During Chris Wallace's interview with Eric Cantor on Fox News Sunday, Cantor did the very best job he could to pretend that the Paul Ryan Path to Poverty won't seriously jeopardize the health of millions of Americans. And he even went as far as to suggest a lot of people receiving Medicaid and Medicare "don't need it."
CANTOR: We are in a situation where we have a safety net in place in this country for people who frankly don’t need one. We have to focus on making sure we have a safety net for those who need it.
WALLACE: The Medicaid people — you’re going to cut that by $750 billion.
CANTOR: The Medicaid reductions are off the baseline. so what we’re saying is allow states to have the flexibility to deal with their populations, their indigent populations and the healthcare needs the way they know how to deal with them. Not to impose some mandate from a bureaucrat in Washington.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly certain that everyone who qualifies for Medicaid qualifies because they need it. Otherwise they wouldn't qualify. That's the whole point of the program. Likewise, everyone who is on Medicare needs Medicare because they are 65 years of age or older. Who then are the people Cantor refers to when he says they "don't need it?"
Have we simply traded "welfare queens" for "healthcare queens?"
Next thing you know, the Republicans will claim that there are people using food stamps who "don't need it." Oh wait, they already did that.
via ThinkProgress