I've been saying, completely unqualified for any thing else.

The snake oil salesman sold trust in his product. Most people here wouldn't trust Mitt Romney with a nickel.

It was clear what his plan does and what the Romney/Ryan plan does. I hope that's the way it is done in ads addressing the outright lies of Romney and Ryan, it's clear, concise and easily understood, imo.

way of explaining the differences. I think his explanation is not hard for anyone to understand. I think he is just getting started on this and will continue to refine this message and hammer away at them.

political suicide.

After that decade, what happens? I think this creates an opening for R&R.

R&R can say that their plan "saves Medicare so it will still be there in a decade", that theirs is a long-range plan. A lie of course, but it can create doubt nonetheless.

Why don't the Dems come up with a plan and a rhetoric that creates really long term solvency for Medicare? All they have to do is go to universal single payer and raise taxes on the rich. But they won't say that.

At least quite saying "for a decade"--which is the blink of an eye and makes Medicare look very shaky.

That in no way means that Medicare will be dead in a decade. The reforms that were made extended the life of the program by as much as a decade because it shaved off unnecessary costs in the way of payments to insurance companies, hospitals, doctors and pharmaceutical companies. The DOJ have already gone after medicare fraud, doctors, hospitals etc overcharging for services. That was eating the system up.

You really should check out the link I provided in the OP. This does not create any opening for Romney or Ryan and their runaway R&R snakeoil railroad that will take America off a cliff.

Vigilant citizens must vote for democrats to reject that snake oil. Proponents of supply side economics are not fiscally conservative. Their hogwash plan actually increases the deficit because it doesn't cut wasteful military spending and it spends tons of money the government doesn't have on more tax cuts to billionaires and millionaires. The Ryan plan reduces the capital gains tax from 15% to 0. That's outrageous, radical, and NOT fiscally responsible. It's a reckless redistribution of wealth from the 98% to the top 2%. Anyone on the left who understands this and still doesn't vote - shame on you.

As a senior citizen on Medicare, without a single doubt, I can say that President Obama is exactly correct. My prescription medications have cost me out of pocket co-pays a whole lot less than prior years. My co-pays to visit my primary care physician have decreases as have the co-pays to see a specialist. Thanks so much Mister President

Obama - Biden 2012

Great post! I think a lot of Seniors will be able to figure out the Snake Oil the GOP is selling right now on this issue.

as one of your demographic twins.. good to see you!!

C-Span carries most, if not all, of Obama's campaign speeches. This is a stump speech that I have heard before.

to those seniors who don't have $6400 to be able to buy the private insurance?

That's the key take-away, and I haven't heard a single person mention that.

How many seniors can come up with $6400 a year -- that's over $600 a month?

The Ryan plan will result in tens of millions of seniors having no coverage. Think about that. If you think our health care system is messed up today with 45M of younger people without insurance, what do you think it would look like if you add 30 million elderly to that.

That is a nightmare to even start to think about, and nobody has said a peep about it.

And let's also be clear. If you don't spend your Ryan Bucks (the voucher) on private insurance, you don't get a penny. It isn't a grant, it is a voucher, and it can only be used together with $6400 of your own money -- to buy a "private Medicare" policy.

For most people, voucher is an empty word. I mean, nobody has ever been attacked on their way home by a voucher. It is just an empty word.

The point that needs to be made is that there are probably 30 million seniors who won't have the money to buy their own insurance, so they will go without.

What will we do then?

Why is nobody asking Mr. Ryan and Mr. Romney this very basic question?

What do we do when there are 30 million seniors with no coverage?

"You'll find 10% off coupons every week in your local newspaper. Good at your city's mega–colossal MediMart, where your medical needs are but a month away."*

*Offer void in non-participating states, or cases involving patients with poor credit scores, pre-existing conditions, minority status, gynecological needs, or any other disqualifying status at the discretion of the provider.

There are two big issues.

1) What becomes of the ~30 million seniors who will not be able to buy "private medicare-like" coverage? If they can't come up with "their share" they can't use the voucher. They will have NO COVERAGE and NO CASH. This is not the end of Medicare "as we know it". It is the end of Medicare, period for majority of seniors. Unless there are really great coupons out there, the answer is a lot of them will just die in poverty. And many others will get very sick and overwhelm the emergency rooms without any means to pay.

2) What happens to our delivery system? Senior communities and nursing homes already operate on very thin margins. They can't take on patients that can't pay anything. Where are these uninsured going to go when they can't live in their homes? And what of the ones that get very ill before they pass? Will they all end up in ERs? What will that do to the hospitals that have already been crumbling under the weight of 45 million younger, healthier people who are uninsured today?

It is absolutely outrageous that nobody is asking The Ryan/Romney team these basic questions. It isn't some damn spreadsheet. It is lives. Millions of lives.