The Democrats’ Mediscare Dud

November 5, 2012

The Democrats’ Mediscare Dud

Democrats’ Mediscare Lies Fall Flat As Voters Hold Them Accountable for Cutting Medicare to Pay for ObamaCare Instead of Growing the Economy

For months, Democrats have loudly predicted that they could Mediscare their way to the House majority, but on the eve of the election, Democrats are about to be proven quite wrong.
The Democrats have struggled to paper over their decisions to cut Medicare to pay for ObamaCare and to empower a board of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats to affect seniors’ healthcare decisions.
Just as in 2010, Democrats continue to pay a political price for ramming through a government takeover of healthcare that no one wanted instead of putting forth pro-growth policies that create jobs.

For months, Democrats have loudly predicted that they could Mediscare their way to the House majority, but on the eve of the election, Democrats are about to be proven quite wrong:

PELOSI: “MEDICARE, MEDICARE, MEDICARE, THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES IN THE CAMPAIGN”: “ ‘Aug. 11 — mark that date on your calendar — when Ryan was chosen, that made a very big difference. Because Medicare, Medicare, Medicare, the three most important issues in the campaign, in alphabetical order — that issue was clarified, the focus was on it,’ House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said a few weeks ago in an interview with MSNBC.” (Sam Baker, “Medicare Fades as Majority Maker for House Dems,” The Hill, 11/3/2012)

STEVE ISRAEL: PAUL RYAN IS THE DCCC “MAJORITY MAKER”: “ ‘Mitt Romney this morning may have just become the most recent DCCC majority maker,’ said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel in an interview with The Huffington Post. ‘It’s no question, we have been slogging uphill to get the majority. We needed a national breeze at our backs, and Mitt Romney may have given us that breeze this morning.’” (Sam Stein, “Steve Israel: Paul Ryan’s Selection May Have Become Democrats’ ‘Majority Maker’ in House,” The Huffington Post, 8/11/2012)

27 OUT OF 51 DCCC ADS IN AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER WERE ON MEDISCARE: “Democrats have showered districts across the country with TV ads showcasing the Ryan plan and portraying Republicans as coldblooded bureaucrats who want to do away with entitlement programs. In August and September, 27 of the 51 ads that the DCCC aired focused on Medicare.” (Alex Isenstadt, “Paul Ryan Plan Not the Weapon House Dems Had Expected,” Politico, 10/9/2012)

THE DEMOCRATS’ MEDISCARE FAIL:

THE HILL: “MEDICARE FADES AS ‘MAJORITY MAKER’ FOR HOUSE DEMS,” TURNS OUT “TO BE A DUD”: “Attacking Paul Ryan’s Medicare plan — once seen as the most potent weapon in House Democrats’ campaign arsenal — is turning out to be a dud.” (Sam Baker, “Medicare Fades as Majority Maker for House Dems,” The Hill, 11/3/2012)

BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK: “HOUSE DEMOCRATS NOT GETTING THE MEDICARE TRACTION THEY SOUGHT”: “’The percentage of the electorate that cares about Medicare as their foremost issue’ is ‘just nowhere compared to the economy and jobs,’ said David Wasserman, House analyst for the Washington-based Cook Political Report. ‘Republicans have effectively neutralized that line of attack by pointing to Obamacare.’” (James Rowley, “House Democrats Not Getting the Medicare Traction They Sought,” Bloomberg Businessweek, 11/2/2012)

POLITICO: “PAUL RYAN PLAN NOT THE WEAPON HOUSE DEMS EXPECTED”: (Alex Isenstadt, “Paul Ryan Plan Not the Weapon House Dems Had Expected,” Politico, 10/9/2012)

MEDISCARE PLAN HAS “TURNED OUT TO BE MOSTLY WISHFUL THINKING”: “Two months later, that’s turned out to be mostly wishful thinking.” (Alex Isenstadt, “Paul Ryan Plan Not the Weapon House Dems Had Expected,” Politico, 10/9/2012)

The Democrats have struggled to paper over their decisions to cut Medicare to pay for ObamaCare and to empower a board of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats to affect seniors’ healthcare decisions:

POLITIFACT: 2011 “LIE OF THE YEAR”: “REPUBLICANS VOTED TO END MEDICARE”:(Bill Adair and Angie Drobnic Holan, “Lie of the Year 2011: ‘Republicans Voted to End Medicare,” PolitiFact, 12/20/2011)

