Medicare cuts would hit Republican congressional districts hardest

Joan McCarter for Daily Kos       Thu,June 16,2011

There was some anecdotal evidence that freshman Republican members of Congress were under fire for their vote on the Republican budget slashing Medicare, Medicaid and providing even more tax cuts to rich people. That's been clear from the town meetings over the last few months where they have regularly faced constituent ire.

That's in part because Republican districts would be most impacted by the Medicare cuts.

Nine of the 10 districts throughout the U.S. with the most people age 45-54 are represented by Republicans, including [Rep. Michael] Fitzpatrick [R-PA], a Bloomberg analysis of census data shows. Those would be among the first Americans to no longer have Medicare as an open-ended entitlement, and instead would be given money to buy private insurance when they’re eligible, under the plan.

Fitzpatrick, like the other Republicans, said he stands by his position.

“All the important votes that I cast as their representative that are directed toward putting the country’s fiscal house back in order will be difficult,” the 47-year-old lawmaker said in an interview. “It requires tough choices.”

Other Republican lawmakers said Democrats should offer their own proposal to reform Medicare....

“Are there other alternatives out there?” said [Rep. Scott] Garrett [R-NJ], 51. Garrett, who got 65 percent of the vote in 2010, said he doesn’t believe his support for the Ryan plan makes him vulnerable with voters next year.

That's wishful thinking if I've ever heard it. It's as wishful as thinking that "it's not an unpopular plan, we just haven't messaged it right," or "the Democrats did it first," are going to be effective strategies for making voters think that Republicans aren't throwing them to the wolves.

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