Ryan vs. Obama on Medicare
In this election season, we are likely to hear many charges and countercharges about who is trying to harm the elderly and who is trying to protect them — especially on the matter of Medicare.
On the one hand, there is President Barack Obama and the 2010 health care law, what some call “Obamacare.” On the other hand, there is Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan’s Republican budget.
What makes all of this vehemence so surprising is that there is no important difference in Medicare spending under the two approaches — even when the estimates of the president’s budget are made by his own Office of Management and Budget and the Ryan plan is specified by Ryan himself.
This is from a Roll Call editorial by yours truly and Tom Saving.
They will do their best to pander to the elderly vote, even by using false and misleading claims.
True policy facts will unfortunately be lost on a good portion of the voting population.
@Otis I’m not sure I can remember a time when facts carried any real weight in political discourse.
Interesting point that seems to have escaped everyone on the talk shows yesterday.
The Ryan plan isn’t perfect, but it’s a pretty good plan.