[quote name='mykevermin']That's the thing, though, as you point out: by being appropriated by the Tea Party, it's already been eaten alive by mainstream Republican politics. Shouting and braying and screaming about socialism and whatever else is far more exciting than thoughtfully considering that Medicare Part D was wholly favored by Republicans and 100% deficit financed, yet the health care reform they spent all year stalling and assailing (largely on grounds of fiscal irresponsibility) brings $0 to the deficit, based on CBO analysis.[/QUOTE]
You bet your ass they're scheming like hell to co-opt the tea party movement; a recent poll found that more people would vote for a generic "Tea Party" candidate than a Republican one, which has to be alarming to the Republican establishment.
While you are absolutely correct about Medicare Part D, which was all about GOP electioneering and was grossly irresponsible on its face, you're wrong about the current health-care bills. The only way they reduce the deficit or are deficit-neutral is through fantasy accounting techniques, some of them more farcical than Enron's. These techniques begin with counting five years of expenses versus 10 years of revenues, then continue on with unbelievable assumptions that Congress will cut $500 billion from Medicare, take things like the doc fix off the books because it would break the bank, and then various other methods of disguising the true cost of a bill that will ensure (1) not everyone will be covered; and (2) premiums will increase faster than previously expected.
off, I'll listen. Until then, they're faux-libertarian trash that doesn't actually want freedom, just power.