Going Both Ways

They really should get their stories straight.

Rush Limbaugh, who has been arguing that the tea party has proven it is powerful and awesome but that the GOP got taken to the cleaners in the debt agreement, is unimpressed by the cuts to the Medicare program if Congress fails to reduce the debt sufficiently and the triggers are pulled. On Thursday, he maintained

any purported Medicare slashing from the across the board $1.2 trillion in cuts if the vaunted super committee deadlocks, which it will, will be born again by providers. Remember I told you this yesterday, Snerdley. A lot of people overlooked this.

People just automatically assume Medicare cuts equals Medicare cuts to recipients. No, it's Medicare cuts to providers who are already facing reimbursements that barely make it worth staying in business. Now, remember this. 'Cause I have to point this out. The Wall Street Journal last week was cheering this deal. The Wall Street Journal last week was cheering this debt deal, and they were attacking conservatives like me and others, we were being called hobbits by the Wall Street Journal for opposing it.

Limbaugh proceeds to laud himself further, maintaining that The Wall Street Journal (only) now has realized that Medicare benefits themselves will not be cut, and that’s such a darn shame.

Over at the Republican National Committee website, however, they're singing a different tune. A blog pithily entitled "For The Record…It Was Obama Who Offered To Cut Hundreds Of Billions In Medicare During The Debt Debate," includes the headings

Obama Agreed To Medicare Cuts In Debt Ceiling Deal

Obama Put "Major Changes" To Medicare On the Table During Debt Ceiling Negotiations

Obama Said He Was Open To Mans Testing Medicare

Obama Admitted That The Democrats’ Do-Nothing Plan On Medicare Will Result In Medicare’s Bankruptcy

White House Senior Advisor David Plouffe Said Cuts In Medicare Are Necessary

Obama And Republicans “Were Not Apart At All On Medicare"

White House Official Claimed That Obama And The Republicans Were “Identical” On Medicare, Agreeing On “Eligibility, Cost-Sharing, Premiums, And Other Facets Of The Program"

"Other General Areas Of Agreement Included Extending The Payroll Tax, Extending Unemployment Benefits And Altering The Consumer Price Index On Social Security"

"Some Of The Figures Being Discussed Would Cut $150 Billion In Healthcare Provider Payments, Raise $150 Billion In Premiums And $125 Billion In Medicaid Reductions"

Top Senate Democrats Oppose Making Any Cuts To Medicare Because It Robs Democrats Opportunity To Demagogue Republicans On The Issue;

Democrats Frustrated With Potential Cuts To Medicare Because “Protecting Medicare And Social Security Was A Defining Democratic Value, And That Agreeing To Cuts Would Be A Gift To Republicans If Not Political Suicide “

This is a time-sensitive post. In moments, Rush Limbaugh's Friday program will begin. By now, the official GOP line probably has been pointed out to Limbaugh, whose Friday program is about to begin. It won't take him long to change his focus from "those evil Democrats are failing to cut those unproductive people on Medicare" to "those evil Democrats are cutting Medicare and killing granny."

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