The chief attack on Paul Ryan electorally is simple: His now-famous Plan “ends Medicare as we know it,” thereby stripping the elderly of their health care. They should fear it and fear him and vote against him.
The next three months will be a test of something important: Whether this assertion, which is an out-and-out lie, can overcome the plain explication of the truth.
The design of the Ryan plan is as follows. Everyone age 55 and older remains in the current Medicare system. Period. Nothing changes. Nothing. Assume for the sake of argument that a President Romney actually adopts the Ryan plan in its particulars, and fights for it in the way President Obama fought for Obamacare.
It took 15 months for Obamacare to be signed into law. So let’s say it takes until April 2014 for the Ryan Medicare plan to become law, and it says what it says now—that everyone in the Medicare system now stays in and everyone a decade away from the Medicare system will join it.
As a practical matter, this means that in 2012, anyone 53 or older, not even anyone 55 or older, will have total access to the current Medicare system.
The political argument against the Ryan plan is that it endangers Romney’s chances in Florida; indeed, the Obama campaign has already begun running scary ads about Ryan taking away Medicare.
But it’s not true. It’s true for me; I’m 51. It’s true for the people who were two grades above me in high school. But it’s not true for anyone older than me; not a single retiree in Florida or anywhere else, in other words.
That’s just the plain fact of it. There’s no argument. The complex new system won’t even come into existence, by Ryan’s own design, until ten years after his plan becomes law.
So how can it threaten current Medicare recipients? It can’t.
Like I say, this is an interesting test. There’s the undeniable truth, and there’s the bald-faced lie. Which will be believed?
It would affect me in all probability. But I would rather have the choice available in a premium support model than a Medicare program eviscerated by the cuts funding Obamacare and presided over by an unaccountable IPAB board. Plus, anyone able to do sixth grade math understands that Medicare as we know it is heading off the fiscal cliff and Obama and the Dems have not presented a single proposal. So either they have no ideas (the probable explanation) or they know their ideas would be totally unacceptable. So that is the real choice here, and I bet that if people understand the choice, they will be on board with Ryan.
I don't get it. The ad says "end Medicare as we know it." That is in fact the intention. The ad is intended to make people believe that Ryan wants to totally end Medicare. The *implication* is false, but the *words* are true. Typical Obama Orwellian use of language. We fell for "hope and change" because we never asked Obama to define his terms. Let's not do it again!
What ad? I wasn't replying to any ad, and you're the first to mention one. (Your comment makes sense though if you just posted in reply to the post and not to me, so I won't make hay out of it.) n nTechnically speaking though, if Ryan's plan keeps Medicare as we know it around for those 55 and older, then Medicare as we know it doesn't "end" until the last of those dies, right? So no, the *words* aren't the more true at all.
Paul Ryan understands something that will insulate him from these false attacks and allow the Romney/Ryan ticket to turn the tables on the Democrats. n nThe conceptual underpinnings of Obamacare are based on the assertion that too many medical resources are devoted to prolonging the lives of older people, at the expense of freeing up these limited resources in order to provide services for younger people. Essential to the implementation of the ACA is a shifting of money and resources away from the elderly and towards universal coverage for younger generations. The Democrats have downplayed that aspect of Obamacare and frankly, Republicans have done a pretty lousy job of exposing it. n nMy bet is, Paul Ryan will do a great job of explaining Obamacare's dark side in Florida and other places seniors reside.
Um, who does Podhoretz apparently think it is fair to entirely preserve Medicare for GOP-voting age groups while ending it for younger and poorer voters? Ryan's reforms will largely affect groups which have been hit harder by the recession than older, wealthier voters. n nBTW, the Obamacare experience suggests Republicans are deluding themselves if they think trying to reform social security will prove massively popular.
The dems along with the MSM both know that if Obama runs on his record he will be laughed out of town. nWhat to do? Attack ads, mudslinging, outright lies, such as the 'Mitt Romney killed my wife' ad. It is in full swing right now and it will only get worse. nPicking Ryan was smart. Neither one of them is going to descend to the dems level, and it is hopefully just a matter of time until the gum-chewing public realizes what the dems' strategy is – one of desperation.
The lie will always be believed over the truth. The lie lends itself to snappy visuals and pithy wisecracks. Truth almost never has such advantages.
"As We Know It" is a Medicare that won't exist in a few short years. Unless Obama decides to tax every household a thousand dollars a month more to pay for it.
I am 57 and I would be thrilled if it began IMMEDIATELY upon being passed. n nJW
This is Trademarked…. n nBarack Obama wants to end America as we know it!! n nI found it amazing that no one had come up with that so far since it's dead-equal with the "end Medicare as we know it" that we've heard for 2 years; both are true.
As an independent, middle class, undecided voter, I would be more inclined to consider the Ryan Plan's proposals for entitlements if included in a package raising taxes (income and estate) on those that can afford to pay and including cuts in defense. To lay the entire plan on optimistic increases in economic growth and on the backs of the poor & elderly is unrealistic and unfair. Why can't Democrats put entitlements on the table and Republicans understand that the lower & middle classes are tired of being screwed to maintain the often inherited lifestyle of the wealthy while supporting global policing and nation building?