7 Reasons Why Romney-Ryan's Desperate Attempts to Spin Medicare Won't Work

http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/7-reasons-why-romney-ryans-desperate-attempts-spin-medicare-wont-work


Messers Vulture & Voucher

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1. The Big Lie

The Romney camp's big lie is that Obama “raided” $700 billion from Medicare to pay for his healthcare scheme. There are two big problems with this story. The first is that Obama hasn't taken a single red cent out of Medicare benefits, and the second is that the Ryan plan has the exact same $700 billion in cuts . Even the laziest political reporter can grasp the hypocrisy of attacking your opponent for something you've proposed yourself.



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2. The Inescapable Reality

Ryan's cuts don't stop there. And there is simply no way to get around the fact that Ryan's plan saves the government money on Medicare by shifting the burden directly onto the backs of seniors over time. The reason is so simple even a Beltway political reporter can grasp it: as they're intitially phased in, the vouchers will cover the costs of an average private insurance plan, but their value will increase at the rate of overall inflation, while healthcare costs grow much more quickly.

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3. Yes, The Ryan Plan Does Hurt Current Retirees

Republicans have been trying to insulate themselves among seniors by stressing the fact that current retirees can keep their Medicare just the way it is. The Ryan plan, they say, will only effect people 55 and under. There are two problems with this: first, it's simply untrue. Second, seniors are not as selfish as the GOP believes them to be.