Left Attacks Ryan's Medicare Plan With Falsehoods

The Foundation

"It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself." --Thomas Jefferson

Editorial Exegesis

"One of President Obama's regular attacks on Paul Ryan's Medicare reform is that it would force seniors to pay $6,400 a year more for health care. ... The claim is based on a now out-of-date Congressional Budget Office estimate of the gap between the cost of health care a decade from now, in 2022, and the size of the House budget's premium-support subsidy for a typical 65-year-old in 2022. In other words, the $6,400 has no relevance for any senior today. None. But it also is unlikely to have any relevance for any senior ever because CBO concedes that its number is highly uncertain and 'will depend on the evolution of the health care and health insurance systems over time, which is hard to predict.' That's for sure. The more fundamental problem is that the CBO analysis has nothing to do with the current Mitt Romney-Paul Ryan plan. Nada. Over the last year Mr. Ryan has made major adjustments to his original proposal as he sought a compromise with Democrats. ... So how would Ryan 2.0 work in practice? Traditional Medicare and all private insurers in a region would make bids to cover seniors and compete for their business by offering the best value and prices. Then the government would give everyone a subsidy equal to the second-lowest bid. If seniors chose that No. 2 option, whether it was Medicare or another plan, they'd break even and pay nothing extra out of pocket. If they picked the cheapest plan, they'd keep whatever was left over after the government subsidy -- that is, they'd get a cash refund. If they instead picked the third-cheapest option, the fourth-cheapest, etc., they'd pay the difference above the government subsidy. That structure ensures that seniors would have at least two choices (and likely far more) that they are guaranteed to do better than they do now. The amount of the premium-support subsidy would also be tied to underlying health-care costs, so it would not shift costs to beneficiaries, as Democrats also falsely claim. The very reasonable Romney-Ryan policy bet is that costs could nonetheless fall over time because seniors would have the incentive to switch to the most competitively priced Medicare plan. ... None of these facts are likely to deter Democrats from their distorted claims. But the truth is that the Ryan-Romney reform isn't anywhere close to Mr. Obama's cartoon version." --The Wall Street Journal

Essential Liberty

"There are some very serious issues at stake in this year's election -- so many that some people may not be able to see the forest for the trees. Individual issues are the trees, but the forest is the future of America as we have known it. The America that has flourished for more than two centuries is being quietly but steadily dismantled by the Obama administration, during the process of dealing with particular issues. For example, the merits or demerits of President Obama's recent executive order, suspending legal liability for young people who are here illegally, presumably as a result of being brought here as children by their parents, can be debated pro and con. But such a debate overlooks the much more fundamental undermining of the whole American system of Constitutional government. The separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial branches of government is at the heart of the Constitution of the United States -- and the Constitution is at the heart of freedom for Americans." --economist Thomas Sowell

Upright

"The voters now face a stark choice. They can let Barack Obama's rambling, solipsistic narrative continue until they find themselves living in some American version of Europe, with low growth, high unemployment, even higher debt -- and real geopolitical decline. Or they can opt for real change: the kind of change that will end four years of economic underperformance, stop the terrifying accumulation of debt, and reestablish a secure fiscal foundation for American national security." --Niall Ferguson in Newsweek magazine's cover story

"Honestly, what is Todd Akin thinking? He's saying he's staying, even though the overwhelming sentiment of the sentient wing of the GOP is screaming for him to get out. ... Still, he has a few diehard defenders, who are fighting the wrong battle on his behalf. This isn't about abortion or rape or 'women's health.' Nor is it about 'defending our own' and not capitulating to the Left. ... It's about winning control of the U.S. Senate and putting a crucial swing state into the GOP column in November. Nothing -- nothing -- else matters." --National Review's Michael Walsh

