SCAREGATE: PANTS ON FIRE! -- BY DONNA GARNER -- 8.13.12

“Scaregate: Pants on Fire!”

by Donna Garner

8.13.12

PolitiFact is certainly not a conservative organization, but even they saw through the obvious lies told by the Democrats who continue to say that Paul Ryan’s budget “would end Medicare as we know it." PolitiFact turned up such strong evidence that they voted the Democrats’ statement as the “Lie of the Year 2011.”

Obama and the Democrats are turning out ads full of “Scaregate” tactics against Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, but here are statements from PolitiFact as they have attempted to educate the American people about the Scaregate lies:

PolitiFact debunked the Medicare charge in nine separate fact-checks rated False or Pants on Fire, most often in attacks leveled against Republican House members…

Introduced by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the plan kept Medicare intact for people 55 or older, but dramatically changed the program for everyone else by privatizing it and providing government subsidies…

They [the Democrats] ignored the fact that the Ryan plan would not affect people currently in Medicare -- or even the people 55 to 65 who would join the program in the next 10 years…

They used pictures and video of elderly people who clearly were too old to be affected by the Ryan plan. The DCCC video that aired four days after the vote featured an elderly man who had to take a job as a stripper to pay his medical bills...

Under the current Medicare system, the government pays the health care bills for Americans over age 65. Under the Ryan plan, future beneficiaries would be given a credit and invited to shop for an approved plan on a Medicare health insurance exchange. It received overwhelming support from Republicans in a House vote on a budget blueprint.

Starting in 2022, beneficiaries would receive "premium support payments" from the government to help pay for the private insurance. People who need more health care would get a little more money, and high earners would get a little less…

The guarantees: Ryan's plan requires private insurers to accept all applicants and to charge the same rate for people who are the same age. The plans would comply with standards set by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, which administers the health plans of federal employees. The Medicare eligibility age would rise from 65 to 67, an idea that has received some bipartisan support in the past…

Ryan says the plan would offer more choice for Medicare participants and increase competition among private insurers to drive down cost…

Kathleen Hall Jamieson, an expert on campaign advertising who directs the Annenberg center at the University of Pennsylvania, says Democrats have been using falsehoods and exaggerations about Medicare and Social Security since at least 1952. She calls it the longest-running "Democratic deception."

In the 1950s and 1960s, Democrats used images of Social Security cards being torn in half to suggest that Republicans wanted to cut the program. In 1995, Democrats said House Speaker Newt Gingrich's plan to restructure Medicare would force seniors to pay more and would "wreck" Medicare…

The scare tactics are effective because seniors worry about being able to pay their medical bills and Medicare is a vital program for them. Also, seniors represent a large, up-for-grabs voting bloc.

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http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2011/dec/20/lie-yea...

Lie of the Year 2011: 'Republicans voted to end Medicare'

By Bill Adair, Angie Drobnic Holan
Published on Tuesday, December 20th, 2011 at 12:05 a.m.

Joe Biden, Tuesday, August 30th, 2011.

Ruling: False | Details

Says state Sen. Sheila Harsdorf wants to "eliminate Medicare" as we...

Shelly Moore, Friday, July 8th, 2011.

Ruling: Pants on Fire! | Details

There is a Republican "plan to end Medicare."

Sherrod Brown, Monday, June 20th, 2011.

Ruling: False | Details