House Republicans are backing off their plan to privatize Medicare, finally acknowledging that the Paul Ryan blueprint had no chance of passing Congress. But the Republican Party is still trying to fundraise off of the Ryan plan—with nary a mention of Medicare.
In a fundraising email sent Friday morning, Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus urged supporters to sign a petition to “Support the Ryan budget” and contribute to the RNC. The petition, however, doesn’t mention the most controversial part of the Ryan plan—its drastic overhaul of Medicare:
I am proud to stand with Republicans in Congress who showed true leadership by passing The Ryan Budget that offers commonsense, conservative solutions to slash spending and ensures our government lives within its means like every American family. Keep up the good fight and keep working hard to cut spending, reduce the debt and shrink the size of government!
Priebus’ email goes on to praise Ryan and the House GOP for having “courageously and boldly” passed a “serious 2012 budget,” apparently still confident that the public will perceive a drastic, overreaching plan as an applause-worthy move. To be sure, the public is significantly more likely to praise Republican deficit reduction proposals when they aren’t given any specifics. But when people are told what the Ryan plan actually entails, public support craters—which probably explains why the RNC is relying on vague generalities to drum up support. Unfortunately for the GOP, Democrats have already made a massive push to tell voters exactly what the Ryan plan entails—and to keep pinning the blame on the GOP all the way until election day in 2012.
