President Obama was in Dubuque, Iowa, this afternoon, and took two minutes to address the subject of the week: Medicare.
For those who can't watch clips online, here's a transcript of Obama's remarks:
"I think [Republicans] know their plan's not very popular. You can tell that because they are being pretty dishonest about my plan. Especially, by the way, when it comes to Medicare. Now, this is something I've got to point out here because they are just throwing everything at the wall to see if it sticks.
"Here is what you need to know: I have strengthened Medicare. I have made reforms that have saved millions of seniors with Medicare hundreds of dollars on their prescription drugs. I've proposed reforms that will save Medicare money by getting rid of wasteful spending in the health care system -- reforms that will not touch your Medicare benefits, not by a dime.
"Now, Mr. Romney and his running mate have a very different plan. They want to turn Medicare into a voucher program. That means seniors would no longer have the guarantee of Medicare, they'd get a voucher to buy private insurance. And because the voucher wouldn't keep up with costs, the plan offered by Governor Romney's running mate, Congressman Ryan, would force seniors to pay an extra $6,400 a year, and I assume they don't have it.
"My plan's already extended Medicare by nearly a decade. Their plan ends Medicare as we know it. My plan reduces the cost of Medicare by cracking down on fraud and waste and subsidies to insurance companies. Their plan makes seniors pay more so they can give another tax cut to millionaires and billionaires. That's the difference between our plans on Medicare, that's an example of the choice in this election, and that's why I am running for a second term as President of the United States of America."
Obama wasn't "angry and hateful"; he wasn't engaged in "personal attacks"; in fact he seemed almost amused by the whole story. The president simply set the record straight.
The contrast is rather amazing, when you think about. Mitt Romney can hardly deliver a sentence on Medicare without telling a blatant lie, but Obama's comments in Iowa today happened to be 100% accurate. The only thing he didn't mention is that Republicans have adopted the same Medicare savings Romney is now condemning.
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And the otherwise-unemployables of "duh media" will play it "Republicans say world is flat, Democrats disagree." As in: "Governor Romney promises to stop Medicare cuts, President disagrees."
By the time the GOTP & Mittens finishes whining, the President will be "angry & hateful" and dividing the nation, and the corporate owned lame-stream media will parrot the reich's talking points.....
Ryan's "plan" is so bad, that it won't apply to anyone over 55.
And, if you are under that age, you can opt for Medicare instead of RyanScare.
Great "plan", Paulie!
("I endorse this plan!"- Insurance Companies of America)
But Ryan's plan DOES affect present seniors - not jut the rx part but also the preventative care added under the ACA - the screenings, the check-ups. I never reach that doughnut hole at this time but i still see wonderful care enhancements already in 2011 and 2012! GO OBAMACARE!!!
I consider comments like "... We won't change anything for the current seniors, those over 55, etc." to be as large a lie as anthing else those people say. They have NEVER kept a promise. They say things like that to get a foot in the door. Then, just a few years down the road, we will hear, "There just isn't enough money for [SS, Medicare, Medicaid, etc] so we will have to cut your benefits." Never mind that defense spending has gone through the roof and rich people don't pay ANY taxes anymore.
well done, Mr. Preezy!
Sadly, even the truth does not get thru to those with Obama Derangement Syndrome...
Awful country we live in with so many racists.
Neil, maybe not. Yes, the message is getting corrupted by a few, and those few are leading a select group of loyalists, but that doesn't mean this nation is given over to racists necessarily.
I feel there is a dividing line. Let's say a percentage of conservative middle income bracket people and below lean toward racism, but maybe most of them aren't necessarily racist, they're just wanting to be in on the "joke", part of the crowd, you know the usual followers. Then there are those above that middle income bracket, those who stand to make a lot of money if another pen-whipping weak GOP president gets in the White House. If they are racist, it's secondary to profits.
Anyone else have a thought?
You make a fair point.
As far as I am concerned, the tendency to be against every single thing that the President is for is what is troubling to me. I cannot imagine a white President getting half this much push back. There are so many overt racist moments...from show me your birth certificate, to calling him a liar in Congress and on an on that I feel that the overt and covert are all cut from the same cloth.
Can our country overcome? Interesting question. I am reading Battle Cry of Freedom right now, and I WISH that the South had successfully seceded. Do you know that the 37th Congress was the most productive in history? Why, because the South was absent during their deliberations.
The truth will out. I hope.
mittens has to lie, he has no plan,no ideas, no vision. he just wants the title of President and nothing else.
Last evening I tuned into CNN just in time to watch a Romney stump speech as breaking news. Any bets as to whether these two minutes find their way onto TV aside from MSNBC?