"It is fascinating to watch someone on a national stage who truly fails to comprehend the reality of what he is doing. Mr. Akin seemed genuinely oblivious to what it means when all of his peers ... ask him to step aside for the sake of his cause, his beliefs, his goals, and his party's chances in November. ... [H]is statement that he acts on principle, while 'others' only consider 'politics,' evinces his failure to understand the political landscape in which he is running, the political consequences of stupid, offensive speech in public at the wrong time, and the reality that politics ain't beanbag. Bigger things -- the course of our nation -- are at stake. His vision of himself making a stand for all the unborn babies who might perish without him really needs to be subjected to the reality that he has harmed his cause by making it look nutty." --Lisa Schiffren, senior fellow at the Independent Women's Forum

Non Compos Mentis

"First of all, from what I understand from doctors, that's really rare [for rape victims to get pregnant]. If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." --GOP Senate candidate Todd Akin (R-MO) with an incomprehensibly stupid defense of his laudable opposition of abortion even in cases of rape

Insight

"Politics, and the fate of mankind, are shaped by men without ideals and without greatness." --French author Albert Camus (1913-1960)

"Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views." --National Review Founder William F. Buckley Jr. (1925-2008)

The Demo-gogues

Tolerance: "Now, [Todd] Akin's choice of words isn't the real issue here. The real issue is a Republican party -- led by Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan -- whose policies on women and their health are dangerously wrong. I'm outraged at the Republicans trying to take women back to the dark ages." --DNC head Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)

No course correction: "We've come too far to turn back now. We've got too much work to do to implement health care. We've got too much work to do to create good jobs." --Barack Obama, who has without question brought us too far

Narcissist: "I'm not going to let [Mitt Romney] win ... so that he can take all the credit when the economy turns around." --Barack Obama (The economy will really turn around only when Obama is gone.)

The BIG Lie: "The centerpiece of my opponent's entire economic plan is a new, $5 trillion tax cut, a lot of it going to the wealthiest Americans. And his new running mate, Congressman Ryan, put forward a plan that would let Gov. Romney pay less than 1 percent in taxes each year. Here's the kicker: he expects you to pick up the tab." --Barack Obama

Belly laugh of the week: "[I] don't think ... anybody who's been watching me campaign would suggest in any way we have tried to divide the country. We've always tried to bring the country together." --Barack Obama

Loud mouth: "Romney wants to let the -- he said in the first hundred days, he's going to let the big banks once again write their own rules, unchain Wall Street. They're going to put y'all back in chains." --Joe Biden to a largely black audience

Misplaced praise: "And let's not forget that this is the commander in chief who finally led the mission that brought Osama bin Laden to justice." --Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)

The BIG Lie II: "Look, again, it's now clear: We would have unemployment below 8% if it weren't for the fact that Republican policies have forced cities and states to lay off 700,000 people." --Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)

Revisionist history: "This obstruction of the president is something quite new. We got a good deal done when President Bush was president because we said, 'How can we work together to get results -- to solve problems for the American people?' But [Republicans] have just made a decision to obstruct President Obama. And that's just not right for the American people." --House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Dezinformatsia

It's not necessary: "Regardless of who wins the presidential election, if you're middle class, one outcome is certain: Your taxes are going up. ... If they were being honest, both presidential candidates would likewise acknowledge that taxes must be raised. And there's no way to make the arithmetic work without some revenue from the middle class. So vote for whomever you like this November. Either way, your taxes are going up." --Bloomberg editorial

Incredulous over common sense: "[I]f the stimulus hadn't been passed, then what would have happened to the economy? Didn't that to a large degree help the economy? You're not going to argue certainly that it didn't?" --CNN's Soledad O'Brien to Rep. Mike Burgess (R-TX)

Left-theology: "Jesus' teachings regarding wealth are nowhere to be found in Ryan's budget proposal. As near as we can tell, Jesus would advocate a tax rate somewhere between 50% ... and 100%.... [U]nder [Ryan's] budget plan, according to a recent analysis in the Atlantic, Romney would pay only 0.8% of his income in federal taxes. ... When it comes to paying taxes, Ryan is Romney's wing man. ... Jesus' distaste for wealth is an uncomfortable reality that many Christians ignore at the ballot box. It's one thing to lower taxes for rich people, but these plans actually hurt the poor. That's not noblesse oblige; it's cruelty." --Time Magazine contributor Erika Christakis, trying to make the case that Jesus was a Commie

