Can somebody explain the current debate over the Ryan Budget?

Apparently, it's supposed to be some "bold" and "courageous" proposal but, thanks to a unified Democratic/progressive effort, it's become too politically toxic for Republican Senators to even consider voting for and most of the House Republicans are catching ten degrees of hell back in their own districts for having actually supported it.

Yet, all of the GOP Presidential candidates are basically being expected to swear a blood oath to support it- or face retribution from Rush Limbaugh and the teabaggers. Even a moderate like John Huntsman has declared his support for it and Newt Gingrich, one of the most vile members of the current group of GOP candidates, had to completely backtrack on his lack of support and enthusiasm for it.

Are the Republican Senators going to get some kind of "pass" from Limbaugh and the teabaggers if they don't vote for it? The way I see things, they're basically screwed big time, particularly those up for re-election next year (i.e. Snowe, Lugar). If they vote for the budget, it will alienate independents and moderates and could cost them the general election and if they don't vote for it, they are strengthening teabagger challenges and/or potentially demoralizing teabagger voter turnout.

It is my observation that the teabaggers have turned the Republican Party into one very chaotic and dysfunctional mess and have pretty much damned the Republican Party no matter what they do.

All I can say, is please pass the :popcorn:

going there informed and giving their reps shit. And when the reps came back at them with their B.S., they went back at them with the truth.

The reps were definitely surprised and so was I.

as a senior, i can say with absolute authority that a lot of people (now i'm NOT saying that about ANYONE on DU) seem to think that all seniors lose their ability to reason, become incapable of seeing BS, etc. for instance, have you ever heard, perhaps on a stupid TV drama, a nurse talk to an elderly person in that sing-songy, you-must-be-an-idiot voice? i'm starting to experience it in the checkout lines at the local grocery store. if i'm feeling particularly combative, i remind the little guy/girl that *i'm old but i'm not stupid.* all that said, it never surprised me that seniors tanked the reps at the town halls. hell -- a lot of the comments/questions were wonderfully thought out and really well presented. this is just my opinion.

the questions i have are:
1. will the repub catch-22 last? will some joker come up with something to distract *us*? used to be someone just started a war or something. :sarcasm:
2. will dems keep their feet to the fire (via messaging, although i think Wasserman-Schmidt (sp?) gets it)
3. will dems go over-the-top with ridicule/messaging that it could ultimately turns off independents? (there are still 18 months to go!) i thought the pushing-grandma-over-the-cliff ad was funny, but it was also pretty ghastly ...
4. now that mitch mcconnell has loosened the repub dog collar when it comes to the forced vote in senate, will it work to the repub advantage or help continue the catch-22?

my biggest fear is #3. Nov 2012 is a LONG WAY out, in US politics, that is.

they're counting on seniors being selfish, so they're telling them they're going to gut Medicare for future retirees.

My favorite thing I heard at a townhall was a senior responding to this tactic by asking, "so what do we tell future generations, to hell with you?" To which the GOP fuck had no answer.

:thumbsup:

and understood the *selfish* angle at the very beginning, but i just had to wonder if pulling the wool over the dithering old idiots' eyes was a part of it as well ...

n/t

The Rep. candidates debating each other will be something.

Oh Yeah. :popcorn:

would get a $8,000 (never increasing :mad:) yearly voucher for healthcare and end of life care, which will cover, what, maybe 20% of the costs? Every time a repub opens his/her mouth, my retirement slips away by a couple of more months . :eyes:

it's the voucher to buy "insurance" with that will cover nothing (in all likelihood). I'm only 60 and already I'm very impatient with looking over contracts etc. when comparison shopping. Hell, I was impatient with it in my 20's on up. So I can't see seniors wanting to sort through health plans to buy a plan that they can't afford with the vouchers and co-pays and would likely be more like the catastrophic policies that won't cover anything but major types of problems. Everything else that senior would have to pay for. That's IF they can even get a company to even cover them, since Ryan's plan also eliminates the Affordable Health care Act, pre-existing condition riders would be back.

The GOP presidential candidates have to face a primary. Candidates pander to the extremes in the primary and then shift toward the center in the General.

Lou

Whats the chance the GOP forget Bush the boob once had a +90% approval rating?

Hint: The chance is NONE! Bad news for us.

The GOP knows exactly what kind of electorate they are dealing with.

Don