PBO should really get current on the facts. He's talking about Ryan's initial proposal. After some feedback, he revised it to include two options: current medicare or private, approved plans. PBO also doesn't inform that no one 55 or over will be affected.
Let's assume I accept PBO's statement that he extended the life of Medicare by 10 years, which I don't, he still has no plan beyond that. He may not like Ryan's plan, but what's his proposal?
PBO has not addressed either the debt or deficit. Granted, Romney has been vague, but he is discussing it. I implore both candidates to offer specific plans. The fiscal cliff will be upon us before we know it. Where does PBO stand. If Congress kicks the can to Romney, we should know his plan.
Concern troll alert.
So you implore the president to offer a specific plan huh. Seems to me he's done that time and time again only to be stonewalled by republicons in congress. Even when he's offered easy fixes and policies that were once republicon policies he's been shot down and called a socialist, radical muslim by the GOTP. He's done what he can, now he just has to communicate that no matter what he proposes he's opposed by the GOTP.
Trolling aside, I've always been puzzled by the idea that "no one 55 or over will be affected." What's that supposed to mean? Is it a reassurance that older Americans don't have to worry about how this policy will affect the country, because they are taken care of? If so, then it assumes that older Americans are only concerned about themselves, and don't care about the nation as a whole. It also assumes that they don't care about their children and descendants. It seems to say: "Don't worry, you got yours. The youngsters don't matter"
Am I getting this wrong?
An assertion that is only plausible if you keep yourself entirely ignorant of how Medicare is financed. Tell me, when the incoming funds from younger workers that now finance Medicare are diverted to private plans, where will the funds come from to replace them in Ryan's severely reduced budget?
Ah, so you reject assessments by the Congressional Budget Office, but you accept Ryan's assertions about his plan without any third-party confirmation? Good to know.
The "problem" with Medicare financing is that the costs are growing along with all other health care costs in this country, except not quite as much because Medicare is more efficient. If the problem is not addressed, then benefits would have to be limited to less than costs.
Ryan's "plan" is to limit benefits to less than the costs, and assume that this will magically bring costs down. And if it doesn't, you're on your own. If you can explain how this is a plan, and not just "we give up," I'm all ears.
The president's plan is the Affordable Care Act, which is designed to make our healthcare system more efficient and thus slow cost growth (and it's already starting to have an effect.) This is because the real problem is healthcare costs (in both government programs and the private sector), not "entitlements." Anyone who talks about "entitlements" being the problem is either trying to scam you into cutting social programs they don't like to pay for tax cuts, or has been scammed by such a person.
No, you aren't getting it wrong. You hit it right on the nose.
You see if you look at the republican stance on economics it all boils down to "I got mine. You are on your own, because since I got mine, I deserve yours too." I haven't read Ayn Rand's books (tried once and got so bored I never picked it up again.) but from what I am hearing that is precisely what her (and Ryan's) philosophy boils down to. Considering what was happening over the last 30 odd years with wages to the middle class and the raping of profits by the Corporate executives and banks, that has been the basis of Republican plans ever since President Reagan proposed his "golden shower policy".
I know that is depressing, but we can make a change now that we know the truth. I am furious whenever I hear that "you don't have to worry if you are over 55". My son is just turning 55 and has spent his adult life paying into SS and Medicare. Am I supposed to be jumping up and down that he will be screwed out of his rightful benefit? Not likely!!!!! As far as I am concerned that just solidifies my abhorrence for what they are proposing. Becaus they are locked into the "I got mine" idea, they mistakenly think we are too.
Obama/Biden in 2012
No @ Daniel...you have it exactly right.
Again: I'm starting a new Super-Pac! 54 year-olds for Romney/Ryan! Uh, no, wait...
Daniel- I'm over 60, not yet on Medicare or SS. I definitely would not vote for Romney/Ryan NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY about 'not to worry'.
These guys lie so much that I can not trust them to run the country. Heck, if they told me they'd give me a million dollars, I still wouldn't vote for them-- because -- investing in lies is wrong. I also have children and grandkids. I wouldn't lay the Ryancare plan on them for all the money in the world.
No... you can't buy my vote by giving me a pass.....
As the Brits say, "Ball you, Jack, I've got mine."
Thanks for all the comments. I was merely trying to point out that PBO was being disingenuous in emphasizing an old plan and not being completely explanative. You may not agree with Romney, but offer an alternative.
It seems, to me, people put too much confidence in the CBO's 10 year projections. In my experience in business, it was difficult enough to produce a one year budget, never mind a 10 year plan. The most we produced was a 5 year plan and updated it annually to reflect current knowledge. The 5 year plan hardly reflected or tracked reality.
