It’s deja vu all over again for Democratic critics of the GOP budget drafted by House Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., as they ready an aggressive ad campaign to warn seniors that the Republicans want to kill Medicare.
The critical effort worked well last year when Ryan, chairman of the Budget Committee, revealed his budget that would make reform to Medicare to save the program while also putting the nation on a path toward a balanced budget. Polls found the plan unpopular.
This year, with an improved version in the new Ryan budget just passed by the House, the groups that attacked in 2011 are stepping up their game in time for the fall election. One key example: Americans United for Change has teamed up with AFSCME to launch TV ads targeting elderly voters that attack House Republicans who voted for the Ryan budget last week.
Their anti-Ryan ad, for example, notes that locals “gave that young man an earful” after the budget passed last year. “You’d think he’d have learned his lesson. Think again.”
Gerald McEntee, president of the public sector union AFSCME, noted that the Ryan budget leaves intact tax breaks for corporations. “The health of seniors should be a higher priority than tax breaks for the wealthiest individuals and corporations,” he said.
And Americans United for Change Executive Director Tom McMahon mocked how GOP leaders have called themselves courageous for proposing a tight budget. “Can anyone tell me what is ‘courageous’ about forcing seniors in nursing homes on Medicaid to find somewhere else to go,” he asked.
The GOP, of course, has been anticipating the attacks and have been crafting a better message than they had last year, this time warning that if Medicare goes unchanged, it will go bankrupt.
