The Medicare cuts that Obama passed served one clear purpose: creating the impression that Obamacare was going to lower the deficit. The way these cuts to Medicare are to be achieved is by cutting the payments to hospitals and providers, and by empowering the IPAB to ration care. These moves will be disastrous for seniors if allowed to remain in place. The Romney plan will save money by creating a competitive market for Medicare dollars, and will improve care.

"Their plan builds on the existing Medicare Advantage Program, which allows private insurers to offer plans to compete with traditional Medicare." So you are advocating paying insurance companies more than it actually costs to provide care to a patient, essentially having the government guarantee their profit. That is what Medicare "Advantage" does. Sounds like more corporate welfare to me. How will this save Medicare?

Romney and Ryan are blatant liars, particularly about their plans for Medicare, as Saturday's New York Times editorial ("Truth and Lies About Medicare") highlighted. It's worth a read: "Republican attacks on President Obama's plans for Medicare are growing more heated and inaccurate by the day. Both Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan made statements last week implying that the Affordable Care Act would eviscerate Medicare when in fact the law should shore up the program's finances. Both men have also twisted themselves into knots to distance themselves from previous positions, so that voters can no longer believe anything they say. Last week, both insisted that they would save Medicare by pumping a huge amount of money into the program, a bizarre turnaround for supposed fiscal conservatives out to rein in federal spending. The likelihood that they would stand by that irresponsible pledge after the election is close to zero. And the likelihood that they would be better able than Democrats to preserve Medicare for the future (through a risky voucher system that may not work well for many beneficiaries) is not much better." [ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/opinion/sunday/truth-and-lies-about-medicare.html ]

By not sending money to private insurance companies, and instead using it to pay for _actual_ health care, Obama is saving millions. Obama is cutting government waste. And what do Republicans, who have been claiming that they want the government to cut waste, do in response? They talk like its a _bad_ idea!

Not to mention the poor and the old vs. the young and yet un-born who have to pay for all this.

Yes, Babs, I'd be so much happier not paying for your SS and Medicare now.

As with Medicare, Romney is also lying about Obama's welfare policies. A brief article in today's Washington Post discusses why Romney keeps lying about such issues: "The verdict from fact-checkers, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch, is unanimous: Romney is outright lying about the Obama administration's change to welfare. Why would Romney continue use the claim if it's been proven false? The first answer has everything to do with the press. Reporters aren't equipped to deal with constant dishonesty, and one-off fact checks aren't enough to stop a lie from gaining currency. The Romney campaign is capitalizing on both facts to push a false narrative and embed it in the political conversation. So far, judging from the non-response of most reporters, it's working. The second answer is much more cynical. As Greg noted when the first ad debuted, this is a clear attempt to resurrect the politics of resentment." See "Why Romney keeps lying about Obama and welfare" [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/romney-keeps-lying-about-obama-and-welfare/2012/08/20/1c42b33e-ead2-11e1-866f-60a00f604425_blog.html ]

Cutting payments to INSURANCE companies.