Dem Convention Chairman: Parties at a Standstill Over Medicare
The chairman of the Democratic National Convention said on Sunday that Republicans have fought Democrats to a standstill over Medicare, with voters still not yet clear on each campaign's approach.
“I’ll agree…that people aren't clear yet on their plan,” Antonio Villaraigosa, the mayor of Los Angeles, said of the Republican plan on C-SPAN’s Newsmakers. At the same time, he alleged that Republicans have “misrepresented” and “mischaracterized” what the president’s 2010 health care law did. “We’re going to have to make it clear, so that it’s not something that’s negative,” he said.
He added that “we’re going to have to be more specific,” and predicted that Democrats would eventually win out.
Republicans have alleged that the health care law funneled more than $700 billion from Medicare, a charge the White House disputes. Democrats have noted that Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, Romney’s running mate, proposed a budget plan that would significantly alter Medicare, going so far as to say that it would “end Medicare as we know it.” Republicans reject that assertion.
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