If you've been wondering why Michael Steele is no longer chairman of the Republican National Committee — and I don't know how that could be a question in anybody's mind — catch this week's Real Time with Bill Maher. First, you have to question the wisdom of any Conservative who even goes on Real Time with Bill Maher. Secondly, Steele didn't have a clue how to answer a pretty simple, fundamental question.
The Republican plan for Medicare is to turn it into a voucher system where seniors get a voucher for $15,000 to spend in a private insurance marketplace that doesn't like to accept high-risk cases or very old people. So what happens if $15,000 isn't sufficient, as it won't be in most cases, to cover someone's medical needs? Steele's answer was basically, "Well, we'll figure that out later."
I'm not sure what a better answer to the question would have been but there's got to be a better one than that.
I suspect that an honest one would have been that either some people will do without vital medical care and/or that the voucher amounts will be considerably raised, more than wiping out whatever this plan is supposed to save us. I wouldn't have expected Steele to say that, either…but there has to be a better answer than no answer.