"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." 
-- Sinclair Lewis

Saturday, October 20, 2012

What Do NH-01 and CA-25 Have In Common? 

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New Hampshire's easternmost district and the L.A./Ventura County 25th in California are pretty different in every way.  But both districts are represented by reactionary Republicans who voted every time they got the chance to destroy Medicare and to drive up the cost of healthcare for the elderly and both districts are lucky to have outstanding, independent-minded progressive challengers this year, Carol Shea-Porter in New Hampshire and Lee Rogers in California.  There are new TV ads for both campaign featuring Medicare, Carol's above and the Blue America ad for Lee below.  But what a 30 second spot won't tell you is what exactly what the impact of Paul Ryan's budget to turn Medicare into a shoddy, inadequate voucher system would do to the actual seniors in a district. The Democratic staffers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, got us the impact on both NH-01 and CA-25, where Frank Guinta and Buck McKeon have been big boosters of Ryan's dystopian agenda that puts the rich ahead of everyone else and throws our grandparents under the bus. For the folks living in Santa Clarita and the Antelope Valley (Simi Valley wasn't part of the district when the study was completed) the Ryan-McKeon plan would

• Increase prescription drug costs for 5,200 Medicare beneficiaries in the district who enter the Part D donut hole, forcing them to pay an extra $48 million for drugs over the next decade.• Eliminate new preventive care benefits for 76,000 Medicare beneficiaries in the district.• Force 76,000 Medicare beneficiaries in the district who are currently enrolled in traditional Medicare to pay thousands of dollars more in premiums to remain in traditional Medicare after Medicare becomes a voucher program.• Reduce coverage for 18,500 Medicare beneficiaries who rely on Medicaid to supplement their Medicare coverage, potentially denying them over $650 million in health benefits.• Jeopardize nursing home care for 400 district residents whose expenses are paid by Medicaid.• Raise food costs for 4,000 district households with seniors who rely on food stamps by as much as $1,100 per year or eliminate food assistance for many of these households entirely.• Threaten affordable housing programs that provide rental support for 4,800 district households with seniors.• Place 73,000 district seniors at increased risk of fraud, scams, and elder abuse by cutting as much as $6 billion in funding for federal consumer protection and law enforcement. 

The impact on Guinta's constituents are similar but not identical.  There are a lot more Medicare beneficiaries there so they pain throughout the district would be a lot greater-- and Carol knows it... and is standing up against it.  Here's what you could expect if the Ryan-Guinta budget ever got passed.  It would

• Increase prescription drug costs for 7,100 Medicare beneficiaries in the district who enter the Part D donut hole, forcing them to pay an extra $65 million for drugs over the next decade.• Eliminate new preventive care benefits for 102,000 Medicare beneficiaries in the district.• Force 102,000 Medicare beneficiaries in the district who are currently enrolled in traditional Medicare to pay thousands of dollars more in premiums to remain in traditional Medicare after Medicare becomes a voucher program.• Reduce coverage for 9,700 Medicare beneficiaries who rely on Medicaid to supplement their Medicare coverage, potentially denying them over $340 million in health benefits.• Jeopardize nursing home care for 2,200 district residents whose expenses are paid by Medicaid.• Raise food costs for 4,600 district households with seniors who rely on food stamps by as much as $1,100 per year or eliminate food assistance for many of these households entirely.• Threaten affordable housing programs that provide rental support for 5,600 district households with seniors.• Place 91,000 district seniors at increased risk of fraud, scams, and elder abuse by cutting as much as $6 billion in funding for federal consumer protection and law enforcement. 

Lee Rogers is an innovative surgeon who's internationally acclaimed practice centers on preventing amputation.  McKeon's disdain for their neighbors and his vote to kill Medicare helped persuade Lee to jump into the race.  He and McKeon have something in common though.  Neither liked Obamacare.  McKeon just wants to-- and has voted to-- kill it.  Lee wants to capitalize on what's good in the bill and fix what isn't.  And Carol is a grassroots organizer who's as close to the street as any politician is likely to be.  She's as likely to do anything that would adversely impact her neighbors as she would harm her own family.  In the last weeks of the campaign, both these challengers are in tight races and both can use some last minute help.  If you can, they're both on the same page-- this page.