Last updated on September 22nd, 2012 at 07:18 pm
Paul Ryan tried selling the AARP on his Medicare privatization plan and attacks on ObamaCare and was met with groans and boos by the crowd in attendance.
Here is the video:
Ryan said, “It represents the worst of both worlds. It weakens Medicare for today’s seniors and puts it at risk for the next generation. First, it funnels $716 billion out of Medicare to pay for a new entitlement we didn’t even ask for. Second, it puts 15 unelected bureaucrats in charge of Medicare’s future.”
This group of educated AARP voters weren’t buying it as Ryan’s claims were met with a mixture of silence, groans, cries of no, and boos. Ryan expanded on his 15 bureaucrats lie, and he was met with silence.
Ryan’s remarks were based around two lies that factcheckers have already widely debunked. Ryan’s claim that Obama takes $716 billion away from seniors. PolitiFact rated his statement, “Ryan’s comments are highly misleading. Neither Obama nor his health care law literally cut funding from the Medicare program’s budget. Still, the number has a slight basis in fact… So, yes, Obama’s law did find $716 billion in spending reductions. They were mainly aimed at insurance companies and hospitals, not beneficiaries. The law made significant reductions to Medicare Advantage, a subset of Medicare plans run by private insurers. Medicare Advantage was started under President George W. Bush, and the idea was that competition among the private insurers would reduce costs. But the plans have actually cost the government more than traditional Medicare. The health care law scales back the payments to private insurers.”
The 15 bureaucrats lie was also debunked by PolitiFact, “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act creates the 15-member Independent Payment Advisory Board to suggest ways to limit Medicare’s spending growth. It can be overruled by Congress. Its appointments will be done in public. It will not make decisions on individual cases. The board can reduce how much the government pays health care providers for services, reduce payments to hospitals with very high rates of readmissions or recommend innovations that cut wasteful spending. It may not raise premiums for Medicare beneficiaries or increase deductibles, co-insurance or co-payments. The IPAB also cannot change who is eligible for Medicare, restrict benefits or make recommendations that would raise revenue.”
The applause for Ryan was polite at best, and his attacks on Obama were regularly booed. Ryan claimed that the president hasn’t moved towards bi-partisanship and was met with more boos and people in the audience saying, “that’s not true.”
Paul Ryan went to the AARP’s Life @ 50 Conference, looked seniors in the eye and completely lied to them. The biggest applause that Ryan got for his remarks was when he talked about his mother, a.k.a. the Medicare Human Shield.
Ryan completely bombed in front of the AARP, and it is becoming clear that any future in national politics that he once had is being destroyed by his disastrous turn as Romney’s running mate.
Paul Ryan best take his Obama, Obamacare and Medicare lies somewhere else, because America’s seniors weren’t buying what he was selling.
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