Fighting Washington: Medicare Messaging Memo

June 25, 2012

Candidates,
If there is one issue that is certain to come up repeatedly during this campaign, it is Medicare.

It is important to have an earned media plan that proactively holds Democrats accountable for their efforts to dismantle Medicare as part of their government healthcare takeover. In an effort to help kick-start this discussion, we wanted to provide you with some background material and some examples of what has been effective in the past. As always, the NRCC Communications Department is available to help develop your specific plan.

REMIND VOTERS THAT DEMOCRATS DO HAVE A PLAN – You must create a clear choice with your Democrat opponent for backing ObamaCare, which includes $500 billion in Medicare cuts and a board of unelectable and unaccountable bureaucrats making decisions best left to seniors and their doctors.

• Collect hard evidence that your Democrat opponent opposes repealing ObamaCare by getting reporters/trackers to get them on record.
• Attack and go on offense by explaining the Democrat plan. Do not wait for your opponent to attack you and define his/her position. Ensure voters understand that:

o Medicare is going bankrupt and Democrats are making it worse.
o Democrats cut $500 billion from Medicare to pay for their government takeover of healthcare.

o The Democrats’ government healthcare takeover empowers unelected bureaucrats to cut Medicare and endangers seniors’ access to care, threatening the doctor/patient relationship.

COMMUNICATE & INOCULATE – One of the key ways to proactively inoculate yourself from attacks is to ensure you are aggressively reaching out to seniors. During these events you can reinforce your principles for saving and protecting Medicare. Some possible ideas include:

• Hold events at senior centers
• Start a Seniors Advisory Council

• Ensure you have several credible third party validators (moms, senior groups) to reinforce your message. Utilize these surrogates by doing joint op-eds, blogs and letters-to-the-editor.

SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT IMMEDIATELY – If you are attacked with a TV/RADIO ad on Medicare it is important to ensure reporters have the facts regarding the ad and a response from the campaign. Below please find a sample fact check that uses claims from TV ads that have already run this cycle.

SAMPLE FACT CHECK RELEASE

For Immediate Release Contact: Republican XYZ Press Office

August 6, 2012

FACT CHECK: Desperate Politician Kate Marshall Tries to Scare Seniors in her Latest Misleading Ad
PolitiFact Calls Marshall’s Attacks “Lie of the Year”

RENO, NV – Kate Marshall doesn’t get it. Her lies about Republican XYZ have repeatedly been proven false, yet Marshall is still trying to scare seniors in her latest misleading ad. It’s obvious Marshall would rather diminish her own credibility than attempt to explain her desire to cut Medicare in order to pay for the government takeover of healthcare.

“It doesn’t surprise me that Kate Marshall is taking another page out of Nancy Pelosi’s playbook by trying to scare and mislead seniors. Marshall’s plan would bankrupt Medicare, cut seniors benefits and raise taxes on job creators. Seniors won’t be fooled by Marshall’s false negative attacks when they know that Republican XYZ will work tirelessly to preserve and protect Medicare in Congress.”

CLAIM: “Republican XYZ voted/wants to end Medicare.”
FACT: This claim is so completely false that it has the dubious honor of being PolitiFact.com’s 2011 “Lie of the Year.” Politic Fact says, “Democrats and liberals overreached: They ignored the fact that the Ryan plan would not affect people currently in Medicare — or even the people 55 to 65 who would join the program in the next 10 years. They used harsh terms such as ‘end’ and ‘kill’ when the program would still exist.” (“Lie of the Year 2011: ‘Republicans voted to end Medicare,” St. Petersburg Times PolitiFact, 12/20/2011)

• Editorial Boards Say It Is A “Total Lie.” “That group claims the House Republicans ‘end Medicare.’ Period. That’s a total lie.” (Editorial, “Ending Medicare: A Big, Scary Lie,”The [New Hampshire] Union Leader, 4/23/11)

• Democrat Kate Marshall supports cutting $500 billion from Medicare to pay for her government takeover of healthcare. “[T]the Obama health law, passed by Democrats last year, already eviscerated Medicare… Rep. Paul Ryan’s entitlement-reform vision … would undo much of the damage, while charting a new course to ensure Medicare doesn’t run out of money.” (Who ended ‘Medicare as we know it’?, New York Post, 5/24/11)

CLAIM: “Republican XYZ wants you to pay $6,400 more for the same coverage.”

FACT: Republican XYZ supports a plan that lifts the burden of debt that threatens jobs while preserving Medicare for current seniors & future retirees. According to President Obama’s own Medicare Trustees Medicare will go bankrupt in 2024 and will require an immediate 17-percent reduction in benefits and a 24-percent increase in taxes.

