Robot/Zombie 2012
Mitt Romney is still lying about Medicare — no surprise there. Also it is no surprise that Romney is now dog whistlin’ while he does it. It’s the southern strategy updated for the twenty-first century:
“What Paul Ryan and I have talked about is saving Medicare, is providing people greater choice in Medicare, making sure it’s there for current seniors. No changes, by the way, for current seniors, or those nearing retirement. But looking for young people down the road and saying, “We’re going to give you a bigger choice.” In America, the nature of this country has been giving people more freedom, more choices. That’s how we make Medicare work down the road.”
Get it? He is “robbing” Medicare. The black guy is stealing money from seniors! He is coming for your wallet!
Loath as I am to cite Politifact, they clearly explain why the current talking point about Obama cutting $500 billion from Medicare is a steaming pile of horseshit:
There’s a small bit of truth here. The Affordable Care Act does reduce Medicare spending by $500 billion over the next 10 years. But here’s the catch: Those dollars aren’t taken out of the current budget, they are not actual cuts, and nowhere does the bill actually eliminate any current benefits.
The $500 billion is all in future spending reductions and come through the law’s attempts to slow projected growth, not cut spending.
PolitiFact National has highlighted the biggest bits of savings: About $220 billion comes from reducing annual increases in Medicare payments to health care providers. Another $36 billion comes from increasing premiums for higher-income beneficiaries. Administrative changes land another $12 billion in savings. A new national board is set to come up with $15.5 billion in savings — but can’t get those savings from a reduction in benefits. The last big chunk of $136 billion comes in changes to the Medicare Advantage program, which has become more expensive than initially anticipated.
If all those numbers make your eyes glaze over like they do mine, the bottom line is this:
The $500 billion in cuts is not “robbing Medicare.” The cuts make an effort to end corporate welfare, which Republicans should like because Republicans hate welfare. (Oh wait… Republicans hate welfare only when Cadillac-driving baby-mamas are sticking their ashy hands into the white man’s pocket. When it comes to subsidies for insurance companies, Republicans look the other way. Typical.) The cuts also increase premiums for people who can afford it.
Contrary to Romney’s lies, the ACA does not steal money from seniors. In fact, there are no cuts to Medicare benefits. The cuts are on the provider side. So, for example, Michele Bachmann’s husband can no longer bill Medicare to cure people of The Gay.
The ACA ends unnecessary subsidies to insurance companies through a program called Medicare Advantage. Moreover, it wasn’t even an idea that just popped up during the Obama Administration. Democrats, specifically Henry Waxman, have been trying to expose this waste for years — since the Bush days. And at the time, Republicans complained that it would end up costing seniors through higher Medicare Advantage premiums, but it hasn’t. In fact Medicare Advantage premiums have gone down, as Ezra Klein explained last year.
In contrast, the Robot/Zombie plan sticks it to seniors in a very uncomfortable place.
[full-post at ABLC]
4tehlulz
Has he called for Obama’s transcript yet?
Baud
At least Romney didn’t accuse Obama of robbing Medicare to support his crack habit.
Gotta save some dog foghorns for October.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Well if they can’t get a “mostly true” from Politco this one is dead in the water.
Hill Dweller
That imbecile running the RNC used the exact same talking point this morning. So this is going to be repeated by the rest of the sheep in that party.
Yutsano
Inb4 click whiners.
And I love how that number keeps getting larger and larger. By late October it’ll be over a trillion. A TRILLION I tells ya!
WereBear
This is quite the bit of “rope dancing” they have going on; they’re going to talk a lot about Medicare, while NOT talking about what happens to Medicate on the Ryan Plan.
What will happen is that confusion will run rampant until it gets boiled down enough for it to be covered in a sound bite.
And then, it will be all over.
Hill Dweller
@WereBear: Obama’s trump card is the reforms have been in place for a couple of years now, and no one has lost their medicare. In fact, they’ve probably started getting free check-ups and saved quite a bit on their prescription drugs.
Villago Delenda Est
Oh, come on, ABL.
Every single time Rmoney opens that maw, another kitten dies.
It’s the old joke about lawyers. How can you tell when they’re lying? Their lips are moving.
This is why you want to hire an attorney who is also a ventriloquist…
arguingwithsignposts
@Yutsano:
My solution is I don’t click and I don’t whine about it. Works every time.
as to the point, @efgoldman put it well. Of course they are lying. It’s who they are.
mechwarrior online
@Villago Delenda Est:
I’m pretty sure that joke is applied to politicians as well as lawyers and it’s pretty much on the spot, the thing is I don’t think we really care…
Most Americans are OK with things as long as it’s their team that’s doing it. Notice how all the anti war protests, concern about civil liberties, and all that from the left went right the fuck out the window the moment a Democrat became elected to office, liberal just stopped giving a rats ass…. and yet at the exact same time the right decided that they really did care about civil liberties.
