I have a new article at National Review Online on how the Romney campaign can and should go on the offensive against Obama for his cuts to Medicare.
The selection of Ryan has also been a revealing moment for the mainstream media. In these first days after the announcement, the media have largely played along with the Democratic story line that the selection of Ryan will put the Republicans on the defensive over Medicare in the run-up to November. They have told this story by repeating over and over completely inaccurate descriptions of the policy positions of the candidates.
A fair reading of the facts shows that the Romney-Ryan campaign has every reason to believe that they can put the Obama-Biden ticket on the defensive over Medicare. The most salient fact is that, to pass Obamacare, the president cut Medicare by more than $700 billion over the coming decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). And these cuts are of the worst kind. They are arbitrary and across the board. They reduce reimbursement rates for all who provide services to Medicare patients, regardless of how well or badly they treat their patients. Among the cuts is a $156 billion reduction in payments to Medicare Advantage plans over ten years. These cuts will force seniors to pay $3,700 more for their health care by 2017, according to a study I co-authored with Robert Book (for those who might be interested, the cuts are distributed by congressional district here). The Medicare trustees project that the cuts will drive some 4 million seniors out of Medicare Advantage plans between 2012 and 2018.
You can read the rest of the article here.
