<\/p>\n
\nRyan and Mitt Romney have called for the most profound, radical changes in the program\u2019s history. But rather than clarifying the differences between their position on Medicare and President Obama\u2019s, they\u2019ve done their best to obscure them. They\u2019ve accused Obama of \u201craiding\u201d Medicare when Ryan\u2019s own budget calls for reducing the program\u2019s funding by the same amount of money. They have insisted they won\u2019t do anything to affect current retirees, even though they have pledged to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which bolsters Medicare\u2019s drug coverage and makes preventative care available without out-of-pocket expenses. <\/p>\n
Romney and Ryan have also been less specific than you might have heard. That\u2019s particularly true for Romney, whose \u201cproposal\u201d consists of a fact sheet, plus a few speeches, statements, and op-eds. This allows them to escape responsibility for the inevitable trade-offs that their vision, like every effort to reform Medicare, would require. And it gives them a political advantage over President Obama, who must defend reforms of Medicare in the Affordable Care Act and his latest budget\u2014right down to the last legislative clause and dollar figure.<\/p>\n
Yes, I keep reading<\/a> that Romney and Ryan have been \u201cbrave\u201d and \u201cserious\u201d about Medicare, while Obama has ducked hard choices. I would say it’s the other way around.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n