•Kate Marshall wants to let Medicare go bankrupt by refusing to act, which will end Medicare’s trust fund by 2024, and eventually force massive cuts to seniors’ benefits and tax hikes. (Richard Wolf, “Medicare, Social Security Money Running Out Faster,” USA Today, 5/13/2011)

o Obama-Appointed Medicare Trustees: Medicare Will Go Bankrupt In 2024, Five Years Earlier Than Forecast Last Year: “Medicare’s trust fund will run dry in 2024, five years earlier than forecast just last year, and Social Security’s will be exhausted by 2036, adding fuel to the debate over cutting one or both programs to reduce annual budget deficits.” (Richard Wolf, “Medicare, Social Security Money Running Out Faster,” USA Today, 5/13/2011)

o Democrat Plan Means An “Immediate 17-Percent Reduction” In Benefits Or “Immediate 24-Percent Increase” In Taxes: “The long-range financial imbalance could be addressed in several different ways. In theory, the standard 2.90-percent payroll tax and the additional tax 0.9-percent tax on high-income earners could be immediately increased by the amount of the actuarial deficit to 3.69 percent, or expenditures could be reduced by a corresponding amount. Note, however, that these changes would require an immediate 24-percent increase in the tax rate or an immediate 17-percent reduction in expenditures.” (pp. 28-29, “2011 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance and Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Funds,” The Boards of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance and Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Funds, 5/13/2011)

CLAIM: “Republican XYZ wants to privatize Medica
re.”
FACT: The Republican plan makes no changes to Medicare for people fifty-five years or older and preserves Medicare for younger generations. The plan keeps Medicare from going bankrupt and forcing cuts in benefits for current seniors. The Democrats would raid the Medicare trust fund to pay for ObamaCare, let Medicare go bankrupt and give government bureaucrats the power to ration healthcare for seniors.

•Kate Marshall supports a plan that will empower a panel of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats in Washington to cut Medicare spending and to interfere with seniors and their doctors, endangering seniors’ access healthcare. (David Nather, “Medicare cost-cutting job could be worst in D.C.,” Politico, 5/14/2011)

CLAIM: “Republican XYZ wants to replace Medicare with vouchers.”
FACT: Republicans have the only plan to preserve and protect Medicare. For those 54 and younger, Medicare would let future retirees choose from competing plans that fit their needs best, offering the same kinds of choices Members of Congress currently enjoy and operate in a manner similar to that of the popular Medicare prescription drug benefit. The plan would only apply to younger workers and would allow future retirees to choose from a list of guaranteed coverage options that will drive costs down and quality up.

• WSJ: Obama Medicare Plan Created Under Healthcare Law Is “Rationing,” Will “Throw Granny Over The Cliff”: “One place to start is by attacking the Democratic plan to cut Medicare via political rationing. … The ObamaCare bill goes to great lengths to shelter this 15-member, unelected board from Congressional review, with the goal of letting these bureaucrats throw granny over the cliff if Medicare isn’t reformed.” (Editorial, “The GOP’s New York Spanking,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/26/2011)

PAID MEDIA – In 2011 during a special election in Nevada, Democrats pounded on Republican candidate Mark Amodei for his supposed "pledge to end Medicare." The Amodei campaign responded with an offensive paid media campaign tying his Democrat opponent to ObamaCare’s Medicare cuts. The Wall Street Journal even praised his strategy in an editorial.

“Mr. Amodei showed that Republicans can withstand these entitlement attacks if they fight back in a tenacious, honest and reassuring fashion. The former Silver State legislator put his mother on the air to talk about reforming Medicare, not ending it. He also went on offense against Mrs. Marshall by tying her to ObamaCare and the President’s economic policies, a particular concern in Nevada where joblessness is the highest in the nation at 12.9%. The result: The Republican won in a rout, 58% to 36%, and the Democrat did poorly around usually competitive Reno.” (Wall Street Journal, 9/15/2011)

MAIL/TELE-TOWN HALLS – Direct mail and senior tele-town halls also provide an important medium for you to inoculate yourself from these attacks. In the NV-02 special election, seniors received 3 pieces of mail before and during the Medicare skirmish on TV. These pieces reinforced the contrast between the Republican candidate who was working to “protect Medicare” and the Democrat who supported $500 billion in Medicare cuts. Senior tele-town halls allow you to directly speak to thousands of seniors on this issue.

BOTTOM LINE – Communication is VITAL. The 2010 seniors “revolt” was anger directed at Obama’s healthcare takeover. You cannot give Democrats the opportunity to distort your position on Medicare without fighting back. (In the NY 26 Special, Medicare went from 7% on the issue matrix to 23% among all voters and 34% among seniors on the issue matrix in just 49 days.) Voters over the age of 55 are the most attentive part of the electorate. They read and hear everything. Investing time, energy and resources communicating with them is never wasted.