Yesterday, I wrote that we should not "insult" Rep. Paul Ryan--but we should rip his scary, fraudulent budget to shreds with facts and a competing vision of America. So, to work: not that this would surprise anyone but Ryan's biggest contributor to his campaigns has been the insurance industry--including the health care part of the insurance industry, which has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans and made so many more ill but will see a huge windfall if Ryan's vision ever becomes law.
Here are the facts, via the Center for Responsive Politics: over his career, Ryan pocketed more than $672,000 from the insurance industry--including $48,650 from one of his top contributors, Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
His privatization scheme would generate billions of dollars in new profits for the health insurance industry--in the same way that the schemes to privatize Social Security would generate huge new profits for Wall Street firms.
This must have something to do with the really wacky concept that, according to Ryan, turning over Medicare to the private insurance industry makes sense because:
That gets rid of waste, increases productivity, and is better for the beneficiary.
Despite the fact that our system is so pervasively sick in large part because of the huge administrative costs and waste OF THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY, which spends billions of dollars to DENY PEOPLE COVERAGE. So, rather than actually solve the health care crisis by turning to a "Medicare for All" plan, the Ryan vision is to empower the very industry that has caused businesses to go under because they can't afford health care coverage...
Love that economics. Not to mention the moral dimension.
Don't forget: there is no debt or deficit crisis. None. Nada. Zilch.