Who needs Medicare? 870,000 Arizona seniors do

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Press release from the Arizona Democratic Party:

Who needs Medicare? 870,000 Arizona seniors do

AZGOP congressmen vote to dismantle system – and anger a powerful voting bloc

PHOENIX – Arizona seniors don't want their Medicare. Either that, or Arizona's GOP congressmen have just voted to make themselves more vulnerable in 2012.

House Rep. Paul Ryan's budget proposal would dismantle Medicare as we know it, replacing it with private-insurance subsidies. Even Republicans like House Speaker John Boehner and former Speaker Newt Gingrich are now distancing them from the proposal — yet it was embraced by every single GOP congressman from Arizona.

The budget vote has sparked protests and angry responses from seniors across the nation. Here in Arizona, one-third of voters in the 2010 elections were 65 or older. These congressmen have a lot of explaining to do:

• How will Jeff Flake win over senior voters in his U.S. Senate race? Or will he flip-flop on this issue before the primary, as he did on comprehensive immigration reform?
• David Schweikert made a campaign-trail commitment to "protecting seniors." Can he explain to them how dismantling Medicare protects Arizona seniors?
• Paul Gosar told a tea party crowd on Oct. 3 that he was "looking creatively about how seniors can stay active in the workforce" and that he's "working till the day I die." Is dismantling Medicare his creative solution for Arizona seniors?
• Oh, and can Ben Quayle explain how dismantling Medicare for Arizona seniors shows he is "knocking the hell out of Washington"?

"It's only April, but we've already seen enough from this new Republican Congress," said Luis Heredia, Arizona Democratic Party executive director. "These Republicans must be held accountable by the press and public for voting against the quality of life of Arizona seniors. This vote will come back to haunt them."

###