President Obama proposes to cut subsidies in Medicare and Medicaid to insurance and pharmaceutical companies and to use this money, along with additional tax revenue on upper income families, to finance health care reform. The subhead of the front page Washington Post article discussing this policy describes this proposal and others in the budget as an "ideological swing." It is not clear what ideology is being attacked. These industries used their money to hire lobbyists to get money from the government. If the Post means that President Obama is attacking the ideology that powerful corporations should be able to get taxpayer dollars then the subhead is correct. Otherwise, it has no obvious meaning.
--Dean Baker