In terms of the ACA being deficit neutral, my understanding that was achieved by spreading 10 years of tax revenue over 6 years of costs. Now, spread the cost over 10 years.What do you get?
I have two other reservations about ACA. First, the math escapes my 35 year old grad economics degree. How do you pull out 700 billion from Medicare, increase benefits, use that savings to offset ACA costs, and not have any cost increase without affecting quality of service? Second, how do you add 30 million patients to a fixed amount of doctors without affecting waiting times and quality of service. I haven't even addressed the Board the act set up to control Medicare costs.
I would love to have a plausible explanation, not derogotory comments.
"I think [Republicans] know their plan's not very popular. You can tell that because they are being pretty dishonest about my plan. Especially, by the way, when it comes to Medicare. Now, this is something I've got to point out here because they are just throwing everything at the wall to see if it sticks."
That needs to be the first three sentences of the pushback ads to fight the Romney/Republican Medicare lies
I know that politicians twist the truth, but I have never seen anyone lie like Mitt Romney does.
Personally, I gagged and wanted to thow-up when I heard the "Mitt" say those words. His nose is growing a mile on lie.
Please someone needs to call him out on that statement and all his other lies.
You don't have to wonder why the Repub.s want to say your eggs are people. They protect corp. profits real and imagined so they can control not only the profits, but the science and WHO can use them. Researchers have begged them to let them use the millions they flush down the drain in invitro use for the masses but in the land of NO, we now watch as the most advanced leave this country for govts who will help the people. Stem cells can help cure the real AIDS by turning on the immune system to fight in treating the infections of Autism, MS, ALS, Parkinson's, etc. etc. etc. Because it is the real seronegative AIDS.
http://www.anh-usa.org/private-companies-are-trying-to-patent-your-genes/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/RLU.0b013e318262ad9b
Abstract
Objectives
Lyme disease is an infectious disease that frequently
involves the central nervous system, leading to cognitive
and/or mood dysfunction. The basis for these symptoms
remains to be defined but may be the result of a vasculitis
or metabolic abnormality secondary to the infection. SPECT
scans of the brain might provide an objective measure of
abnormalities present in patients with otherwise difficult
to objectify clinical findings. The objective of this study
was to determine the frequency, location, and severity of
abnormalities in SPECT scans of the brain of patients with
chronic Lyme disease.
Methods
A total of 183 individuals who met the clinical definition
of chronic Lyme disease underwent SPECT scanning of the
brain using 99mTc and standard nuclear imagine techniques.
Abnormalities of perfusion to affected areas of the brain
were defined as mild, moderate, or severe.
Results
Of all patients, 75% demonstrated abnormalities in perfusion
to various areas of the brain, most notably the frontal,
temporal, and parietal lobes.
Patients considered to be
seropositive and those considered seronegative
had similar rates, types, and severity of perfusion defects.
Abnormalities of MRI of the brain were seen in 14% of
patients. Treatment with antibiotics, especially those with
intracellular-penetrating activity, resulted in resolution
or improvement of abnormalities in
70% of patients over a 1-
to 2-year period.
Conclusions
Brain SPECT scans are abnormal in most patients with chronic
Lyme disease, and these scans can be used to provide
objective evidence in support of the clinical diagnosis.
The use of certain antibiotic regimens seems to provide
improvement in both clinical status and SPECT scans.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/RLU.0b013e318262ad9b
So you see all this time criminals lied.
the President only has to tell the truth.....the GOP goes crazy
GOP doesn't have to worry about going crazy. Just trying to get Obama to do it , is a mission alone.
That's my guy, the Prez.
(And to the commenter upthread who asserts Ryan has a "new" plan - the new plan is just like the old one in that it is still a voucher plan, no matter if you pick "traditional" Medicare or a private plan - and the lucky senior gets to pay the difference between the value of the voucher and the price of the plan.) I'd love to go on to refute the other inaccurate claims in the same commenter's post, but I'd have to write a book.
Gee, it's really simple. A sound bite even low-information voters can understand.
"We both want to reduce Medicare costs by $700B. They want to do it by giving less money to Grandma. We want to do it by giving providers incentives to save money."
That's what I don't get. Much of those savings come from the benefits from universal coverage -- less hospital losses for uninsured being passed along to Medicare reimbursement rates, for instance. So since Ryancare gets rid of the universal coverage, gets rid of the preventive care coverage, etc. where do those savings come from?
Or is this a matter of "Obamacare gets cost reductions from research, we'll skip the research but budget for the savings anyway" and so forth?
You rock, Obama. Keep rockin' it to November!
Pwnage! He may not be up to snuff on other subjects; namely closing Guantanamo and drone-wars, however on this argument Rmoney and Lyan haven't a ghost of a chance in a head to head match.