Mitch McConnell tries to clear Paul Ryan's

Medicare plan out of his throat on FNS



CHRIS WALLACE: What do you think of the Ryan plan on Medicare? MITCH McCONNELL: Well, what Paul has done here is implement a premium support proposal at the end of the period, which is a very sensible way to go to try to save Medicare. ... What Paul Ryan would do is to empower grandma in the private market, to shop and get the best possible deal.

Mitch McConnell describes the GOP's plan to end Medicare as we know it on Fox News Sunday:

I'm sure that's exactly what grandma wants. She's going to be is absolutely thrilled that the GOP plan to save Medicare means getting rid of Medicare. And she's going to love that if Republicans have their way, she'll get vouchers to cover part of the cost of the overpriced plans private insurers are going to end up offering to seniors.

Even McConnell seems to understand that this is a turd of a message —he called the idea sensible, but danced around whether he really supports it and he won't encourage his GOP colleagues in the Senate to back it.

But he still can't bring himself to admit the fundamental difference between Democrats and Republicans on Medicare. Both parties agree that over the long-term, Medicare represents a fiscal problem.

The difference is that Democrats believe the solution is to address the cost of health care on a systemic level. Ultimately that means things like the public option and not covering health-related services that don't improve the health care outcomes, but maintaining Medicare as a provider of health coverage.

Republicans believe that the problem with Medicare is that over time it will end up costing the government too much money. Their solution is to shift the burden of that cost from the federal government to individuals. We'd still have overpriced health care, except now it would be up to individuals to figure out how to deal with it.

Basically, it's free market fundamentalism vs. the New Deal. And if the fundamentalists win, that won't good news for grandma, no matter what Mitch McConnell says.