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Congressman John Garamendi, who is running to represent California's 3rd Congressional District, appeared on Fox News (caution - autoplays) to talk about the Democratic Party’s Medicare plan, and the current attacks waged by Republicans about the so-called 716 billion dollar cuts to benefits for seniors.
As a former Insurance Commissioner for the State of California, Congressman Garamendi was able to lay out the facts in a way that we can all understand. When asked by the Fox News host asked about the 716 billion dollars that Obamacare moves "out of Medicare," Congressman Garamendi provided the following explanation:
John Garamendi: But the question is what does it do with the 716 billion dollars, and where does it come from? Most of it comes from the insurance companies that have been receiving an unnecessary bonus for the advantage programs. And the rest of it comes from waste, fraud, and abuse that [are] in the Medicare system. The other question is where does that money go? It goes right back into benefits for seniors and for others. And the law specifically says not one nickel can be taken from the benefits themselves – every benefit is guaranteed. Furthermore – these are not my words, these are the words that the AARP – that says the Ryan Romney Republican budget actually will end the Medicare guarantee for seniors now and into the future.Congressman Nick Mulvaney (R, SC-05) was there to represent the Republican position, which he generally referred to as the "Ryan program." Congressman Mulvaney didn't have much of substance to say in opposition to Congressman Garamendi's statement that the "Ryan program" will end the Medicare guarantee. Basically, his position is that the "old" Ryan plan ended Medicare as we know, but the new "bipartisan" one doesn't - trust us!
After explaining that there is no "bipartisan" agreement, Congressman Garamendi continued to explain how the Romney/Ryan plan for Medicare will ultimately lead to its failure:
John Garamendi: I was the Insurance Commissioner of California for eight years and I can tell you, once you begin to divide future beneficiaries from the existing beneficiaries, the existing program will fail and those -- that's an actuarial fact that will happen. And it is clear in the 2012 – as well as the 2011 – Romney/Ryan Republican budget – and Mr. Romney has bought into the Ryan budget – that it will terminate the guarantee of Medicare for future beneficiaries. And, because of the nature of insurance, the existing beneficiaries will see an ... ever increasing increase in their share of the cost of Medicare. That's not my talk, that’s talk by every analysis that has been done of the issue. And so what you have here is a situation in which the Medicare guarantee, which has been available to every person who turns 65, that guarantee ends. Yes, they'll be given a voucher, a voucher that overtime and, initially and overtime, will be insufficient to pay for medical care. And let's understand, the population that's 65 and over is a very, is a population that has the highest health care cost. And so if you're given a voucher that doesn't keep pace with the cost as well as the incident of illnesses, then you're going to find a shifting of costs from the Medicare program to the individual as well this a situation which ... that program will fail.I am so happy to see Congressman Garamendi taking the struggle to save Medicare into difficult territory. As I've written about previously, John Garamendi is a "better Democrat." His will be a voice in Congress that we can all be proud to having representing Democrats and our true blue values - no compromise on issues like ending the war in Afghanistan while making sure that returning veterans receive the help and benefits they need to get back on their feet, immigration reform and the DREAM act, equality for the LGBT community including marriage equality. Seriously, he's as good as Democrats get. I wish there were more like him across the nation!
But he is facing a tough campaign this year - a newly drawn district being eyed as a potential pick-up by the Karl Roves of the world and an opponent who has John Boehner's support - so we can't afford to take this race for granted. Let's make sure that Congressman Garamendi returns to Congress in 2013!