Romney is more full of shit than any other modern politician and he lies about stuff that doesn’t make any sense to lie about. But for Republicans, it’s OK because he needs to win, and if he’s lying to liberals and they are getting upset well… bonus.
max
Robot/Zombie 2012
Thing is, I saw a picture of Romney and his pal there on Saturday morning at their panic rollout, and he sure looked like an undertaker to me. Ya know, the kind that wants to you a spiffy titanium casket with a red velour interior, telephone, TV and a computer, all for the low low low price of 89,000$… but you can finance it at a discount! at the low starting APR of 11%! A steal! Just the thing to inter the American Dream in!
So I’m thinking Robot/Undertaker 2012.
max
[‘Their slogan: ‘Bend Over America, This is Gonna Hurt!”]
Maude
They are trying the best defense is an offense to avert the Dems Romney want to take away your Medicare.
It is a fail before it gets off the ground. Those on Medicare know it’s not true.
Earlier Yahoo! news headline: Will Ryan release his tax returns?
heh.
Xecky Gilchrist
@mechwarrior online: Notice how all the anti war protests, concern about civil liberties, and all that from the left went right the fuck out the window the moment a Democrat became elected to office, liberal just stopped giving a rats ass
…disagree. DROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONES!
mamayaga
You forgot to mention that the Ryan budget includes the EXACT SAME cuts, only instead of the money going back into operating funds for gov’t programs (like Medicare!), in Ryan’s plan they go into the pockets of the MItt Romneys of this world.
Villago Delenda Est
@Hill Dweller:
You mean Rinse Repeatus?
Hill Dweller
@Villago Delenda Est: Yes. He was the first to use the word ‘robbed’, in addition to alleging Obama had ‘blood on his hands’.
chopper
only in GOP land is coming up with a way to save half a trillion dollars in government money “robbery”.
Yutsano
@arguingwithsignposts: Yesbut…you’re not interested in making sure that DAMN WOMAN stops posting here. Your solution is too elegant and therefore unworkable. :)
Robert Waldmann
You missed the blatant lie. “What Paul Ryan and I have talked about is …. No changes, by the way, for current seniors, or those nearing retirement. ” Odd what Paul Ryan talked about in the House Budget resolution included all of the Obamacare Medicare cuts as well as the additional cuts which Romney describes as giving more choice.
The only things that Obama and the vast majority of Democrats did to Medicare that Ryan and the vast majority of Republicans didn’t vote to do is to close the Medicare plan D doughnut hole and ban co-pays for preventive care.
Ryan and almost all Republicans in Congress (both the House and the Senate) voted for all the Obamacare cuts which they are denouncing.
maya
Hey, Prince Rebus! Was Obama wearing a hoodie when he did the deed?
El Cid
If you insulate your windows and [end up] saving $19 per month on electricity, you’re stealing $19 from your heating or air conditioning, right?
Because efficiency is theft.
SiubhanDuinne
@Villago Delenda Est:
REINCE PRIEBUS = PEES URINE CRIB
Obvious anagram. Thank you, Charlie Pierce.
zombie rotten mcdonald
Robot/Zombie 2012
Hey now.
El Cid
@maya: Uncle Riebus? [Crap: Priebus]
Villago Delenda Est
@El Cid:
Well, Dick Cheney once pretty much said that. If you’re improving your gas mileage on your auto by checking your tire air pressure, you’re essentially stealing from his buddies in the awl bidness.
Criminals!
Comrade Mary
Via LGF, Obama plainly ties together Romney, Ryan and the Republicans in Congress.
Obama Welcomes ‘Ideological Leader’ Paul Ryan to Race
Villago Delenda Est
@SiubhanDuinne:
Reini the Heini (what everyone called him in elementary school)
Violet
Do not underestimate the damage a wounded Palin can inflict:
They must have paid her off.
Schlemizel
waaaaaaayy too many words
Romney is Lying
About President Obama Stealing Money from Medicaremight just as well make it a theme because its going to be a regular topic for the next 4 months
Brachiator
You know, you could have stopped right there.
@mechwarrior online:
No, didn’t notice that at all, because it’s not what happened. But thanks for playing.
Davis X. Machina
The explanation is longer than the lie. And that’s too long.
They’ll get away with it. This is the U. S. of tl;dr.
And Opinions on Shape of World Still Differ.
maya
@El Cid: Or…..
