Choices have consequences.
Instead of taking on Big Oil and powerful Washington special interests, Paul Ryan chose to end Medicare. Plain and simple.
Ryan's budget increases the size of the deficit while driving up medical costs for everyone. That's right, everyone. Over 55? Don't let the talk of Medicare being preserved fool you. Ryan chose to re-open the Medicare "doughnut hole" for seniors that Ryan himself helped to create.
We've all seen the consequences of Ryan's bad budgeting. Voters in New York's 26th Congressional District who had never heard of Paul Ryan before rejected his plan to end Medicare.
Ryan is now trying to make the case in Wisconsin that his plan to end Medicare is unpopular simply because voters don't understand it. The fact is Ryan's plan is unpopular precisely because folks DO. If you also reject Paul Ryan's plan, I hope you'll join our campaign.
I know how important affordable, reliable health care is to seniors and working families. When I was building two successful businesses, I made the decision to provide my employees with health insurance because it was the right thing to do. The reality is -- without employer-sponsored health insurance plans -- it's really tough for ordinary families to get and afford health care insurance on their own. I made that choice because I felt deeply that it was the right thing to do, and part of my responsibility to the people who were working to help grow my business.
So, I'm making another choice. I decided to run for Congress because I believe Ryan needs to take his "Hands off My Grandma." I'm choosing to run because I believe we should save and strengthen Medicare. I believe Ryan must be stopped. His plan to end Medicare to pay for tax cuts for the very rich on the backs of our seniors and our most vulnerable is just plain wrong. The people of Wisconsin deserve a representative who has spent time in the working world and whose values mirror their own.
That's why I will defeat Paul Ryan in 2012.