To Destroy Medicare, Romney/Ryan Have No Choice But To Attack $716 billion That Saves It

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ABC News Excerpt:
Ryan included those same cuts in his signature budget plan -- the same plan Romney has said he would sign if he becomes president -- but Ryan says he was forced to build his plan on those cuts because they were already signed into law.

But if the first thing you do in office is repeal the Affordable Care Act, why in the world would you include the $716 billion in your plan? And, if they were unable to repeal the ACA, why would they leave the $716 billion Ryan calls devastating "cuts" in his budget anyways.

ABC News Excerpt:
The $716 billion in cuts to Medicare in the Affordable Care Act do not affect benefits for seniors. Instead, they reduce provider reimbursements and are intended to curb waste, fraud and abuse, but that has not stopped the GOP attacks.

The fact is, is Obama's Affordable Care Act seeks to reduce Medicare spending and cost reductions over the next ten years by $716 billion. This coming at the worst possible time for Romney and Ryan when they fully expected to convince the American people that Medicare costs were escalating at such a pace that there was no other choice but to end the program. Ryan's worst fears are coming true and as a result of those savings, the Medicare trust fund is extended by 8 years. The truth is, they don't want that to happen at all. This leaves Romney/Ryan with no choice but to make the $716 billion both the strawman and the scapegoat depending on whether you view it as a savings or a cut.

With or without the ACA, the Romney-Ryan plan would simply steal the projected $716 billion in savings to pay for new tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and huge corporations. However, Romney and Ryan recently reversed on that and now claim they would restore the $716 billion to Medicare. What this actually does is increase the costs of Medicare by $716 billion and returns the program back to the unsustainable glide-path it was on before the Affordable Care Act became law.

That is exactly where they want it to be.

Sadly, at a time when millions of Americans are still looking for work, Romney and Ryan are more concerned about finding ways to throw 35 million people off of health care. This is where their values are.