Ryan Slammed On the Medicare Question

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright August 16, 2012
All Rights Reserved.                                         

          Stopping for a Funnel Cake at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, GOP Vice Presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) found out the hard way that there’s nothing automatic about his Midwestern roots.  Speaking on a soapbox, Ryan found enough hecklers in the audience to get him rattled.  “I heard that President Obama is starting his bus tour today, and I heard he wasn’t going to come to the Iowa State Fair,” said Ryan, in a folksy icebreaker hoping to make friends.  “Are you going to cut Medicare,” shouted a woman in the audience.  Iowans have a funny way of cutting to the chase, much to Ryan’s surprise.  “It’s funny because Iowans and Wisconsinites, we like to respectful of one another and peaceful with one another and listen to one another,” said Ryan, clearly thrown for a loop. As head of the House Budget Committee, Ryan’s proposals slash entitlement programs.

`           Picking Ryan was no safe pick for GOP Presidential nominee former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.  He knew that many would question whether or not he subscribed to Ryan’s radical cuts to the federal budget.  Mitt’s said for some time “something dramatic” must be done to deal with U.S. debt, especially the current $1.2 trillion federal budget deficit.  Both he and Ryan subscribe to GOP Party boss Grover Norquist’s “No Tax Pledge,” preventing them from raising taxes, even on the super-rich.  Ryan finds it rude being asked about what he intends to do with Medicare and Social Security.  Questions about Medicare, Social Security and other entitlements now come into the picture that voters face a big choice in November.  Neither Romney nor Ryan want to admit that their plan for generating more private sectors jobs involves reducing the deficit by slashing government jobs.

            Ryan’s Congressional budget proposal takes no prisoners in terms of draconic cuts to the nation’s social safety net, including Medicare and Social Security.  Now that he’s joined a national campaign, he can’t expect his audience to ignore his voting record.  Bashing President Barack Obama is easy from his Congressional armchair.  Now that he’s with real people, especially the elderly, on the campaign trail, they’re sensitive to messing with retirement income.  As age 42, it’s difficult for Ryan to comprehend how the government’s safety net keeps seniors alive-and-well at a vulnerable time of life.  Balancing the budget on the backs of the elderly, disabled and poor won’t sit well with real people.  Conservative radio and TV talk shows don’t reflect the real needs of people dependent on government help.  Listeners often collect Social Security checks and use Medicare while ranting about the system.

            Millionaire talk show hosts aren’t concerned about government entitlement programs, often disparaging those collecting benefits.  “My guess is the reason that President Obama isn’t making it here from Council Bluffs is he only knows left turns, but as you see the president come through on his bus tour you may ask him the same question I get asked all over America and that is where are the jobs Mr. President,” said Ryan, switch back to his talking points.  Ryan hasn’t visited his own backyard in Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa and Illinois, where General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are back on three shifts adding more jobs everyday.  He and Mitt have made it clear they would not have bailed out Detroit in their darkest hour when Barack signed historic $787 billion bailout legislation March 17, 2009.  When Ryan asks about jobs, autoworkers in Detroit don’t know what he’s talking about.

            If Barack had really mismanaged the economy since taking office Jan. 20, 2009, the Dow Jones Industrial Average wouldn’t have risen 70%.  Rising from 8,000 to over 13,100, the Dow reflects increased profitability by the nation’s most stable blue-chip companies.  Romney, a former venture capitalist with Bain Capital, knows that stock prices don’t rise unless Wall Street’s earnings improve.  Neither Romney nor Ryan complained about the economic disaster under former President George W. Bush where that nation’s biggest banks ran out cash.  With rare exceptions, the banking sector has made a stunning recovery under Obama’s economic policies.  Where were Mitt and Paul’s complaints when the nation lost over 250,000 jobs a month under Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney.  Cheney lives on a different planet telling voters things were better when he was in office.

             Ryan does well on the campaign stump as long as he’s not asked about what he plans to do with government entitlement programs and foreign wars.  Romney dismissed questions about whether he supports the Ryan budget that cuts Medicare, Social Security and other government entitlements.  By saying he’s on the same page as Ryan, Mitt commits himself to the same budget priorities listed in Ryan’s budget.  “End the wars” and “stop the wars on the common good,” said a voter to Ryan.  Neither Ryan nor Romney talks of the savings from ending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Spending over $1 trillion and losing over 4,600 lives, both wars according to Nobel Prize winning Columbia University economist Joseph I. Stiglitz drove the economy into recession.  Neither Romney nor Ryan wants to talk about over 4 million jobs added since April 2010—only what could have been.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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