Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Medicare: Still Popular. Ryan Plan: Not So Much.

Only 36 percent of the public supports Paul Ryan's Medicare plan, while 45 percent oppose it.

When asked specifically about replacing guaranteed coverage with vouchers, that support drops to 19 percent.

Ryan's plan to gut Medicare and the rest of the social safety net to save a recession-battered federal budget is the whole basis of his press image as a serious policy expert. Though as Paul Krugman pointed out recently, Ryan's plan isn't merely unpopular, it's a bluff:

"... What Mr. Ryan actually offers, then, are specific proposals that would sharply increase the deficit, plus an assertion that he has secret tax and spending plans that he refuses to share with us, but which will turn his overall plan into deficit reduction. ..."

It would be a shame if any public confusion remained about who introduced this disastrous idea. The Romney campaign has so far been able to obfuscate the fact that their vice presidential pick is the leading champion of ending Medicare as a guaranteed health coverage program and turning it into the world's biggest Groupon discount for private insurance.

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