If the Republicans were in charge

This never would have happened:

WASHINGTON - Medicare will go broke in eight years if nothing is done to fix it because of the tanking economy and rising health care costs, a new report warns...

The GOP used the dire news to pounce on President Obama for his "reckless borrowing and spending spree" that the White House hopes will bring the country out of recession.

"His policies are putting our kids and grandkids deeper" in the hole, said House minority leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).

I love the part about "if nothing is done to fix it," because it was just fixed a couple years ago. Not only was it fixed by the Republicans*, but this same Boehner who complains about reckless borrowing and spending voted for it. And it wasn't an accidental vote, Boehner marched around the country talking about how the GOP was going to fix Medicare once and for all, or at least for a long time. That was six short years ago.

The GOP knew then it was bad math and they knew it would fail catastrophically, but the GOP party structure wanted to give Bush a victory, one that would create a permanent GOP majority and cement Bush's legacy forever. Well, they got their victory.

I hope it was worth it.

* With several notable exceptions. Ron Paul is obviously one. Jim Ryun is another. A few weeks before the vote, Ryun told me privately about the tremendous pressure he was under to vote for this Bush-led initiative. That conversation was probably the biggest factor in my giving up once and for all on the GOP.