President Joe Biden is traveling the country after his State of the Union Address to promote the policy initiatives in his speech, including upholding Social Security and Medicare.
During the speech, Biden tricked Republicans into booing over his allegations that members of his party want to kill the beloved programs. During the last election, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) proposed that all programs, even Social Security and Medicare would sunset every five years unless lawmakers voted to uphold them. It was a proposal that was quickly shot down by Senate Minority Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
Now Republicans are trying to flip the script and claim that really it was Biden who wanted to slash the programs, Politico Playbook said on Wednesday.
Rep. Steve Daines (R-MT) claimed that Biden, not Republicans, was the one “proposing Medicare Advantage cuts.” Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) ranted too, calling the claim "a gross political lie." He too cited the Medicare Advantage program issue.
IN OTHER NEWS: Sarah Sanders roasted by hometown paper for 'word salad' SOTU response
In Sept. 2022, Biden announced those on Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D would see lower premiums in 2023.
“Today we’re delivering on our commitment to reduce health care costs for Americans, including 64 million people with Medicare,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Thanks to President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, millions of Medicare enrollees will have lower prescription drug costs and improved benefits when they sign up this year. We will continue working to strengthen Medicare to ensure everyone gets the high-quality, affordable care they deserve.”
Medicare Advantage dropped to just $18 a month. It's more than a $1.50 reduction since 2022, said the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
What Biden did propose is audits of insurance companies offering Medicare Advantage programs who are being overpaid.
"Studies and audits have identified billions of dollars of excess payments to health plans that weren't supported by patients' medical records, but federal officials in the past backed off many repayment demands," reported Axios last month.
“Auditing plans and recouping funds puts money back in the Medicare trust funds when big insurance companies get caught taking advantage of the Medicare program,” Politico cited a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services. “This is about good governance and holding our senior’s health care to the standard they deserve; indications otherwise are incorrect.”
Still, Republicans argue that somehow this is the Democrats attempting to kill the program.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' response to President Joe Biden's State of the Union Address was roundly slammed by Austin Bailey in an editorial for the Arkansas Times published on Wednesday.
"Ted Cruz and Marjorie Taylor Greene might not have liked it much, but President Joe Biden exceeded expectations with his State of the Union address. Hecklers tried but failed to knock him off his game. His signature empathy infused the hour-plus speech, and at the end there was little doubt this 80-year-old man isn’t done yet," wrote Bailey. "As the celebratory afterparty rolled on in the U.S. House chamber, Gov. Sarah Sanders commandeered TV screens to darken the mood. Excerpts her office shared earlier in the day hinted Sanders’ speech would include her standard snarling about wokeness and the radical left. No surprises there."
Among other things, Sanders claimed that a "woke mob" was taking over the United States, and under Biden, "we must partake in their rituals, salute their flags and worship their false idols." She even claimed that when Trump was president, she sort of felt like she was in the military, when she wasn't.
The speech, wrote Bailey, was "a word salad of talking points and name calling, with some attempts at folksy relatability thrown in," that was "light on policy, heavy on menace."
IN OTHER NEWS: 'The white trash in the Republican Party is just staggering': Southern Dem strategist on 'rude' GOP
Bailey also criticized Sanders for claiming that Democrats started the culture wars when she "[launched a] skirmish against transgender people unprovoked," for championing the bravery of the Little Rock Nine while touting a school voucher program "all but guaranteed to worsen segregation in Arkansas schools along racial and socioeconomic lines," and for blaming Biden for drug crises around the country when "suffering families didn’t seem to bother her before."
Sanders' speech has been largely panned around the country, with MSNBC's Joe Scarborough calling it "dystopian," and Lincoln Project co-founder Steve Schmidt accusing her of "abusing" America.
Former Democratic strategist and infamous southerner bashed Republicans for their behavior during the State of the Union Address on Tuesday calling them "white trash."
"Well, you know, I told people I have a PhD in white trashology, you saw real white trash on display," said Carville speaking to MSNBC's Ari Melber. "Let me say something about congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), she dresses like white trash. She really needs a fashion consultant. I recommend George Santos. He could do a good job of dressing up where she doesn't announce her white trashdom by her own clothes."
Greene was attempting to dress like a white balloon but that appeared to be lost on most Americans who don't follow her on Twitter. The bash by Carville is reminiscent of conservative Matt Lewis who wrote in the Daily Beast that Trump would never have Greene as his VP because she was too "low rent" for his high style. Republicans who spoke to Raw Story were displeased with Greene's behavior at the speech.
"First of all, their lust for cutting Social Security and Medicare is well documented," Carville said about the GOP. "Newt Gingrich shut the government down and got defeated in the end. We know that George W. Bush tried to privatize Social Security and Medicare. we know when Paul Ryan was Speaker and John Boehner — they did everything they could to cut Social Security and Medicare. We know that that is their objective."
IN OTHER NEWS: Jamie Raskin drops the hammer on Republicans after their Oversight hearing turns up 'absolutely nothing'
He went on to say that there was a South Dakota congressman saying that people must come together to make such cuts.
"President Joe Biden is 1000% right on this, and he's right to press ahead, and I thought he had a great night last night," Carville continued. "It's just -- the level of white trashdom in the Republican Party is staggering. I mean, for somebody that has observed it for a long time, like I have, I've never seen it manifest itself on a level that it's manifesting itself."
He went on to say that Republicans were stupid to fall for something so amateurish.
"When something like this happens, how could we be this lucky?" Carville asked. "How could they just walk right into it, right? I mean, oh, my God. They did it. And I know -- I'm positive [the White House staff] were hoping for this reaction, but they'd have been satisfied with half of it, but they just went and walked right into the trap. And Kevin McCarthy, who is not white trash, he's just white Jell-O, he knew what happened."
Carville went on to cite people like Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) who similarly shouted and made a scene in the past State of the Union Address.
"You cannot do anything to have low-quality people — Lauren Boebert met her husband when -- allegedly according to the police report, exposed himself to her at a bowling alley," said Carville. "This is not made-up stuff. This is who they are! And even McCarthy, as gutless and spineless as he is, knew that they walked right into the trap. It's unbelievable."
Melber noted that ahead of the speech, McCarthy was telling the press that he was going to be civil and he wouldn't stoop to the level of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who tore up Trump's speech copy. In the end, however, he ended up being seen on camera whispering "shhhh" to his caucus.
Melber cited the House of Lords in the U.K., which tends to be raucous and takes pride in its grumbling. He wondered if this was the introduction to the United States becoming that level of politics.
"You know, usually I'm pretty pessimistic about the state of American politics, and to some extent the State of American culture, but I thought this was illuminating," said Carville. "Come on, this was entertaining, man. You know, if you like entertainment, you know, you couldn't see this and let them expose themselves, if you will, Lauren Boebert's husband, to see just how trashy these people are. How rude they are. How ill-mannered they are. And you don't get to see this very often at this level. And you really got to see it last night at this level. I'm a big believer that, you know, the state of the union, I mean, no one cares. It doesn't change anything. I don't know what it all changed last night, but it was vastly and enormously entertaining to me."
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James Carville on White Trash GOP www.youtube.com
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