Loud, frightening noises, America:
Ratcheting up the rhetoric on the eve of Vice President Joe Biden‘s visit to a South Florida senior community, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz today likened Republican Medicare proposals to “a tornado through America’s nursing homes.” Said Wasserman Schultz: “The Romney-Ryan budget would be devastating to seniors and older Americans. It is a Republican path to poverty that would pass like a tornado through America’s nursing homes where millions of America’s seniors receive long-term and end-of-life care.”
Yikes. We must prevent these tornados of hate from tearing through nursing homes, scattering old people's helpless bodies in its vengeful wake. If this hyper-hysterical demagoguery rings a bell, it's probably because Wasserman Schultz employed the exact same imagery last year. Literally:
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) comments on Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) budget proposal for FY 2012. "Representing a large number of seniors in south Florida, I can tell you that this budget would be devastating for seniors and older Americans. This Republican path to poverty passes like a tornado through America's nursing homes, where millions of America's seniors receive long-term and end of life care," [she] said.
They're getting lazy over at the DNC -- an easy pitfall, I suppose, when you have news networks doing your job for you. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I at least expected them to brainstorm a list of new unhinged descriptions of this year's Republican budget. I'm almost disappointed the 2013 Path to Prosperity hasn't been dubbed "a Republican Path to Perdition, holding American seniors' heads underwater in bathtubs until they drown," or "a Republican March to Misery, herding seniors into giant microwaves and baking them until they explode." Try harder, guys. In fairness, DWS also recycled her word-for-word statement on the details of the Democrat-controlled Senate's budget from last year, too [link, budget not found]. Oh, and by the way, this regurgitated "tornado" garbage isn't just rank fear-mongering; it's also factually inaccurate, even as a metaphor. Back to my report on the new Ryan plan:
As was the case last year, these reforms would not affect anyone over the age of 55. At all. As Democrats prepare to reprise their 2011 lie of the year by cynically claiming that Ryan's budget "ends Medicare as we know it," let's recall that basic math ends Medicare, period, within the next 12 years.
At least Obama Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was being honest when he said Democrats hate Paul Ryan's solution to our mammoth debt and entitlement problem, even as they've got nothing to offer in the way of an alternative. But Wasserman Schultz just can't resist scare tactics and dishonesty to score cheap and ugly political points. Imagine that.
UPDATE - In case you're curious how DWS might answer the challenge that her party has formulated no Medicare reform plan of their own, here's our exchange on that subject over the summer:
For a detailed explanation of why her answer is the factual equivalent of what Occupiers are collecting in their special buckets, click through.