DEMOCRATS CUT $716 BILLION FROM MEDICARE TO PAY FOR OBAMACARE: (Douglas Elmendorf, “Letter to the Honorable John Boehner,”Congressional Budget Office, 7/24/2012)

DOCTORS HAVE ALREADY HAD TO STOP TAKING MEDICARE PATIENTS: “ ‘I love taking care of Medicare patients,’ Wertsch told the Capital Times, a progressive paper in Madison. ‘But every time we treat them we have to dig into our wallets. What kind of business model is that?’ Today, Medicare patients represent one-quarter of Wildwood’s practice overall, and as much as 70 percent for some of the clinic’s veterans, like Wertsch. In 2011, Wildwood decided to stop accepting new patients from the Medicare program.” (Avik Roy, “How ObamaCare’s $716 Billion in Cuts Will Drive Doctors Out of Medicare,” Forbes, 8/20/2012)

DOCTOR AND PATIENT GROUPS: IPAB’S CUTS “WOULD LEAD TO A REDUCTION IN ACCESS TO CARE”: “The Independent Payment Advisory Board, created under the health care law to help control Medicare costs, lacks flexibility to do much more than cut provider payments that would lead to a reduction in access to care, witnesses told a House Ways and Means panel March 6.” (Ralph Lindeman, “IPAB Would Reduce Access to Care, Witnesses Tell Ways and Means Panel,” Bloomberg, 3/7/2012)

12,000 DOCTORS OF AMERICAN PODIATRIC MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: IPAB WILL “SEVERELY LIMIT MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES’ ACCESS TO CARE” AND “INCREASE HEALTH-CARE COSTS”: “[Our] members believe that the ill-conceived Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) contained in the Affordable Care Act will not only severely limit Medicare beneficiaries’ access to care but also increase health-care costs that are shifted onto the private sector.” (Michael J. King, American Podiatric Medical Association,” Letter to House Energy & Commerce Committee, 2/28/2012)

Just as in 2010, Democrats continue to pay a political price for ramming through a government takeover of healthcare that no one wanted instead of putting forth pro-growth policies that create jobs:

54% FAVOR REPEAL OF HEALTHCARE LAW, 39% OPPOSE REPEAL: (“Health Care Law,” Rasmussen Reports, 10/29/2012)

GALLUP ISSUES RANKING: 63% NAME “ECONOMY IN GENERAL” OR “UNEMPLOYMENT” AS MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE; 2% NAME MEDICARE, 7% NAME HEALTHCARE: (Lydia Saad, “Economy is Dominant Issue for Americans as Election Nears,” Gallup, 10/22/2012)

DES MOINES REGISTER TO OBAMA: WHY DIDN’T YOU FOCUS MORE ON THE ECONOMY?: “Do you have any regrets taking on some of the economic issues, some of the issues that we’re talking about for your second term, that when you had the chance, so to speak, during your first — do you have any regrets that you didn’t do that at that time?” (“After Editor’s Blog, President Obama Releases Transcript of Register Interview,” The Des Moines Register, 10/24/2012)

OBAMA DOUBLED DOWN ON OBAMACARE, DEFENDED NEED FOR MORE “STIMULUS”: “And the suggestion somehow that if we hadn’t pursued Obamacare, somehow we would have gotten additional stimulus out of the Republicans, for example, that we could have primed the pump more, that’s just not borne out by any of the evidence.” (“After Editor’s Blog, President Obama Releases Transcript of Register Interview,” The Des Moines Register, 10/24/2012)

BUT THE ECONOMY CONTINUES TO STRUGGLE, AND OBAMACARE IS MAKING THINGS WORSE:

AP: “ECONOMIC RECOVERY IS THE WEAKEST SINCE WORLD WAR II”: (Paul Wiseman, “Economic Recovery is the Weakest Since World War II,” Associated Press, 8/15/2012)

PEW: “A RECOVERY NO BETTER THAN THE RECCESION”: (Rakesh Kochar, “A Recovery No Better Than the Recession,” Pew Research Center, 9/12/2012)

DEMOCRATS PROMISED STIMULUS WOULD BRING UNEMPLOYMENT RATE TO 5.4% BY NOW: (Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein, “The Job Impact Of The American Recovery And Reinvestment Plan,” 1/9/09)

UNEMPLOYMENT UP FROM 7.8 TO 7.9% SINCE OBAMA TOOK OFFICE. (“Employment Situation Summary,” Bureau Of Labor Statistics, 11/2/2012)

The Democrats’ Mediscare Dud http://ow.ly/f0KR6