Disappointed

Robert Anderson grimaced.  The next to the last thing in the world Bob (name changed) wanted to do was to defend The Path To Prosperity, Paul Ryan’s new budget.  The very last thing would be to defend or even to agree with the Democrats and the President.  This was going to be a difficult meeting for Bob. 

I would describe Bob as a Conservative, right-wing Republican.  He prefers Constitutionalist.  He voted for Mitt Romney because he is a realist.  A vote for anyone else last November was really a vote for Obama, but it was not a vote cast with pride.  Paul Ryan was a welcome addition to the ticket.  Bob had touted Ryan as the country’s future for years and he felt validated when the Congressman was chosen for the number two slot.  That was last year.  Now, March 2013, Bob was going to take crap from his friends in the middle and the left. 

Paul Ryan’s budgets have always been more about politics than numbers.  These are budgets designed for the campaign trail.  No Ryan budget has ever had a chance of passage in the Senate.  No Ryan budget could be signed by a president, especially this President.  All of that is understood in advance.  But this time Ryan went too far. 

How far?  When FOX calls out a Republican, he has officially jumped the shark. 

Mr. Ryan’s new budget assumes the repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).  Oh sure, he retains much of the savings and revenues from ‘Obamacare” and the tax changes of the last year.  He just dumps the benefits.  It is as if the last election and the two long years of campaigning never happened. 

Robert Anderson – business owner, Constitutionalist, American – was totally frustrated.  He has taken the time to meet with our elected officials.  He has explained the significant flaws in the legislation to members of both parties.  But Robert, unlike Congressman Ryan, understands how doing nothing, how letting this law be enacted without needed modifications, will hurt his business.  Republicans voting for the repeal of the PPACA are Republicans voting for the legislation’s enactment in its current form. 

So Bob Anderson is now forced to agree with Dave Cunix, centrist Democrat.  Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans want the PPACA to succeed.  The Republicans won’t help to modify it because they want to be completely uninvolved.  The PPACA is the key to unlimited campaign financing.  The Democrats will use the failure of the PPACA to welcome a Single-Payer system. 

The insurance companies who will be selling supplemental policies and taking care of the administration of this future Medicare-like program are cheering from the sidelines.  Bob Anderson may be disappointed in Paul Ryan’s budget, but the politicians, left and right, are quite content.

DAVE