Wyden brushes off Ryan’s Medicare mention
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., again quickly distanced himself from Rep. Paul Ryan’s Medicare reform plan Thursday night after Ryan brought up the Oregon Democrat’s support of some of his ideas during his debate with Vice President Joe Biden.
Ryan said his Medicare plan was bipartisan and “put together with a prominent Democrat senator from Oregon.”
Biden said, “There’s not one Democrat who endorsed” the plan, but Ryan referred to Wyden as a “partner” — one who the vice president said Wyden no longer supports. Nor does a former Clinton administration budget director, Biden said.
As often happens in today’s social media world, Wyden weighed in (and fired back) not by news release, but through a Facebook post, which follows in full:
“The Vice President is right, Romney/Ryan moved the goal post on Medicare and I strongly oppose their plan because I believe it hurts seniors. The Romney/Ryan plan raises the age of eligibility and repeals the ACA (Affordable Care Act), leaving millions of seniors with no health coverage. The Romney/Ryan plan on Medicare pulls the safety net out from under the poorest and most vulnerable seniors, taking away the opportunity for nursing home care from seniors who need it and have no other options.
“The Wyden-Ryan white paper strengthened the safety net for these dual eligibles. The Romney/Ryan version shreds it. The Republican ticket knows that neither I, nor any other Democrat, would support these policies.
“The Romney/Ryan plan on Medicare is further proof that Mitt Romney is singularly unfit to end gridlock and bring bipartisan solutions to Washington.”
