The Obama campaign would like voters to believe that Paul Ryans Medicare plan would end Medicare as we know it -- privatizing the whole system and costing seniors more than $6000 extra a year.
But the campaign even before Ryan was selected as Mitt Romneys running mate has effectively been running against the wrong Ryan plan.
The presidents accusations largely refer to Ryans 2011 plan ignoring the fact that the House Budget Committee chairman rolled out a different version in 2012 -- taking into account Democratic critiques. Though the 2012 plan is more moderate Obama and his surrogates have all but ignored the newer version as they amp up their accusations against the Romney-Ryan ticket.
Most glaringly the campaign has omitted a key point.
While Ryans 2011 plan proposes to give seniors a government payment to buy private insurance his 2012 plan offers seniors a choice.
Under the blueprint seniors could use the payment to buy private insurance or stay in traditional Medicare.
This distinction rarely comes up at Obama campaign events.
Last week in Davenport Iowa Obama again accused Romney-Ryan of wanting to voucherize the Medicare system.
They want to turn Medicare into a voucher system he said. That means seniors would no longer have the guarantee of Medicare -- theyd get a voucher to buy private insurance. And if it doesnt keep up with costs well thats the seniors problem.
Obama neglected to mention the traditional Medicare option. Under the plan the two-tiered system would kick in a decade from now.
Another distinction the campaign has chosen not to make is over the average cost to seniors. For months Obama has cited an estimate that the Republican budget plan would cost Medicare seniors $6400.
The campaign repeated that claim in a new TV ad released Friday called Fact.
The ad says: And experts say his voucher plan could raise future retirees costs more than $6000. ... Get the facts.
But that estimate is from early 2011 and refers to Ryans outdated plan from the same year. Sharp-eyed viewers would see in the latest Obama ad the fine print that attributes the estimate to Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 4/8/11.
The liberal-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities indeed estimated the old plan could cost seniors $6400. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reached a similar conclusion.
However the CBO this year said it does not have the capability to estimate the individual impact of the latest Ryan plan though it cautioned beneficiaries might face higher costs.
Still Obama has continued to campaign off the outdated $6400 figure.
Somebody did the analysis -- not us somebody else Obama declared Saturday in New Hampshire. And they estimate that this could force seniors to pay as much as an extra $6400 a year for their health care.
The Medicare guarantee issue has led to exaggeration on both sides. Fact-check site Politifact rated the oft-repeated claim that Republicans voted to end Medicare as the Lie of the Year for 2011.
The same site though rebuked Romney for trying to use the same line against Obama. The Romney campaign has accused Obama of trying to dismantle Medicare by using billions in cuts to fund the federal health care overhaul. This wrote Politifact takes some shreds of truth and combines them with worst-case-scenario speculations then deploys overheated language.
The Obama campaign would like voters to believe that Paul Ryans Medicare plan would end Medicare as we know it -- privatizing the whole system and costing seniors more than $6000 extra a year.
But the campaign even before Ryan was selected as Mitt Romneys running mate has effectively been running against the wrong Ryan plan.
The presidents accusations largely refer to Ryans 2011 plan ignoring the fact that the House Budget Committee chairman rolled out a different version in 2012 -- taking into account Democratic critiques. Though the 2012 plan is more moderate Obama and his surrogates have all but ignored the newer version as they amp up their accusations against the Romney-Ryan ticket.
Most glaringly the campaign has omitted a key point.
While Ryans 2011 plan proposes to give seniors a government payment to buy private insurance his 2012 plan offers seniors a choice.
Under the blueprint seniors could use the payment to buy private insurance or stay in traditional Medicare.
This distinction rarely comes up at Obama campaign events.
Last week in Davenport Iowa Obama again accused Romney-Ryan of wanting to voucherize the Medicare system.
They want to turn Medicare into a voucher system he said. That means seniors would no longer have the guarantee of Medicare -- theyd get a voucher to buy private insurance. And if it doesnt keep up with costs well thats the seniors problem.
Obama neglected to mention the traditional Medicare option. Under the plan the two-tiered system would kick in a decade from now.
Another distinction the campaign has chosen not to make is over the average cost to seniors. For months Obama has cited an estimate that the Republican budget plan would cost Medicare seniors $6400.
The campaign repeated that claim in a new TV ad released Friday called Fact.
The ad says: And experts say his voucher plan could raise future retirees costs more than $6000. ... Get the facts.
But that estimate is from early 2011 and refers to Ryans outdated plan from the same year. Sharp-eyed viewers would see in the latest Obama ad the fine print that attributes the estimate to Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 4/8/11.
The liberal-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities indeed estimated the old plan could cost seniors $6400. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reached a similar conclusion.
However the CBO this year said it does not have the capability to estimate the individual impact of the latest Ryan plan though it cautioned beneficiaries might face higher costs.
Still Obama has continued to campaign off the outdated $6400 figure.
Somebody did the analysis -- not us somebody else Obama declared Saturday in New Hampshire. And they estimate that this could force seniors to pay as much as an extra $6400 a year for their health care.
The Medicare guarantee issue has led to exaggeration on both sides. Fact-check site Politifact rated the oft-repeated claim that Republicans voted to end Medicare as the Lie of the Year for 2011.
The same site though rebuked Romney for trying to use the same line against Obama. The Romney campaign has accused Obama of trying to dismantle Medicare by using billions in cuts to fund the federal health care overhaul. This wrote Politifact takes some shreds of truth and combines them with worst-case-scenario speculations then deploys overheated language.
