Coupons for care: Paul Ryan’s healthcare plan would effectively dissolve Medicare

By Lee Cole–

Who is Paul Ryan? Ayn Rand’s 1957 novel “Atlas Shrugged” begins with a similar question regarding John Galt, the mythic, capitalistic hero of her work. As Ryan has admitted he is an avowed Rand fan, the question seemed appropriate in the wake of his selection as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate.

The choice of the Wisconsin congressman as Romney’s running mate has raised a lot of questions and a lot of eyebrows. Hoping to reenergize the campaign and his conservative base, Romney made a bold pick, one that is sure to delight Tea Party affiliates. Ryan is a rising star in the GOP, having submitted his own budget plan last year as an alternative to President Obama’s budget. He’s likeable on a personal level, a clear and inspiring speaker and may have been the best possible choice by Romney as he goes head to head to President Obama. If all this weren’t enough, Ryan and Romney together look like Presidential Ken dolls. If someone isn’t working on Romney/Ryan action figures, they should be, because they are about as stereotypically presidential looking as possible.

But what are the downsides to the Ryan pick? Since the selection, Democrats including Senior Obama Adviser David Axelrod have repeated again and again that they couldn’t be happier. Why? Because this will give them the chance to run against Ryan’s controversial budget and the deep cuts it would make to Medicare.

Democratic Rep. Steve Israel of New York remarked “It was becoming challenging to try to nationalize the Ryan budget, and Mitt Romney just handed that to us.” Ryan’s plan would essentially turn Medicare into a voucher system, or what he ingeniously calls “Premium Support.” Giving it this title makes it seem more like a VIP Medicare upgrade, when in reality it would reduce it to a coupon system. People would have a fixed amount in coupons that the insurance company would allow them to put towards their bills.

The most frightening thing about Paul Ryan is that if there was any doubt in anyone’s minds that Romney was serious about effectively taking money from the poor to be funneled into tax cuts for the wealthy, we can all be sure now with his VP pick. Ryan is dedicated to making his Ayn Rand corporate utopia fantasy a reality. Ryan has said “I really don’t have tremendous political ambition. I have policy ambition.” More recently, he was quoted saying “What matters to me is that I do what I think is right…I’m in a position where I can actually advance ideas to prevent [the debt tsunami] from happening. That’s exactly what I should be doing.” It’s almost as though Ryan thinks of himself as a John Galt figure.

budget plans would gut welfare programs and totally restructure domestic policy only to repurpose those funds for tax cuts to the wealthy and to the Defense Department. He is a knight in shining armor for Republicans, the antithesis to President Obama and as if to go beyond the call of duty in proving he’s hard core,he leads P90X classes.

In order to defeat Romney, Obama is going to have to refocus his campaign on Paul Ryan. Ryan will be the one drawing crowds to GOP events and given Romney’s boring, flaccid personality, he will become the face of the campaign. The Obama reelection campaign needs to hammer Ryan and Romney on Medicare cuts and continue to call them out on lies about the Affordable Care Act.

Paul Ryan is certainly a game-changer. Only time will tell how Romney’s decision will affect the overall outcome of the campaign and the future of Medicare as we know it.

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Cartoon illustration by Michael Layman/The Louisville Cardinal