Paul Ryan sticks to Medicare stump speech, even after Clinton critique

Headlines offer a range of developments from the Romney-Ryan campaign, including reports about its advertising strategy, Ryan's response -- or lack of one -- to former President Bill Clinton's criticism and a fact check regarding their Medicare policy.

Los Angeles Times: Romney Cedes Ohio TV Airwaves To Obama (At Least For Now)
Yet for reasons that his advisors declined to discuss, Romney has ceded the advertising airwaves to Obama over the last week in Ohio and other battleground states. … The Cleveland area is a Democratic stronghold where Obama trounced his Republican rival John McCain four years ago. But with 1.5-million television households in the Cleveland media market, which also covers the heavily populated Akron area, it is an essential part of any Romney scenario for winning Ohio (Finnegan, 9/6).

The New York Times' The Caucus: Ryan Does Not Bite Back After Clinton Attack
A day after Bill Clinton attacked Representative Paul D. Ryan's Medicare plan by saying "it takes some brass" to make the claims he has, Mr. Ryan did not mention the former president at a rally here on Thursday. Instead, Mr. Ryan repeated a staple of his stump speeches, telling supporters, "This debate about Medicare is a debate we want, it's a debate we're going to have and it's a debate we're going to win" (Gabriel, 9/6).

National Journal: Without Mentioning Clinton, Ryan Defends Medicare Attack
Vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan on Thursday opted not to directly respond to President Clinton's barbed criticism of his policies, but did offer a robust defense of his Medicare plan in a speech here. "Don't take my word for it," Ryan told the crowd, a day after Clinton said he had "some brass" for accusing President Obama of raiding $716 billion from Medicare to pay for the health care reform law when the House Budget Committee chairman's own budget includes the same cuts (Kaplan, 9/6).

CNN: CNN Fact Check: Would Romney Bankrupt Medicare By 2016?
Former President Bill Clinton led the way Wednesday, saying that the Democrat-backed Affordable Care Act bought time for Medicare and made it financially solid until 2024. He said Romney, who wants to repeal the act, would reverse this gain and make Medicare "go broke in 2016." ... When officials talk of Medicare insolvency, they're talking specifically about the trust fund for Medicare's hospital insurance, or Medicare Part A, which covers inpatient hospital stays, care at a nursing facility, hospice care and some home health care. ... Romney calls for repealing the Affordable Care Act. He also wants to set up a "premium support system" for Medicare, meaning seniors would get vouchers to buy coverage from either private insurance providers or a government-run Medicare insurance plan. Romney's campaign says the voucher plan wouldn't affect "seniors or those nearing retirement" -- meaning it wouldn't go into effect for years (9/7).