GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney broke out a whiteboard outside an air terminal to illustrate his key points. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama's campaign launched a new ad to argue his approach strengthens the program, citing plaudits from the seniors group AARP.
The Washington Post: Mitt Romney, Obama Camp Spar On Medicare Plans
Mitt Romney wants to make the Medicare debate easy to understand. So on Thursday, he pulled out a black marker and stepped toward a trusty white board propped up on a school-room easel here to make a presentation. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee's message was simple: For current seniors under President Obama, he said, Medicare would be cut by $716 billion, and some 4 million people would be kicked off their Medicare Advantage plans. Under Romney, he said, current seniors would see "no adjustments, no changes, no savings" (Rucker, 8/16).
The Associated Press/Washington Post: Obama And Romney Agree There Has To Be A Limit On Medicare; Worlds Apart On How To Do That
President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney agree there has to be a limit to how much seniors pay for Medicare, but they're worlds apart on how to make that happen. You wouldn't know it from the accusations they hurl on the campaign trail, but that is the real heart of the argument between the two leaders and their political parties (Alonso-Zaldivar, 8/16).
CQ HealthBeat: That $716 Billion Medicare Cut: One Number, Three Competing Visions
By the time this election season is over, even small children may know how much "Obamacare" cuts Medicare. The figure, $716 billion over 10 years, is the subject of already-intense debate over what the health care law will do to, or for, Medicare. And it shows no signs of letting up before November. It's a policy fight that reflects three distinctly different visions of how the $716 billion should be used and what it means for the health care that the elderly will receive. How that fight plays out may shape not only the outcome of many election races but also what happens next year in Congress to Medicare and the health care law. But first, where did the figure come from? Is it accurate? And why is it so much larger than previous estimates (Reichard, 8/16)?
Los Angeles Times: Romney Maintains Medicare Attack On Obama
Shortly after his chartered plane landed here for the last stop on a two-day fundraising swing across the Deep South, the Republican presidential hopeful stepped before news cameras outside a private air terminal to offer new evidence for how wrong Obama was to slash $716 billion in Medicare spending. "This is going to be a big issue in places where there are a lot of seniors," Romney said, using a black marker to write down a few key points on a white board mounted on an easel. ... A voucher system for Medicare is the centerpiece of a budget proposal championed by [Paul] Ryan, passed by the Republican-led House and embraced by Romney (Finnegan, 8/16).
Politico: Mitt Romney Tries To Explain Medicare Stance
Mitt Romney attempted on Thursday to boil down his Medicare plan to a simple explanation: "No change" and "Solvent." Those were the words he scrawled on a whiteboard at a last-minute news conference in Greer, S.C. this afternoon as he attempted to address questions about whether his plan is identical to that of Paul Ryan's. Romney chose Ryan as his running mate last weekend, and the Wisconsin lawmaker is best known for a budget-slashing effort that would convert Medicare into a voucher program for some future seniors (Gibson, 8/16).
Politico (Video): Obama's First Ad On Ryan And Medicare
The Obama campaign's first Medicare ad has arrived. Chicago has released several web videos since last weekend going after Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney for their views on entitlements. But only this morning has the president's team put out a TV spot on the issue. It's not a totally slash-and-burn ad, but instead a commercial that contrasts what the AARP has said about the Affordable Care Act and what it has said about the Ryan budget. "The nonpartisan AARP says Obamacare 'cracks down on Medicare fraud, waste and abuse,'" the ad says. "And the Ryan plan? AARP says it 'would undermine' Medicare and 'could lead to higher costs for seniors" (Burns, 8/17).