Scott Brown: Paul Ryan Medicare Plan Won't Get My Vote

After wavering in his position on a controversial proposal to reform Medicare put forth by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) took a stand on the plan in a Politico op-ed published on Monday.

"While I applaud Ryan for getting the conversation started, I cannot support his specific plan — and therefore will vote 'no' on his budget," wrote the Republican senator.

Here's an excerpt of what Brown had to say in defining his position on the issue:

First, I fear that as health inflation rises, the cost of private plans will outgrow the government premium support— and the elderly will be forced to pay ever higher deductibles and co-pays. Protecting those who have been counting on the current system their entire adult lives should be the key principle of reform.

Second, Medicare has already taken significant cuts to help pay for Obama’s health care plan. The president and Congress cut a half trillion dollars to the private side of Medicare — meaning seniors are at risk of losing their Medicare Advantage coverage.

Just over a week ago, however, Brown signaled a different stance on the issue.

"The leaders will bring forward [Ryan's] budget, and I will vote for it, and it will fail," he said while speaking at an event in his home state, according to the Newburyport Daily News. "Then the president will bring forward his budget, and it will fail. ... It will be great fodder for the commercials."

Days after Brown made the remarks, the AP reported:

The Massachusetts Republican said in a statement that he favors the overall direction Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget takes toward reducing spending.

But Brown declined, through a spokesman, to say if he backs Ryan’s proposed Medicare overhaul, or if he would vote for the Ryan budget plan.

The budget plan introduced by Ryan is likely to be a contentious issue in the next election cycle. While Brown will run to keep his seat in 2012, he does not currently face serious Democratic competition ahead of his run for reelection.

Comments

[shnboi]

02:40 PM on 05/24/2011

The solution to fixing Medicare is for there to be people in place that work in each medical facility that is hired by the government to watch their dollars. I am a medical biller and if we could catch all the fradulent billing we could clear out the deficit. We need more whistle blowers to catch the offices. People don't understand that this is a huge problem. All these big money makers skipping out on taxes will help things. We have transparency and these white collar crimes are surfacing and I am hoping Obama stays another term so all the lights can come on and the cock roaches scatter and are caught. I may be blind but the corruption that has become so transparent is awesome. Every dog has his day and a good one has two. Time to pay the piper!

[JDZSB]

10:42 AM on 05/24/2011

The commentary on this blog actually has been decent and is showing me that many Americans are engaged in at least discussing one of the major challenges for the country which is Medicare. All of the CBO data and other analysts have confirmed that the program Is in trouble and cannot be sustained as currently constructed. The federal government at large is in serious financial trouble which puts every government program in jeopardy as well. Some people think that raising the tax rate on the higher income citizens will solve the problems across the board but it has been shown that confiscating the total income of the upper 1% of the income earners will not even balance the annual budget deficit for one year, so major cuts in spending has to be done...HAS TO BE DONE...get it? So, an aggressive cost cutting program is NECESSARY to start with, the national debt limit has to be stabilized, and the tax rates for income over 1million per year needs to be increased to help out. The corporate rates may have to be lowered for an interim period to stimulate job growth. The only comprehensive plan on the table to deal with these critical problems is the Paul Ryan plan. Is it perfect...no, but it has a lot of merit and has given us a way to deal with Medicare, which is financially the biggest problem we have. We need more politicians with the guts to take on this issue, like Ryan, if

[Bella Lee]

11:22 AM on 05/24/2011

Confiscating all of people's money is quite harsh although it would help a lot, saying different is unbelievable at the very least. Let's just return to pre-bush tax cuts for the rich and start there. We didn't have a revenue problem under Clinton sober should do what we know works. We all know that CBO has said that continuing those cuts will add trillions, so its the perfect place to start

[jambalayajack]

04:50 PM on 05/24/2011

Let me help you. Spending: You have an aging population. That's not going to change. You once again mention economic model called trickle down. I want you to give me some statistics on how many jobs have been created and by whom that employs Americans. I know some companies that have small offices and maintain a presence in X area. It does not work. It never worked. It will never work. You have obligations to shareholders and company execs. So, corporate welfare without proof of exactly why they receive welfare needs addressing. Secondly, we have the largest military complex in the world X 6. Do you have any idea of the cost of running the military. How safe do you think you need to be? Are you afraid of anything that affects your daily living? Do you go to bed at night comforted by the fact that we have 6 X anybody else's military complex. Thirdly, tax relief for ailing oil companies; do you believe the President of the United States has any say so in the price of a gallon of gas? Do you think we compete today on a world market in a world economy? Spending needs to be tapered off. Can you imaging turning off the life support system in a hospital cause they needed to lower the cost of the electric bill? Times will get tough but no one wants to acknowledge that this of our own collective making.

