Some unexpectedly lukewarm words from Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) on the House GOP budget — which she voted for.
“I supported that budget blueprint, though I’ve expressed caution about how we approach the issue of Medicare,” Bachmann wrote in a post at the conservative website Red State. “We must keep our promises to those who receive Medicare benefits, and those who are nearing the age of Medicare eligibility. Our challenge is to reduce the soaring amounts that government spends on health care, without burdening those who are most vulnerable.”
This is technically compatible with the plan Republicans voted for two weeks ago, which phases out Medicare for everybody under 55 and replaces it with a private insurance system. But it’s a far cry from the jubilant spin most Republicans use to defend the vote — that they’re “saving” Medicare.
In the recent past, Bachmann has been blunter about her vision for the safety net. In a speech in February 2010, she explained “what you have to do, is keep faith with the people that are already in the system, that don’t have any other options, we have to keep faith with them. But basically what we have to do is wean everybody else off.”
And wean everybody off because we have to take those unfunded net liabilities off our bank sheet, we can’t do it. So we just have to be straight with people. So basically, whoever our nominee is, is going to have to have a Glenn Beck chalkboard and explain to everybody this is the way it is.
Just over a week ago, she tried a different tack.
She dubbed Ryan’s plan the 55 and under plan. In other words, no one currently at retirement age would be affected by the proposed changes.
“That’s an extremely crucial piece of information,” Bachmann said. “We don’t want any senior citizen to feel, or near senior citizen, I’m 55 years old, and so it wouldn’t apply to me either. And so there are no changes to people who are 55 years of age or older.”
It’s a leap to characterize this as a sign of faltering GOP support for their budget. But it illustrates just how delicate a balance Republicans have to walk on this issue, and trying to sell it to current seniors with hand waving about keeping entitlements unchanged for current seniors isn’t doing the trick.
