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Last Updated: 1:04 PM GMT on October 06, 2012
— Last Comment: 3:04 AM GMT on October 07, 2012
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 WHY THE GOP IS WINNING THE MEDICARE DEBATE By: David Harsanyi You can crunch the numbers all day long, but in politics it’s perception that matters. And though it’s still early, Republicans have a chance to turn the Medicare debate into a political advantage (or a wash, which is as good as a win). The conventional thinking, the media thinking, and actually, the thinking (if we’re to believe Politico) of the entire hand-wringing GOP establishment, was that Paul Ryan’s vice presidential candidacy would make Medicare an issue and surely sink the ticket. Democrats, we were told in story after story, were just giddy over the prospect of facing the Wisconsin congressman. The debate hasn’t exactly evolved the way we were told it should. Why? One: It’s possible that voters have already priced-in the hysterical warnings from liberals about the GOP’s intent to destroy all entitlements. They’ve heard it all a million times, yet the programs’ price tag continue to grow exponentially, and often under Republican rule. Add to that increasing numbers of Americans who believe that Medicare is unsustainable and the issue has probably lost some potency for Democrats. Two: It’s not what you fear; it’s what you fear more. Seniors might be more anxious about Republicans expanding Medicare to include premium support , but they are more nervous about what Obamacare means to their future. Three: When the Affordable Health Care Act passed, Obama handed Republicans a political gift. Obamacare sucks over $700 billion from Medicare. Not that it means much, because surely few people really believe any Affordable Health Care Act cost estimates. But the president made a political calculation to keep the price tag of Obamacare under a trillion dollars to make it an easier sell to American people. So now, if Democrats argue that the $700 billion is just a cut in future growth (the truth), they are undermining the age-old left-wing definition of government “cuts”– in fact, they are undermining their argument about how Ryan’s budget “slashes” spending (it doesn’t). If Obama’s campaign argues that Ryan’s budget also cuts $700 billion (the truth), they offer Republicans another opening: Because not only did Obama decide to cut $700 billion from Medicare, unlike Ryan, he did so to fund a new entitlement program that, according to nearly every poll conducted since its passage, Americans really dislike – especially seniors. So, all of a sudden Romney-Ryan can focus on Obama’s Medicare cuts, which Obama must defend, which steers the entire conversation back to Obamacare. Romney could also mention that Obama’s Medicare cuts draw heavily from the Medicare Advantage program, which is a privately-administered health care plan that is, in spirit, similar to the premium-support programs that seniors are supposed to fear. Both Medicare Advantage enrollees and traditional Medicare enrollees oppose cutting the program under any circumstance in large numbers. Now, obviously, there is a plenty of time for Democrats to scaremonger entitlement reform to death in Florida and other swing states, but right now Obama isn’t on the attack, which is itself a victory for Romney. ~~~~~~~~~~ A couple of more points here. First the days of just being able to scare seniors with demagogic assertions is pretty much over. Not only are seniors the most prolific voters, they are the most informed, especially about their benefits such as medicare and social security. When seniors go to vote in November they will know the difference between the Romney/Ryan Plan and Obomacare etc. Second, unlike most of America seniors saw through Obama from the beginning, the over 65 crowd was the only age demographic that Obama did not carry in 2008, he received 45% of their vote, yesterday's daily Gallup tracking poll shows Obama's approval among seniors (+65) at 37%, As I pointed out before seniors don't like Obama and this mediscare tactic is not only not going to work, it is going to truly expose Obama and the Democrats for their lies on the subject. Finally all this attention to the plan is going to help Romney/Ryan with younger voters, especially people in their prime (30-45)Who know that are informed enough to know that medicare is unsustainable and want a solution to fix it for their future. The Dems are about to find out how out of touch they truly are. ************************  Create your own visitor map  ()()()()()()()()(()())()()()()()()()()() Interesting Pics 2012 ####### Jer's Photo of the Day Photos and Photo Art by Sebastianjer ************* History in Pictures ()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()() NOT EXACTLY FRONT PAGE NEWS POLLS: 'GRANNIES' VIEW PAUL RYAN VERY FAVORABLY Treasury: U.S. to lose $25 billion on auto bailout General Motors Is Headed For Bankruptcy -- Again Former Navy SEAL Team Six Commander Says Special Ops Assault on Obama Is Just Beginning ######## The religion of Climate Science The Keys to the Climate Debate HOW BAD DATA CONTRIBUTE TO GLOBAL WARMING HYSTERIA **** Good Reads Congress Isn’t Gridlocked—It’s Just Totally Irresponsible Our Not So Best and Not So Brightest Obama's Strange Dependence on Valerie Jarrett The Counterpunch Obama’s Casualties The GOP Now Owns the Medicare Issue ### TODAY'S QUOTE "The Obama campaign is veering toward antinomianism. Since it regards its own motives as pure, it feels it can dispense with the normal rules of accuracy, civility and decency." Michael Gerson
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