Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Ms. Maud Instructs





I am working on the cartoon, but until it is done, a few cogitations on Ms. Biddle's salient points.

Let us begin with the most important articles of faith, i.e. #12 (see previous post):  Medicare and Social Security are about to go bankrupt and can only be saved by Paul Ryan, his Coupon Care and the Republicans efforts to slash these programs down to a splintered shadow of their former selves.

There are different ways of knowing, and we can do the citing of references, examination of numbers, but my understanding, which is based on what I have read from the Congressional Budget office and from what Mr. Biden, Mr. Obama and virtually all the Democrats (but, significantly, not from a single Republican) is this:  Medicare is actually quite healthy. It is in great shape until at least 2030. The Republicans, Mr. Ryan in particular, have tried to rumor it into a fatal illness, but none of the scientists can find anything to indicate poor health. It seems robust and hale and hearty at nearly 50 years of age.

Social Security has been in similar robust good health, and in fact it's main problem has been it's very prosperity, such that all it's friends, relatives and neighbors have been borrowing from it at a prodigious rate, which has diminished Social Securities own account over the years.

The standard line from the Tea Party Republicans is that the numbers don't lie: There will be fewer and fewer young healthy, working people coming along to pay into the program which supports that big part of the population, the baby boomers now entering retirement. But, contrary to what the Republicans say, the demographic does not mean the Social Security program is or will be in the foreseeable future, in financial  dire straights. Enough people have paid into it for long enough, it's doing just fine.

I did make a cartoon about this, with Paul Ryan pushing the head of the dolphin under water so he can claim it's drowning. 


Oh, we have to save Flipper. He's drowning!


But nobody commented on it, so I guess it didn't make the point.

Mad Dog must admit, he has not gone over the numbers recently. He is guilty of what Rush and Sean and Paul and Glenn are guilty of--simply repeating something heard because you want to believe it--a la Karl Rove--a sort of math that makes you feel better. 

Mad Dog will endeavor to bring some references to bear on this point.



2 comments:

  1. Mad Dog,
    Happy Thanksgiving. I like the pictures you dug up of Kathy Bates-I imagine our Sally older but equally as menacing..
    Your Ryan and the dolphin cartoon couldn't make it's point any better-it's really great. It's funny and ironic and so aptly captures the absurdity of rescuing something that doesn't need rescue using a method that wouldn't work. The illustration of Ryan is perfect from his bulging biceps to his creepy Eddie Munster hairline-I've thought this every time I've seen it but I guess I never said it-sorry.
    Hope you have a nice, froth free holiday Mad Dog...
    Maud

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  2. Maud,

    Smelling the turkey baking. We do indeed, have much to be thankful for. Imagine if Mr. Romney and Ryan and all those who sail with them were celebrating today.
    Yuck.

    Mad Dog

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