After House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) told reporters at a press conference Thursday that Democrats were using “Medi-scare tactics” to slow down Medicare privatization, incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) fired back.
“We are taking Republicans at their own word: Speaker Ryan has pushed to privatize Medicare for years and the President-elect has nominated a champion of that effort to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services,” Schumer said in a released statement. “The people who are genuinely and rightly scared are millions of American seniors who don’t believe privatization of Medicare will be in their interest.”
During his presser, Ryan said “what’s happening is you’re getting the latest wave of Democratic talking points to try to play Medi-scare politics, which is what they typically do every other Tuesday.”
In the Senate, Republicans have been trying to downplay Ryan’s interest in pushing forward a plan he calls “premium support,” which privatizes Medicare and fundamentally changes the program. The plan is controversial and has been a bridge too far for some Republicans even as they say some changes need to be made to the program to improve its long-term financial stability. Some have even been arguing that Republicans simply aren’t talking about it.
“Nobody is talking about that beside Senator Schumer. So I don’t expect — I haven’t heard anyone propose that on our side. Its a pretty good boogeyman for them to point at and scare people,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) told reporters earlier this week.
Ryan has been pretty vocal about his plans, however. On Thursday he once again argued the program needed to be overhauled.
More messaging fail. Fucking idiot. You said nothing about the FACT that it’s not going bankrupt and that the ACA helped it save something like $500M so far by forcing doctors/providers to be more accountable for their billing.
A couple of weeks ago, I contacted my Senator-For-Life about this matter. I received a reply just this morning about it.
Please note his calm reassurances about…something. Hatch undoubtedly knows where he stands, but he’s not yet willing to make it known. I’m pretty sure, however, that when push comes to shove, he’ll toe the party line, whatever that may be at that particular time. For now, he’s playing it safe:
Dear Mr. (CharlieE):
Thank you for your e-mail comments about Medicare. I appreciate hearing from you.
As the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Medicare program, let me assure you that I will continue looking out for fellow Utahns who are in their older years. I worked hard to ensure that the Medicare drug benefit would provide assistance to those who need it the most. In addition, I strongly support providing seniors with viable options for long-term care coverage and am working with my colleagues to find ways that long-term care coverage will be more accessible to seniors.
Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me. If you would like to receive regular updates on my work in the U.S. Senate, I encourage you to subscribe visit my Facebook page and follow me on Twitter.
Your Senator,
Orrin G. Hatch
United States Senator
Schumer is getting the better of Ryan on this, but it’s more about setting up the GOP to pay a political price after this is done rather than stopping the legislation, which Dems can’t.
Dear Chuck
Just call Ryan, a zombie-eyed granny starver. You will feel great in the end.