In an interview with Bob Schieffer, broadcast on 60 Minutes last night, Mitt Romney, accompanied by his running mate Paul Ryan said the following: “There’s only one President that I know of in history that robbed Medicare, $716 billion to pay for a risky new program of his own that we call Obamacare.”
Where do we begin with this one? For starters, the Medicare cuts to which Romney refers is part of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare if you prefer, that was enacted as a law by both houses of Congress. The “program of his own,” of course was not something imposed by executive fiat, but was passed by both houses of Congress. The “robbing” of Medicare that candidate Romney appears to oppose so vehemently are also included in a budget that was passed this year by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. That budget is often referred to as the “Ryan Budget,” has been supported by candidate Romney and written by the same Paul Ryan sitting immediately to his right during the Schieffer interview.
One of the more remarkable things about Romney’s obvious willingness to say anything, regardless of its veracity, is the seeming lack of awareness that his words can come back to haunt him. Don’t you think these words are now being spliced into a commercial along with clips of his supporting Ryan’s Budget?
Tom Noonan 