President Obama marked the 50th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid in his weekly address, saying that Obamacare is "finishing the job" begun by Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. He also made the spurious claim that the two federal health care programs are not in crisis, and those who say they're in trouble are playing politics: According to Obama, those who say "Medicare and Medicaid are in crisis" are doing so as "a political excuse to cut their funding, privatize them, or phase them out entirely." He claimed that Obamacare proves it's possible to "make smart changes" to Medicare and Medicaid "over time" so that everyone can have access to "efficient, high-quality care." Anyone on Medicaid would be surprised to learn they are receiving "efficient, high quality care." That's because experts - including that bastion of right wing nuttery, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services -...(Read Full Post)