and son of 11-term congressman Ron Paul. What makes Rand Paul so exasperating is his crashing hypocrisy on Medicare. The hero to the cause of smaller government and balanced budgets vows not to touch Medicare -- the biggest and fastest-growing expense on the federal balance sheet. Rand's compromised stance reflects the political necessity of keeping the tea party people happy. The group is heavy with older folk, who have carefully drawn a line of self-interest around the king of government entitlements, Medicare. Similar stories: * Tea partiers defy expectations Tea partiers defy expectations I attended the tea party movement's Tax Day rally near the White House in the way that Mick Jagger in an old Rolling Stones tune "went down to the demonstration to get my fair share of abuse." If you judge the movement by much of its news coverage, I am what the tea partiers are supposed to hate. I am black. I work in what Rush Limbaugh calls the "lame-stream media." I don't think President Obama's health care overhaul is a "government takeover" of health care. Yet I am happy to report I was not abused, unless you count the whiny voice of Victoria Jackson, a former "Saturday Night Live" cast member now trying to be the tea party movement's Lady Gaga. * Daunting task hits budget agency Daunting task hits budget agency Unable or unwilling to do it himself, President Obama this week launches a bipartisan commission that's charged with finding a way to slash the government's skyrocketing budget deficits. The easy part? Everyone agrees that something has to be done. The hard part? Agreeing on what to do. Tax the rich? That appeals to liberals, but Obama's already pushed through or proposed more than $1.1 trillion in tax increases over the next decade, many on those who make more than $200,000 a year. Getting more will be difficult. * Tea party candidate is Nevada hopeful on the rise Tea party candidate is Nevada hopeful on the rise Sharron Angle wants to wipe out Social Security, shutter the Education Department and return to the days almost a century ago when the federal income tax was unconstitutional. A tea party conservative testing the limits of anti-government sentiment, she's also the Republican on the rise in an unpredictable race to pick an opponent for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a top Democrat in Washington who's in trouble at home. What's more, she is evidently the Republican whom Reid would like most to run against. Witness a costly television campaign financed by the majority leader's backers to erode the support of the shaky Republican front-runner, Sue Lowden. * House passes health reform House passes health reform Summoned to success by President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled Congress approved historic legislation Sunday night extending health care to tens of millions of uninsured Americans and cracking down on insurance company abuses, a climactic chapter in the century-long quest for near universal coverage. Widely viewed as dead two months ago, the Senate-passed bill cleared the House on a 219-212 vote. Republicans were unanimous in opposition, joined by 34 dissident Democrats. Obama watched the vote in the White House's Roosevelt Room with Vice President Joe Biden and about 40 staff aides. When the long sought 216th vote came in - the magic number needed for passage - the room burst into applause and hugs. An exultant president exchanged a high-five with his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. * Reform weighs on firms Reform weighs on firms The health care overhaul will cost U.S. companies as much as $14 billion this year and make them more likely to drop prescription drug coverage for retirees because of a change in how the government subsidizes those benefits. In the first two days after the law was signed, three major companies - Deere & Co., Caterpillar Inc. and Valero Energy - said they expect to take a total hit of $265 million to account for smaller tax deductions in the future. With more than 3,500 companies now getting the tax break as an incentive to keep providing coverage, others are almost certain to announce similar cost increases in the weeks ahead as they sort out the impact of the change. Here's a sample view from a leader of the Rhode Island tea party: "We understand that the federal government cannot take $500 billion out of Medicare and provide the same medical services to our elderly, all the while offering health care to 30 million new people, without a vast increase in the number of providers, the imposition of massive new taxes and/or the rationing of care." The new health care legislation does not cut a single guaranteed Medicare benefit. It actually expands the offerings to include screening services and closing the drug-benefit doughnut hole. The savings are from ending overpayments to the private Medicare Advantage plans. As for "the massive new taxes," would the tea party folk please tell us where they are? The public should note that money for the new health care legislation is honestly allocated. That can't be said of the Republicans' 2003 Medicare drug benefit Our tea party spokeswoman goes on to claim that, in any case, "we paid" for Medicare. Oh, really? It happens that Medicare payroll taxes provide 40 percent of the program's funding and premiums another 12 percent. The remaining 39 percent comes from general revenues (mostly income taxes). Much of the payroll and income taxes are borne by people who won't live long enough to collect benefits themselves. Today's young taxpayers will never see the level of benefits that they are now subsidizing. What is the extent of the support? A typical couple retiring in 2020 will have paid about $100,000 in lifetime Medicare taxes but will receive $500,000 in scheduled Medicare benefits. This is according to C. Eugene Steuerle, a tax policy expert at the Urban Institute. I asked Steuerle about the income taxes that many Medicare beneficiaries paid and continue to pay. He responded that "given the large deficits we're running and the benefit level relative to previous or current tax levels, there's still no doubt that current generations are being subsidized by future generations." My question to the tea party's lovers of liberty: If you really think you've paid for Medicare and hate big government, why don't you demand that this expensive program be ended?
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...you are a fool.
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