[carsrus]

10:21 AM on 05/24/2011

SO, pretty boy, what's your solution?

[nokabosh1]

09:58 AM on 05/24/2011

Sen Reid's plan is for the Senate to vote on Ryan's budget. He wants to get repubs on record for voting for reform of Medicare. Then he and the dems will use scare tactics to demagogue those repub senators.. Brown realizes that now and is trying to save himself from being demagogued. Brown may not think the public can see through the lies that the dems will come up with to scare them. What's is equally disturbing is that Brown hasn't an alternative.

[lmcgrandpa]

09:48 AM on 05/24/2011

Ryan has a plan - it is called "Soylent Green". Ref. 1973 sci-fi movies, "Soylent Green" for details.

[donny3666]

09:08 AM on 05/24/2011

I LIVE IN MASSACHUSETTS AND VOTED FOR BROWN THINKING HE WOULD STAND OUT FROM THE MASSACHUSETTS DEMOCRATS. SINCE, I HAVE FOUND OUT THAT HE IS THE SAME OLD SONG AND DANCE. IF A POLITICIAN DISAGREES WITH THE RYAN BILL THEY SHOULD NOT CRITISIZE IT WITHOUT OFFERING AN ALTERNATE SOLUTION TO WHAT THEY FIND UNACCEPTABLE. I DON'T CARE WHICH PARTY OBJECTS TO SPECIFICS IN HIS BILL,THEY SHOULD NOT OBJECT WITHOUT A REAL SOLUTION. IF YOU THINK THAT CUTTING DOCTORS AND HOSPITAL BILLS BY 29% IS A GOOD IDEA YOU SHOULD LIVE MY LIFE.
I AM A SENIOR IN MA WHICH HAS PLENTY OF DOCTORS AND MEDICAL SCHOOLS AND I HAVE A PROBLEMS FINDING ADEQUATE MEDICAL CARE WITH A 20% REDUCTION. DON'T LISTEN TO THE BULL THAT AARP GIVES YOU. TALK TO THE PEOPLE THAT LIVE IT.

[carsrus]

10:23 AM on 05/24/2011

Good for you! I too, am a senior, and NOT AFRAID of these Democrat lies! They are attempting to scare old folks, but it's not working! WE think for ourselves! PLEASE make sure other seniors in MASS. help VOTE Obama OUT in 2012!

[Bella Lee]

11:33 AM on 05/24/2011

I'm almost a senior who works in rehab and has seen illness and accidents economically devastate a family. Lucky for you that you've got a choice, use Medicare or get sick and die. I promise you that unless you have tens of thousands of dollars put away you won't be able to afford rehab IF you survive an illness or accident and if Ryan's coupons cover everything like Medicare does. Those under 55 won't get that choice under Ryan's plan, they won't have medicare.

If you need rehab and require all three therapies you're looking at about $600-700 in addition to $1000-$1500 a day for your bed plus medications, the doc, X-ray tech and labs all bill separately. Rehab is generally 2-4 weeks, in simple cases. If you could afford $1600 a day for 2 weeks you wouldn't be posting here.

[Jimmy1766]

04:11 PM on 05/24/2011

man i feel bad for seniors when the lose their mind

[JADEONA]

09:02 AM on 05/24/2011

Lets face it rationing care is exaclly what seniors face and then it will be broke and no one will get care....What is it peeople dont understand..THERE IS NO MONEY TREE they spent it all...Vote all of them out these irresponsible slugs and their pet projects..This folks for decades has been the fleecing of america..

[antipodal2u]

09:01 AM on 05/24/2011

"The leaders will bring forward [Ryan's] budget, and I will vote for it, and it will fail," he said while speaking at an event in his home state, according to the Newburyport Daily News. "Then the president will bring forward his budget, and it will fail. ... It will be great fodder for the commercials

Are there any politicians who dont flip-flop, double talk, outright LIE?

[jambalayajack]

04:56 PM on 05/24/2011

Hey, keep this to yourself............public option. Shhhhhhhhhhhhh. Its a secret.

[dgtsakos]

08:57 AM on 05/24/2011

the koch brothers aren't gonna like this, senator centerfold.

[baddunion]

09:23 AM on 05/24/2011

Almost humorous, but like other libs you bring nothing to the pic nik.

[dgtsakos]

10:19 AM on 05/24/2011

unlike the kochs..to whom senator centerfold is sucking up.

