From a Romney/Ryan campaign ad aired in August.
During the 2012 presidential campaign, one of Mitt Romney's central lines of attack was that President Obama "cut" Medicare by $716 billion. It was the Republican's way of deflecting criticism over his plan to eliminate Medicare altogether and replace it with a voucher scheme.
But the argument was burdened by some rather glaring flaws. For one thing, Romney's criticism wasn't true. For another, the $716 billion in Medicare savings were embraced by congressional Republicans, including Romney's running mate, in the GOP budget plan. As Bill Clinton said at the Democratic convention, it "takes some brass to attack a guy for doing what you did."
With the election having come and gone, it's fascinating to see GOP policymakers pretend the campaign rhetoric was never uttered.
Mitt Romney's Medicare budget might be fading away just as quickly as Romney himself.
During the campaign, candidate Romney repeatedly hammered President Obama for cutting $716 billion from Medicare as part of his signature healthcare law. Romney pledged to repeal those cuts in a break from his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).
Ryan, the House Budget Committee Chairman, had preserved Obama's Medicare cuts in two consecutive budget proposals that repealed the rest of the Affordable Care Act. Ryan is now back at work crafting his next budget, and Republicans on his committee say the $716 billion in Medicare cuts will likely survive.
Rep. Rob Woodall (R-Ga.) said the $716 billion cut is part of the committee's over-arching plan to save and reform Medicare. He said he doesn't expect Ryan to back away from any part of that goal just because Romney was on a different page.
Woodall added that Obama's $716 billion in Medicare savings, generated by reducing reimbursements and overpayments to hospitals and private insurers, represents "a sound proposal."
Congressional Republicans aren't quite prepared to say out loud, "Never mind all that nonsense from Mitt Romney," but the implication isn't subtle.
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Well Boehner i say 716 billion is a good proposal, so guess ball in your all court again.
so your cry's of he has to show us what cuts he wants. ring and loud as a tinker bell rapped in rubber.
At some point they are just going to piss the white house off enough that they will just start running a TV add campaign with Bill Clinton explaining to the American people what they want and how it works.
At which point the congress can sputter and fume all they want but will be forced to either go along or put something concrete on the table
Handshake, hope your T-day was good to you and family.
exactly,, put as much pressure on them as it takes! they call it still campaigning, i call it getting the word out to the people, expose the ones who just will not HELP AMERICANS.
he should have been in their faces from day one, well right after the first time they slap his/our hands, he should have just locked their heels and told them the buck stops here Perpair for new Orders!
Putting Clinton on in a 1-minute commercial and broadcasting it in every Republican congressional district is a genius idea.
I received a viral email stating the medicare contributions will rise from 98.00 now to the 200's in January 2013 and in the 300's by January 2014 as part of this "savings" (if true more aptly classified as a hidden tax) for Obamacare.
Does anyone know if this is true? My 76 year old mother that relies solely on her Social Security and Medicare is really worried.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/healthreform/myths-and-facts#healthcare-menu
http://www.healthcare.gov/using-insurance/medicare-long-term-care/medicare/index.html#law
Maybe the source of the "statement" or "rumor" that the premium goes up by that amount needs a fact check?
I know my premium went up next year by $72 per month, This is private group insurance, not Medicare. Costs are going up, this law is in effect and they are now having posturing over budget in Congress with suggestions of means test, cutting SS COLA, which is scheduled for a minor increase in 2013.
http://www.aarp.org/work/social-security/info-10-2012/social-security-2013-cola-increase.html
http://snopes.com is a good start for checking out viral emails. Most of them can be searched by subject or a name within it. It's pretty easy to tell if there are no references as to source of the assertions they make.
Yes! Yesterday on the Clownfest they call the 'Sunday Shows' McCaskill and Corker 'talked' about it. McCaskill was outraged and Corker just wanted to 'move on'.
Boehner hasn't worn his big boy pants in so long, he doesn't know how to pull them up.
I'd hadn't realized the details of Obama's current proposal to cut Medicare spending by about $400 billion (or more), but Paul Krugman reports in his column today that it would come from allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices. (No doubt, if this idea were to be enacted, they would run in 2014 saying that Obama slashed Medicare again.)
The interesting thing from Krugman's column is that all the entitlement savings that McConnell has floated (e.g., raising eligibility age, means-testing Medicare premiums, and recalibrating the SS inflation adjustment measure) would not add up to the savings that would arise out of allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices. Who knew?
Anyway, it's clear that, despite their rhetoric, Republicans don't care about reducing deficits. Their mission is to enrich the rich, and Obama's proposal does nothing to further that agenda. That is their problem with it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/opinion/krugman-the-big-budget-mumble.html
Bush and co handed that one to Big Pharma. If they went shopping like the rest of us , including Canada the savings would be astounding , considering the amount spent . It defeats free market competition .
What are they a bunch of Commies with the politobureau setting the rates?
If the GOP would go back and support their policies that they liked until POB liked them, they would be in less of a bind than they are in now. With a little backbone like the Dems are finally showing, they could silence a lot of the teabagger pressure. There is no way the baggers could primary the entire house caucus. I am not wanting to pull the GOPS fat out of the fire for them, but it is certainly pleasant imagining a functioning congress.
Thinking Beohner is just pissed off cause more then one of the teabaggers crapped in the back seat of the new house clown car and will not admitted to it.
This is what irks me, there is never a price to pay for such naked hypocrisy. The right wing simply feels the actual truth is an annoyance or an inconvienance.
I'm with you on their never seeming to be a "price paid" for the obstructionism and hypocrisy being shown. I also have to wonder at the citizens that voted these people back into office - exactly what are they (not) thinking?
They think that way because there never is. When you have a drooling moron like David Gregory and a senile old fool like Bob Schieffer on the Sunday shows, not to mention all week long they might spend 2 minutes a night discussing this while spending 5 minutes on wondering what some elevated twit like the Duchess of Cambridge will name her kid (didn't we kick the House of Windsor out for good reason some time ago?), it's obvious you can get away with anything.
Maybe it's because I haven't finished my coffee yet, but I'm confused. Isn't that $716 billion part of the ACA?
How do the Republicans plan to count it towards deficit reduction again?
Exact same way they did it before, as part of thier budget proposal. Only this time there are eggs all over thier faces...
They can't numb us anymore with their voodoo magic talk. Our Daddys' didn't raise no dummies.
Here's what I'm seeing as a result of these cuts to hospitals and providers:
Providers are dropping out of Medicare!
They can make more money from cash customers and private insurance companies, so they're just walking away from Medicare.
That's a really great outcome! Thanks Obama, Ryan, that whole sick crew in Washington, D.C.
Oh yeah, and Mr. Obama only told the truth? We are still being constantly lied to by our President still!
Jonny: You are only allowed to use the word "still" once per sentence. So stay away from the still...
There's a huge difference in the cuts. Obama's cuts were simply reductions in the amounts that medicare would pay hospitals and would pay for drugs.
http://www.medicarealabama.com/