The level of brazenness from the Democrats is simply marvelous and the clumsiness of the GOP to deal with it is infuriating!
Democrat Senators are tweeting a photo (see below) which says that in the year 2020, Medicare/Medicaid will spend $180 billion less than what the 2010 pre-Obamacare estimates had projected.
Dems claim the reduction in expected spending in 2020 is thanks to Obamacare “savings.”
The problem?
When Ryan/GOP warned that Obamacare guts Medicare, the Democrats claimed it was a lie. The partisans running Politifact backed the Democrats on this NINETEEN separate times! But in fact Obamacare took hundreds of billions of planned Medicare spending to help fund Obamacare.
Dems however now claim that this is an Obamacare “savings“, as if Obamacare has some special mechanism in it which brings down Medicare/Medicaid costs — when in fact Obamacare simply guts Medicare/Medicaid to use its funds to pay for Obamacare.
Imagine Bush ripping $500 billion from planned Medicare spending to help fund the Iraq War and then claim that thanks to the Iraq War, Medicare/Medicaid spending will be lower than estimated in 2000…
Democrats tried wining in 2012 by scaring Seniors that the Ryan budget is gutting Medicare, while their Obamacare is the one actually doing it… which Democrats denied even exists. But Democrats now hope to win in 2014 by presenting these cuts as a positive…
The art of spin made possible by a friendly media is simply amazing.
Here is the Tweet Photo circulated by the Democrats:
Below is a chart of projected Medicare spending done by the CBO in early 2010 before Obamacare was in the picture (as seen in the green bar), vs. the CBO estimate done early 2014 with Obamacare largely implemented (red bar). In the seven years shown, Medicare will spend ONE TRILLION less than what the CBO had forecasted at the start of the decade. (For 2020, Medicare spending will be $200 billion less but thanks to its expansion, Medicaid will apparently spend $20 billion more than expected which makes it a net $180 billion less between the two programs).
The cutting of Medicare is now an “Obamacare savings” and the Party who gave Republicans HELL a few months ago for making a slight adjustment in planned Food Stamps spending is proud of it.
While these cuts were voted into law in early 2010 by every elected Democrat in DC, the Left had the Chutzpah to publish this ad mid 2011:
Folks, it is a miracle that Republicans get around to winning national elections here and there.