Democratic Party of Georgia

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With GOP Cavalry Descending on Georgia, Karen Handel Must Own Devastating Cuts to Medicare

Release:  Tuesday, April 25, 2017                                                                            

Atlanta, GA – After a humiliating show at the polls on April 18, career politician Karen Handel is calling on the GOP political cavalry to fabricate enthusiasm for the perpetual candidate ahead of the June runoff. Handel limped to the runoff with an embarrassing 19.78% of votes cast, despite being well known, close to 30% (54,397 votes) behind Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff.

Handel’s distress signal has been answered by fellow career politician House Speaker Paul Ryan, who is notorious for his reckless and cold-hearted plan to end the Medicare guarantee for senior citizens. Ryan’s intervention in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District race follows the massive defeat of his attempt to replace the Affordable Care Act.

“Career politician Karen Handel has made clear she will not be an independent voice for the district and supports Speaker Ryan’s ideological plan to turn Medicare into a voucher program and cut Medicaid. In her blind personal quest to hold office, it is troubling that Handel apparently has no issue ending the Medicare guarantee for Georgia’s seniors, or cutting services to nursing homes.” – Michael Smith, Communications Director

The GOP’s plan to replace essential health care programs with voucher programs would be devastating to Georgia families. 1,782,301Georgians (17% of the population) are enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP programs. 1,253,841 children and 137,671 seniors and people with disabilities are covered by Medicaid and Medicare programs.

The consequences for Georgia’s seniors are staggering. Per the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities:  “An overwhelming majority of Medicare beneficiaries who live in nursing homes rely on Medicaid for their nursing home coverage.  Because the Ryan plan would require such deep cuts in federal Medicaid funding, it would inevitably result in less coverage for nursing home residents and shift more of the cost of nursing home care to elderly beneficiaries and their families.  A sharp reduction in the quality of nursing home care would be virtually inevitable, due to the large reduction that would occur in the resources made available to pay for such care.”

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Background

PPP – Democrats Have Big Enthusiasm Edge for 2018

-The strong early numbers for Democrats in the 2018 Congressional picture aren’t just a function of Trump’s unpopularity. Both Paul Ryan (30/53 approval) and Mitch McConnell (24/48) are very unpopular on the national scene as well. Overall Congress has just an 18% approval rating, with 65% of voters disapproving of it.

–One issue that particularly sunk Ryan’s numbers was health care, and we continue to find less and less resistance to just keeping the Affordable Care Act. We find 47% support for it on this poll, but more notable than that we find the level of opposition to it down to only 31%. Even among Republican voters there’s now barely a majority- 51%- that expresses opposition to the ACA. Just 30% of voters want to repeal it, compared to 62% who say the best path forward is to keep what works in it and fix what doesn’t.

Census.gov

Medicaid.gov

Romney & Ryan: Reverse Recovery for the American People

Georgia – Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s choice of Paul Ryan as his running mate illustrates the profound and stark differences between the presidential nominees in the upcoming November election.

“The Ryan choice highlights future attacks on seniors, students, the middle class and veterans. Romney and Ryan have both advocated the privatization of Social Security,” said DPG Chairman Mike Berlon. “They are also fanatical about changing Medicare to a voucher-style program, with the value of each voucher decreasing over time. This would leave a bigger and bigger gap for our seniors to pay out of their own pocket.”

Privatizing Social Security and changing Medicare to a voucher system are positions that the Democratic Party strongly opposes. “Protecting our seniors is a priority, not a mere option – which is what Ryan and Romney’s plans suggest,” said Berlon.

Another stark difference between the presidential candidates is tax policy, where Ryan’s 2010 budget plan raised taxes on the middle class while cutting taxes for the wealthy. Tax deductions like the mortgage interest deduction and health premiums are cut or eliminated under the Ryan plan.

Under Romney’s plan, more than a million middle class Georgia families would face a tax increase. The average tax increase for families with children would be $2,000. Yet while the middle class pays more, the richest Americans would get another $250,000 tax break each.

“Democrats don’t believe that millionaires should get additional tax breaks while middle class taxes go up,” said Berlon. “Why are we asking teachers and factory workers to pay more in taxes? They’re the ones that have been hurt the most by the Bush recession, especially here in Georgia.”

Other critical differences include:

  • Ryan’s budget would slash income security programs for the poor by 16%.
  • Transportation would be cut by 25%.
  • Investment in education, training and other social services would be cut by 33%.
  • Substantially cut Pell grants that would affect more than 250,000 students.

Ryan’s tax plan is similar to Mitt Romney’s in that middle-class families could pay thousands of dollars more a year in taxes to fund tax cuts for millionaires, all while losing the security of Medicare and Social Security. In addition, funding for students through Pell grants would be cut dramatically.  “At a time when education is so critical to our national fabric, why would we cut funding for education for those who need it most?” questioned Berlon.

“We need sensible solutions,” concluded Berlon. “Democrats know that Ryan and Romney’s plan would reverse America’s recovery. We can’t balance the federal budget on the backs of our middle-class. Romney’s choice here shows how out of touch he is with real working families. ”