Romney-Ryan Robocall Attacks Obama For 'Changing Medicare Forever'

Think Progress:

Even though Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to transform Medicare from a guaranteed benefit to a voucher-based system, essentially phasing out the existing program, their campaign is running calls claiming that President Obama is "changing the program forever":

Read the whole story at Think Progress

Comments

[imfedup]

05:54 PM on 09/04/2012

It's truly sad that they think they can't win with the truth.

Very revealing, really.

[imfedup]

05:52 PM on 09/04/2012

Well, if you call cutting waste and fraud and eliminating unnecessary subsidies and putting those funds toward benefits, yeah. He has changed it forever.

[Pizza Guy]

05:25 PM on 09/04/2012

Political ads have always been misleading, but the OUTRIGHT LIES in Republican ads have hit a new low.

[SirReal1]

04:28 PM on 09/04/2012

How much does "the right" hate the President?

Not only do they want to saddle him with all the failures of the PAST Republican President, they now hope to saddle him with what the CURRENT nominee HOPES TO DO to the Country.

[harmlesstree]

04:15 PM on 09/04/2012

This is a country where conservatives can get away with railing against socialized-government medicine, and spew all sort of nonsensical horror stories about it, despite the fact that a program of socialized-government medicine has existed for 50 years in this country, and then they can turn around and claim the Democrat wants to destroy it!

If the U.S had a functioning media in this country, conservatives could not get away with this Orwellian propaganda, despite the ignorance of the population. And the Democratic Party is to blame as well!

[Freescjk67]

04:13 PM on 09/04/2012

Let see, the $715 billion in cuts out of Medicare Advantage which is run up by private health insurance companies...the reason for the cuts, simply because they were hoarding lots of money from taxpayers for PROFITS which is out right waste and fraud. Since the Medicare D was in place these private companies made tens of billions of dollar profits and the CEO's where given golden parachute at 30% rate. I'll say it again and again, that Health care should NOT be made for profiteering.

[Whisper Loudly]

04:08 PM on 09/04/2012

Anybody born after 1957 or 1958 will be SCREWED!

That will indeed be the likely demarcation point between those who have Medicare and those who don't - if the Romney/Ryan team wins the election, that is.

According to the plan, those who are 55 or older when it goes into place will still be able to partake in the benefits of Medicare as we have known it for nearly 50 years now. But those unfortunate enough to be younger than 55 at the time the Ryan Plan is implemented will be forced to fend for themselves on the open market of private health-care insurance, the same private health-care industry that sees old age itself as a massive pre-existing condition.

Oh, sure, the government will provide some token "subsidy" with which to purchase insurance, but how many of us believe it will be enough to actually do so?

The not-for-profit Medicare has been the one bulwark against the elderly not being able to get medical coverage.

Assuming the Romney administration signs the already passed-in-the-House Ryan budget on Day 1 and that it might take a year or so to actually implement it, those born after 1957 or 1958 will be the first to experience the brave new world of a health care system for old people based on vouchers.

We need to shout this fact from the rooftops 24/7 from now till November 6th. The stakes have never been higher.

dailykos.com

[harmlesstree]

04:08 PM on 09/04/2012

Right-wingers:

The socialist European Obama is going to destroy the Socialist European health care system known as Medicare!

And of course there will be millions of ignorant people who believe this Orwellian propaganda

[Whisper Loudly]

04:05 PM on 09/04/2012

The Ryan plan will end Medicare as we know it within 10 years by providing an $8,000 voucher for seniors to purchase a private health insurance plan. The Ryan plan will increase out-of-pocket health care costs for a typical 65 year-old senior by more than $6,000 in 2022 - more than double the cost under current law. And the problem gets worse and worse over time, so that by 2030, the out-of-pocket health care costs paid by seniors will climb to about $11,000. Under the Ryan budget, Medicare's eligibility age would rise from 65-67 from 2022 to 2033.

Read more facts about the Ryan budget plan here: http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=5091ef55-8985-4fe2-a3ee-812ae1166e7b

[Whisper Loudly]

04:04 PM on 09/04/2012

The Real Story of the Romney-Ryan Medicare Plan
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-john-d-dingell/the-real-story-of-the-rom_b_1818279.html

[Mattcat25]

04:01 PM on 09/04/2012

Campaign based on lies.

[sindurrella]

04:00 PM on 09/04/2012

FDR's speech before the Democratic State Convention , Syracuse, NY , Sept 29, 1936
is as relevent today as it was back then:

Let me warn you and let me warn the Nation against the smooth evasion which says, “Of course we believe all these things; we believe in social security; we believe in work for the unemployed; we believe in saving homes. Cross our hearts and hope to die, we believe in all these things; but we do not like the way the present Administration is doing them. Just turn them over to us. We will do all of them- we will do more of them we will do them better; and, most important of all, the doing of them will not cost anybody anything.”

But, my friends, these evaders are banking too heavily on the shortness of our memories. No one will forget that they had their golden opportunity—twelve long years of it.

Remember, too, that the first essential of doing a job well is to want to see the job done. Make no mistake about this: the Republican leadership today is not against the way we have done the job. The Republican leadership is against the job’s being done.

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=15142&st=Roosevelt&st1#axzz1T2R6VpBQ

[Whisper Loudly]

03:58 PM on 09/04/2012

Alease: “The voucherization of Medicare is nothing short of frightening”

Despite what some may say about the activity level of seniors, Alease, a retired educator is working hard to ensure that President Obama has another four years to move America forward and continue his fight for the middle class. A neighborhood team leader in Norfolk, Virginia, Alease is deeply concerned about the impact a Romney-Ryan plan for Medicare will have on senior citizens. "Their policies and proposed voucherization of Medicare is nothing short of frightening," she said.

Alease is also concerned that the programs that budget cuts proposed by the Romney-Ryan team come at the expense of the middle class and seniors. “It troubles me how easy it is for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to try to distort how turning Medicare into a voucher won’t hurt seniors.”

“Medicare is an important safety net that ensures seniors will be able to live in dignity and I am deeply troubled by GOP plans to replace this program with a voucher system.” According to Alease, President Obama’s plan strengthens Medicare and increases quality of care. This is a major reason why Alease volunteers to support President Obama’s reelection in November.

By phone banking, canvassing and leading voter registration drives, Alease is dedicated to spreading the word about President Obama’s commitment to support the American people.

http://www.barackobama.com/va/entry/va-alease-the-voucherization-of-medicare-is-nothing-short-of-frightening

[Whisper Loudly]

03:56 PM on 09/04/2012

Paul Ryan’s plan would end Medicare as we know it
Paul Ryan’s extreme budget would end Medicare as we know it, turning it into a voucher program which would increase seniors’ health costs by $6,350 a year. Ryan has also proposed a plan that would have privatized Social Security, subjecting seniors’ retirement security to the whims of the stock market.

http://www.barackobama.com/romney/ryan/facts

[NWBrunette]

03:55 PM on 09/04/2012

The right-wing lies will only grow and intensify over the next nine weeks. Be prepared. Be very prepared.