[JADEONA]

08:57 AM on 05/24/2011

Does anyone get it The fund is filled with IOU's because the Goverment for decades has been fleecing the account. This is what they have done to scocial security and medicare and soon it will go broke..unless somehow it is fixed...Does not matter how we got here anymore what matters is HOW YA GONNA FIX IT...

[baddunion]

09:07 AM on 05/24/2011

Exactly! Johnson started it in '65, We are to finish it in 2012! No more Republican guard, no Taxacrats! If they are not Tea Party they don't get my vote! Just like 2010, it will be a landslide!

[ocrbmom]

01:44 PM on 05/24/2011

Raise the cap on both SS and Medicare. Problem solved.

[JADEONA]

08:54 AM on 05/24/2011

Hey ScottBrown you RINO you wont get my vote next time either...I have buyers remorse

[Toonguy]

10:04 AM on 05/24/2011

I knew this was coming - he was all talk and no action. He'll say anything to distract from his dismal voting record. Too bad the majority of the voters were bamboozled.

[bdcelina777]

08:49 AM on 05/24/2011

What Ryan is doing to Medicre is no different than your mortgage company after 30 years saying we did not make any money, we need you to pay more for the rest of your life. Medicare was insurance, not an entitlement. When this is understood, the conversation can begin.

[dgtsakos]

08:59 AM on 05/24/2011

no sale. it's an entitlement now, and a very good one at that. it must be funded 100%, end of conversation.

[bobnpath]

08:39 AM on 05/24/2011

Ryan is no personal hero of mine, but I will give the guy credit for guts. Nobody had a plan out,
nobody, not Obama, not the Democratic Causus...everybody was isttin gon their hands waiting some somebody to get some guts and Ryan stood up like a grown man and threw out a conservatibe budget plan..now, these cowards crawl out form uder their desks to throw rocks...
and still have yet to produce much in the way of any sort of plan to deal with the problem..this is one of the biggest displays of political cowardice I can remember in my 60 years.

[dgtsakos]

09:00 AM on 05/24/2011

no plan needed. medicare must be funded. period.

[NOV42008]

09:03 AM on 05/24/2011

I guess this was a well thought out plan Ryan proposed, he made a bold proposal just like Bush did to go to Iraq. He did this so quickly, do you think he had this plan all laid out when he voted for the Medicare D (Drug prescription) too? He should have voted no, because we can't afford it.

[Kaycey351]

08:27 AM on 05/24/2011

Liberals are singularly obsessed with appeasing Obama, defending their green idealistic beliefs, taxing job creating corporatio­ns into oblivion, uniting all workers under a government-controlled socialistic workers union, increasing wages beyond market value, establishi­ng permanent public sector jobs & big government­, taxing the job creating class into oblivion, and blaming the successful rather than the government for our societal ills. Libs grab power by any means necessary, as evidenced by the lies they propogate, their predilecti­on to blame others for the mess they create, and their repetitive pattern of reckless behavior that goes against usual moral and ethical standards. Using scripts authored and bankrolled by George Soros, a recycled litany of has-been pundits routinely surface on the brainwashed news channels to spew loathsome, divisive, and inflammato­ry lies aimed at delegitimi­zing our constitution and scaring the electorate into endorsing slipshod "Left Nut" economic policies. At this point who cares if President Obama is a “foreigner­” not born and reared on American soil? His actions have proven that he lacks the intelligence and ability to lead. The cold truth is that Democrats are very adept at manufactur­ing deception, especially when facts expose their perverse schemes. Democrats continue to advance the lie blaming Republicans for the current economic crisis, but it was under Bush 43 that runaway deficit spending tripled due to a liberal Democrat House and Senate. They blame Bush because they can't handle the truth.

[Chuck134]

10:23 AM on 05/24/2011

taxing the job creating class into oblivion. What job creating class would that be? You mean the one that said FOUR tax cuts for the uber wealthy would create jobs? You mean the ones who voted by RECONCILIATION to send jobs overseas? You mean the ones who stash their ill-gotten gains in offshore accounts to avoid paying US taxes? You men the ones who fired US workers and sent the jobs to Mexico, Japan, Tiwan, China and got TAX BREAKS to do it?

[ocrbmom]

01:48 PM on 05/24/2011

But its okay for the right to be bankrolled by the KOCH brothers. You people are such hypocrites

[pnanos]

08:25 AM on 05/24/2011

pretty interesting how you "Headlined" that Brown would vote against Ryans bill and "footnoted that he would also vote against Obama's budget.

[Toonguy]

10:05 AM on 05/24/2011

He has no mind of his own - he is simply another appendage of the GOP.