My, What A Surprise!

(Editorial cartoon by Jim Morin / Miami Herald (March 18, 2013) and featured at McClatchy DC.)

Well, we've seen how the RNC report I posted on yesterday has been received by the Tea Party/CPAC faction of the Republican Party.  The basest base is clearly not going to roll over and die. Instead, it will indeed hold the knives against the throats of moderate Republicans. 

From the Los Angeles Times:

The austere House budget drafted by Rep. Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) that has come to define the Republican Party was approved Thursday on a strict party-line vote, as the GOP argues that a balanced budget should now be Washington’s top goal.

The blueprint is merely a proposal, without the force of law, but its overhaul of the Medicare program and steep reductions to other social safety net spending serves as the GOP’s opening salvo in renewed budget negotiations with President Obama. It was approved, 221 to 207, with no Democrats and 10 GOP defectors, largely conservatives or congressman in swing districts.

Republicans are anxious to reopen the debate over government spending with the White House even though some attribute the party’s setbacks in the November election to the plan from Ryan, the party’s former vice presidential nominee. ...

The centerpiece of the GOP plan would turn Medicare into a voucher-like program for the next generation of seniors, those younger than 55. When they become eligible, at age 65, those seniors will be offered a voucher that can be applied either to the purchase of private health insurance or toward the cost of Medicare, though the voucher may not cover all the costs of the policy chosen.

The Ryan budget also cuts Medicaid, the health program for the poor and seniors in nursing homes, as well as food stamps, welfare programs and student loans, while largely preserving money for defense accounts.   [Emphasis added]

Thankfully, the Ryan plan (version 2.2) is merely a proposal, but it does signal what the GOP in this Congress considers fair game for negotiation: the elders, the poor, the vulnerable.

People like me.

It's time for some "kingbirding."