Looking to make an albatross: "What matters is that the views that Todd Akin has espoused and the legislation he's supported is exactly in line with what the prospective Republican vice presidential nominee, Paul Ryan, believes and supported. ... Todd Akin is the Paul Ryan of Missouri." --former Newsweek editor Howard Fineman

Hot air: "Absent some profound shift in our penchant for burning coal, oil and gas, the Earth is expected to warm as much as 11.5 degrees Fahrenheit over the next 100 years, causing more weather-related destruction. It's only responsible to force a shift away from fossil fuels by enacting a carbon tax. The U.S., which accounts for about 19 percent of global emissions today, should take the lead in doing so as part of broader tax reform." --Bloomberg editorial

Newspulper Headlines:

What Would We Do Without Experts?: "Akin Rape Comment Doesn't Help GOP With Women, Experts Say" --Kansas City Star

Out on a Limb: "Spike Lee: Barack Obama Is 'Not Perfect'" --Politico.com

We Blame George W. Bush: "Jamie Dimon Blames You for the Lousy Economy" --Huffington Post

Quit Stealing Our Material: "Madeleine Albright Campaigns for Obama: We're Going to Blame Bush 'Forever'" --WashingtonExaminer.com

We Should Never Be So Lucky: "Discovery of Body Parts in Sewer Was Pure Luck, Official Says" --Detroit Free Press

Questions Nobody Is Asking: "Poll: Non-Voters Prefer Obama, but Do They Matter?" --Chicago Tribune

Everything Seemingly Is Spinning Out of Control: "Romney Accepts, Obama Declines MSNBC" --Politico.com

Breaking News From 1791: "'Right to Pray' Amendment Passes" --Associated Press

(Thanks to The Wall Street Journal's James Taranto)

Village Idiots

Mr. Nanny's immigration policy: "[N]obody's come across the border [illegally] in a long time. I mean we spend a fortune on technology, and if you want to come to America illegally, don't waste your time going across the border and through the desert. It's dangerous. Just get on an airplane, fly here, and overstay your visa. We have absolutely no ability to track who you are and get you back." --New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg

"All the federal government's got to do is say, 'We're gonna welcome here in this country -- first come, first serve -- [immigrant] families, if they're willing to come here under the following terms: We're going to assign you a city -- let's say Detroit -- you gotta agree to not be arrested and not take any federal, state or city money, and you've got to live there for seven years, and if you survive seven years, we'll make you and your family full citizens.'" --Michael Bloomberg

He didn't build that: "Well I think if [Rep. Paul Ryan] wants to protect Medicare for his mother then he should thank -- first of all should thank President Obama for what he's done in the past few years to extend the life of the Medicare Trust Fund, to help seniors with their prescription drug costs, to help seniors get free preventive care." --Senior Obama campaign adviser Robert Gibbs

Short Cuts

Memo to Obama: "Show us your sealed college records and Operation Fast and Furious White House memos, and we will all show you our tax returns." --Rep. Allen West (R-FL)

"If we want to keep our nation's secrets a 'SECRET' then we should store them where President Obama stores his college transcripts and birth certificate." --Mike Huckabee

"It turns out the Family Research Council shooter is a liberal gay rights activist who bought food at a Chick-fil-A right before the shooting. Gay rights groups were outraged -- not that he shot someone, but that he went to a Chick-fil-A." --NewsBusted's Jodi Miller

"President Obama urged Iowa voters to tell Paul Ryan to pass the farm relief bill in Congress. The House already passed the farm relief bill. It's stalled in the Senate, where Democrats are waiting for Barack Obama to point at the clouds and order it to rain." --comedian Argus Hamilton

"Mitt Romney is predicting that as president, he will create 12 million jobs in his first term. Well, President Obama says a Romney presidency would result in lost jobs. Yeah, his and Biden's." --comedian Jay Leno

Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!
Nate Jackson for The Patriot Post Editorial Team