Pawlenty: If president, I’d sign Ryan Medicare overhaul into law
Thursday, May 26, 2011 at 2:39 pm
- 10 Comments
Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan to overhaul Medicare, voted down by the Senate last night, may carry electoral risk for those who back it, as recent state and national survey data suggests, yet presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty is now backing the plan.
He made this statement to reporters in New Hampshire, according to Politico:
First of all, I applaud Congressman Ryan for his courage and his leadership in putting his plan forward. At least he has a plan. President Obama doesn’t have a plan. The Democrats don’t have a plan. And I really applaud his leadership and his courage in putting a plan on the table. Number two, we will have our own plan; it will have many similarities to Congressman Ryan’s plan, but it will have some differences, one of which will be we’ll address Social Security. He chose not to; we are addressing Social Security. And the Medicare part of our plan will have some differences, too. It will have some similarities also. So we’ll have our own plan. But if I can’t have my own plan — as president, I’ll have my own plan [but] if I can’t have that, and the bill came to my desk and I had to choose between signing or not Congressman Ryan’s plan, of course I would sign it.
That drew a quick response from Democrats. Citing her party’s win in a New York special congressional election this week — a race that many see as a referendum on Ryan’s plan — DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz released a statement about a plan she said “even Newt Gingrich called ‘radical.’”
“[N]ow it’s clear that [Pawlenty] would ignore the wishes of the American people and the best interests of this nation and its seniors in order to win the approval of the far right,” she said. “Governor Pawlenty may have passed his party’s primary litmus test by voicing his approval of a plan to end Medicare – but he has failed a critical leadership test.”
She continued, “If he can’t stand up to the far right of his party on issues as central to Americans’ well-being as Medicare, how does he expect us to believe he would exercise independent, reasoned judgment as President? It’s clear that if Governor Pawlenty were elected President he would embrace far-right Republican policies, piling additional burdens on America’s seniors, young people, and working families in order to provide additional benefits to big oil and the wealthiest few.”
As MinnPost’s Derek Wallbank notes, Pawlenty was in Washington yesterday on his “truth tour,” where he sidestepped a yes-or-no question on whether he’d support Ryan’s plan.
10 Comments
Comment posted May 26, 2011 @ 2:55 pm
Yes Tim and your wife would be there to pull the plug on the uninsured elderly, all in the name of the Lord.
Praise Jebus, God hates shared responsibilities, Amen.
Comment posted May 26, 2011 @ 3:10 pm
In this context, “courageous” really means “fucking nuts.”
I hate Pawlenty so much. I can’t wait to see him and his campaign go down in a blazing shitstorm.
Comment posted May 26, 2011 @ 3:12 pm
Remember when tea partiers swarmed Democrats’ offices shrieking about how they should “keep your hands off my Medicare”? Then remember how Pawlenty has been courting the tea party? Should be interesting to see what happens if the aforementioned tea partiers really meant what they were shouting, or if it was just political theater.
Comment posted May 26, 2011 @ 3:43 pm
So he’s already waffling on his waffling? That’s some truthiness he’s got there!
Comment posted May 26, 2011 @ 4:14 pm
I’m with Disco on this.. Gov T baggs uses the word “Courage” like toilet paper at a chili cook off.. I think he’s trying to sell more of his LAME ASS book.. “Courage to Stand” Duh Huh Huh uhhhh… It would be like today’s Republikan Corporate Hand Job Party to liken “Courage” to privatizing the wealth of our public treasury .and bankrupting the country at the expense of our youth and our elderly.. It’s kinda like saying , “As soon as I’m done going to the playground and beating up a two year old .girl, then I’m gonna go to the nursing home and set it on fire.. Aint’ I Courageous.. Duh Huh Huh Uhhhhh..
Comment posted May 26, 2011 @ 6:33 pm
Yea..you hear that ? All you people 55 and under….basically..if your middle class or less – your on your own…….would NEVER Vote GOP….ever.
Comment posted May 27, 2011 @ 7:16 pm
Paul Ryan says his Medicare Plan “WILL NOT change Medicare as we know it today” In fact, he claims it “will save and improve Medicare” .. .
On April 5, when Doug Elmendorf, Director of non-partisan CBO, wrote to Ryan re his analysis….his comments seem to contradict Ryan’s spin:
“The Ryan Plan would change the nature of the entitlement under Medicare & Medicaid, from Government paying whatever is needed to honor prescribed healthcare benefits….to a fixed federal contribution. For Medicare, that contribution is in the form of per capita payments; for Medicaid, the fed govt would provide block grants to states that would grow from year to year on the basis of consumer prices and population growth,” (page 16)
“Under Ryan Plan, the gradually increasing number of beneficiaries in the premium support program would bear a much larger share of their health care costs than under traditional Medicare. That greater burden would require them to reduce their use of health care services, spend less on other goods & services, or save more in advance of retirement than they would under current law.” (page 19)
“…a typical beneficiary would spend more under Ryan proposal;..private plans would cost more than under traditional Medicare….and the government’s contribution would grow more slowly than health care costs, leaving more for beneficiaries to pay. Paying more for health care would be particularly challenging for elderly people with less savings & lower income.” (pages 23-24)
“Chairman Ryan’s Plan would shift some of the burden of Medicaid’s growing costs onto the states. He would, however, relieve some of the burden on the states by repealing Medicaid provisions in PPACA and, starting in 2022, eliminating certain benefits for the elderly.” (page 26)
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/121xx/doc12128/04-05-Ryan_Letter.pdf
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At same time Ryan Plan’s would burden our elderly & poor with significantly higher health costs, he would also cut their benefits & quality of care in order to reduce federal health spending even more…..so his plan budget can pay for making Bush Tax Cuts for wealthiest Americans & profit-rich corporations permanent.
Comment posted May 29, 2011 @ 12:25 am
With his support of the Ryan Plan, has positioned himself as the Anti-Medicare candidate.
Comment posted May 29, 2011 @ 12:27 am
A fitting punishment for Tim Pawlenty would be to finish behind Michelle Bachmann. They are both sub-pathetic.
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