[lbo-talk] re: neocon economists

[Max B. Sawicky]

The Bush budget increased M&M.  The trick here is to
gull people -- or bribe state officials -- by providing
some extra money along with structural changes that
promise to wreck the program later.  As Marta says,
for Medicaid the change is block granting.  For
Medicare, it's incentives for people to get into
HMO arrangements, out of traditional fee for service.

So just looking for spending cuts doesn't tell you where
all the skullduggery is going on.

mbs

-----Original Message-----
From: lbo-talk-admin at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-admin at lbo-talk.org]On
Behalf Of Marta Russell
Sent: Monday, April 21, 2003 2:04 AM
To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
Subject: [lbo-talk] re: neocon economists


>
>Well the connection is that sooner or later after the imperial war
>fires dim these same elitist policy jerks are going to turn their
>attention back to the economic domestic front and start bombing the
>social welfare rubble.
>

There is already a cluster of bombs in the budget.
Mostly the target is poor people's programs, not Medicare.  Its cuts 
to Medicaid, SSI, food stamps, Veterans services, to name the ones 
that come to mind. That is how it always starts -- don't hit the AARP 
until the poor are reamed.
Last I checked the congress passed a resolution to dump the $94 
billion cut to Medicaid BUT it looks like the deal was to block grant 
Medicaid (much like Gingrich tried to do) which will have the same 
effect because Medicaid would be capped.
Marta

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