Too much, the Reince Preibus.
Cacti
Romney’s been lying his ass off since he locked up the GOP nom, and will continue to do so through November.
The message needs little more refining than, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to…
1. End Medicare
2. Privatize Social Security
3. Pass massive tax cuts for millionaires
Mitt isn’t running on economic improvement. He’s running on shock doctrine. He wants to re-legislate the 20th century.
Ed Drone
I saw somewhere the perfect name for the VP candidate: Paul Ry-Ayn. Works for me. Advocate of an atheist elitist’s philosophy, but claims to be a good Catholic. Seems to me that the marks in the GOPT party should be educated about his slavish devotion to — and enthusiastic promotion of — this atheistic, anti-social hypocritical nutjob, wouldn’t you think? It’d go over really well among the talibangelist set, eh?
Ed
mechwarrior online
@Cacti:
That’s nice and all but we need a better message, because right now the Democrats (by which I mean Obama, DNC, and those in power) have advocated cutting medicare and social security, or changing the rules so less people receive benefits.
This is a huge reason why Republican messaging works, we’re already talking about “saving” medicare and social security via cuts, changes in eligibility and other nonsense, it’s just a question of who’s lopping off what and how much.
A start would be taxing income over 100k for SS to help it, expand it, and make it more solid, but that will give fainting fits to upper income liberals only along for abortion, gay marriage and social issues in major metropolitan areas, but fuck them, make them pay for once. Rather than giving them their issues and then fucking over the working class.
It won’t happen though.
Ed Drone
I saw somewhere the perfect name for the VP candidate: Paul Ry-Ayn. Works for me. Advocate of an atheist elitist’s philosophy, but claims to be a good Catholic. Seems to me that the marks in the GOPT party should be educated about his slavish devotion to — and enthusiastic promotion of — this atheistic, anti-social hypocritical nutjob, wouldn’t you think? It’d go over really well among the talibangelist set, eh?
Ed
joel hanes
all the anti war protests, concern about civil liberties, and all that from the left went right the fuck out the window the moment a Democrat became elected to office
Perhaps you just stopped noticing ?
(Balloon Juice isn’t exactly a hotbed of criticism of Obama from the left, but there are other blogs …
And there was that “Occupy” thing last year; do you really think all those people camped out in the snow were giving Obama a pass?)
And if you look, you’ll find plenty of liberals who haven’t forgiven Obama for reversing himself on FISA, or for the continued surveillance of American citizens. (Admittedly, many of those libs have abandoned Balloon Juice, where they’re likely to be ridiculed for their imperfect support of Obama.)
Speaking for myself: I think Obama is winding down Iraq and Afghanistan about as quickly as political reality in the US permits. He tried to close Gitmo, but the chickenshits in Congress had the last word on that. The continued drone warfare horrifies me.
I had hoped that he would purge most of the Bush appointees in DoJ; that hasn’t happened, and I suspect that Obama decided that the political price was too high to pay during a first term, especially given intransigent Republican refusal to confirm Obama’s nominees to any office whatsoever.
However, no matter how flawed and illiberal President Obama may be, he’s light-years better than any Republican candidate since Eisenhower, and a better President than Clinton.
Ed Drone
I saw somewhere the perfect name for the VP candidate: Paul Ry-Ayn. Works for me. Advocate of an atheist elitist’s philosophy, but claims to be a good Catholic. Seems to me that the marks in the GOPT party should be educated about his slavish devotion to — and enthusiastic promotion of — this atheistic, anti-social hypocritical nutjob, wouldn’t you think? It’d go over really well among the talibangelist set, eh?
Ed
Davis X. Machina
@Cacti: When you tell people that, they literally refuse to believe it.
Ed Drone
I saw somewhere the perfect name for the VP candidate: Paul Ry-Ayn. Works for me. Advocate of an atheist elitist’s philosophy, but claims to be a good Catholic. Seems to me that the marks in the GOPT party should be educated about his slavish devotion to — and enthusiastic promotion of — this atheistic, anti-social hypocritical nutjob, wouldn’t you think? It’d go over really well among the talibangelist set, eh?
Ed
Davis X. Machina
@Cacti: When you tell people that, they literally refuse to believe it.
Davis X. Machina
@efgoldman: I’ll take the stupid, and the points. It doesn’t always win, but it always covers the spread.
kay
@Comrade Mary:
That’s good. Now he just has to repeat it 5 million times.
That’s what I couldn’t stand. The endless repitition that is required.
I’d be screaming at them in a month. “Jesus CHRIST, are you NOT listening, or what?”
