Published in the Washington Post on August 15, 2012.
WASHINGTON — Speaker John Boehner is urging rank-and-file House Republicans to go on offense over Medicare as Democrats argue that the GOP presidential ticket of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan would end the government-run health care program that seniors have embraced for decades.
In a conference call with members Tuesday night, Boehner pushed back against both the Democratic criticism and the unnamed GOP strategists who fret that Ryan’s plans for Medicare will hurt GOP candidates, especially in battleground states with significant numbers of seniors such as Florida, Iowa and Pennsylvania.
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Democratic candidates have been linking GOP incumbents who voted for the Ryan budget to the vice presidential candidate and his blueprint.
“The Ryan-Bass Plan would end Medicare as we know it and gut the key investments we need to grow the economy and strengthen the middle class — all in order to pay for massive new tax cuts for millionaires, big oil companies, and corporations that ship jobs overseas,” Annie Kuster, a Democrat looking to unseat Republican Rep. Charles Bass of New Hampshire, said Wednesday.