Born of the idea that in their twilight, seniors should not fall prey to poverty and unchecked speculation, Medicare was afterward expanded and preserved by succeeding generations of Democrats.
Through wars and recessions, through deficits and surpluses, Medicare has stood, with Medicaid and Social Security, as a redoubt for seniors and their families.
Ryan has draped himself in self-serving platitudes about his own “courage,” but his efforts to end Medicare are anything but. He has cherry-picked facts and badly distorted the truth about Medicare and its solvency. It’s not just that his mischaracterizations are dangerous demagoguery, his plan puts our seniors and middle class families in real jeopardy.
Ryan would set us back 45 years, when a parent or grandparent would get sick and would face economic hardship because of it. At the same time, Ryan would see the richest among us, billionaires and millionaires, share less and less of the burdens of keeping America whole and our middle class safe.
Republicans, Democrats, and all seniors understand that Medicare is an essential program that should be preserved and extended with common-sense reform. Paul Ryan does not share this view. And unless he is stopped, Medicare will have no more birthdays to celebrate.”
