GOP As Defenders Of Medicare? Dems Find It Funny.

[babylonsister]

GOP As Defenders Of Medicare? Dems Find It Funny.


Republicans have spent the last week portraying Democratic health care reforms as a threat to Medicare benefits, dedicating themselves as the defenders of health care for seniors as President Obama presses for an overhaul of the nation's health care system. Democrats find this hilarious and maddening, and they're now pointing to an April 2 House vote in which a majority of Republicans supported ending Medicare as we know it.

As Ronald Brownstein notes, the Republican budget alternative submitted by Budget Committee Ranking Member Paul Ryan (R-WI), which drew support from nearly four-fifths of House Republicans April 2, would have converted Medicare into a voucher system, providing future retirees with a fixed amount of money to buy private insurance plans.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele made the defense of Medicare a cornerstone of the GOP's argument against President Obama's reform proposals in a Washington Post op-ed last week, offering a "seniors' health care bill of rights" and accusing Democrats of wanting to cut Medicare benefits. He continued his push Monday in a TV ad airing on national cable TV and in Florida.

Democrats' response to this, in general, has been to say: Republicans have been trying to dismantle Medicare since its inception, so why should anyone listen to them now?

"{F}or Republicans to say that you should trust us on Medicare is like Colonel Sanders guarding the chicken coop..." Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) told The Washington Post's Ezra Klein in an interview earlier this week. "I don't think people will buy it, since the guys peddling this stuff are the very people who have been trying to undermine and weaken Medicare for years and years."

more...

http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/09/gop_as_defenders_of_health_care_dems_find_it_funny.php

[sfwriter]

1. You can count on hypocricsy...

You can count on Irony...

Both are GOP staples

[Hissyspit]

2. I hope this gets some legs.

Everyone should know about the April 2 vote.

The hypocrisy, as the previous poster noted, is just boundless.