Petorado
As we bask in the glow of Romney knocking it out of the park in the veepstakes that will clinch this election, let’s revisit another towering call by the Mittster: holy crap have these Olympics been the unmitigated disaster that Mitt foretold. Disorganized, unprepared, and those crazy Brits never got behind it. Bummer for the athletes that all we ever heard about was how bad things were and not what took place at the venues. Mitt has that intuition thing going on. What better perspective for determining who’s presidential material and who’s not.
Petorado
As we bask in the glow of Romney knocking it out of the park in the veepstakes that will clinch this election, let’s revisit another towering call by the Mittster: holy crap have these Olympics been the unmitigated disaster that Mitt foretold. Disorganized, unprepared, and those crazy Brits never got behind it. Bummer for the athletes that all we ever heard about was how bad things were and not what took place at the venues. Mitt has that intuition thing going on. What better perspective for determining who’s presidential material and who’s not.
raven
@Petorado: And security really sucked.
freelancer
@Petorado:
lmao. Thanks for that.
Patricia Kayden
As with all of Romneybot 2.0’s many lies, the Obama campaign has to respond in advertisements. Don’t let any of the lies get traction. And continue to frame The Bot for what he is: a rich, out of touch liar, with no backbone and no principles. And go after Ryan with a vengeance.
mamayaga
@Cacti: Don’t forget:
4. Raise your taxes.
See: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/12/1119228/-Democracy-Corps-Study-Ryan-Budget-Doubles-Obama-s-Lead
raven
@Petorado: And security sucked.
feebog
Dating myself, but team rMoney and Ry-ayn remind me of Peabody and Sherman and the WABAC machine. For those to young to remember the Rocky and Bullwinkle show, Peabody was a super smart dog who adopted Sherman, a kind of nerdy teen. You can go to Wikipedia for a more detailed explanation.
Suffern ACE
@Davis X. Machina: Honestly. Not surprising at all. Same group that likes the idea is choice in medicare, thinking that no one would ever screw them over and since we are all snowflakes when it comes to getting old, we all should have snowflake plans.
Steve
I have an idea guys. Let’s keep pressing submit until our comment shows up. Go go go!
Ed Drone
I see that my “Ry-Ayn” comment was triplicated by the wondrous means of Word Press. Well, I’m sorry, but it doesn’t matter much. Repetition can be effective in the “messaging game,” they say.
Ed
Honestly, I do apologize. I shouldn’t have clicked on the “try again” part of the error message so many times. Some of ’em got through.
Anne Laurie
@max:
I may have to steal that one…
freelancer
@raven:
I know right? Like there were eleventy billion terrorist attacks reported on Fox.
Sorry, I had that confused with the number of medical treatments issued where the patient didn’t get a bill.
Anne Laurie
@SiubhanDuinne:
Also, take out the vowels, REINCE PRIEBUS = RNC PR BS
Reince “Extraneous Vowels” Priebus.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
Did they really wear matching outfits for the 60 Minutes interview?
Jeebus, this campaign is a joke.
PurpleGirl
@mechwarrior online: The current cap for SS is $106,000 IIRC. It has been raised every few years. They need to take the cap off completely, so that the tax is paid on one’s whole salary no matter how high it is.
Suffern ACE
Soooo. My dad and mom went to play cards with my aunt and uncle. My aunt is a full on Walker supporter in Wisconsin and announced that she thinks Ryan would make a great President. She does not like liberals, but voted for Obama last time. Hates him but is voting for him again because “Romney is such a big asshole.”
James E. Powell
@PurpleGirl:
It would be better if it were phased rather than all at once.
Steve
I’m just happy to have the chairman of the RNC admit that cutting the social safety net is “robbery.” I can work with that.
Nick
Someone better put together a macro for headlines beginning “Romney is lying about…”
PurpleGirl
@James E. Powell: However they do it, it should be done. When I was making $50K, I paid the tax on the whole salary, I think someone making $500,000 should pay the tax on the whole thing.
mamayaga
@PurpleGirl:
Agree. I can assure you they will collect SS when the time comes even if they have a million stashed away, and will scream bloody murder if someone wants to means-test SS benefits.
Geoduck
@feebog: Except that Mr. Peabody was actually smart.
mechwarrior online
@PurpleGirl:
Yes, that’s the important critical start, no more cap on Social Security, but before we shriek that we can’t get it because of Republicans, we need to realize we couldn’t even do that with Democrats. Obama has stated multiple times he wants to cut it, he may not want to kill it now like the Republicans but he still wants to cut it. A ton of the DNC and Democratic leadership are oligarchs and want to cut it. Finally a lot of Democrats that live in up scale metropolitan areas are just along for the social liberalism and would scream like stuck pigs if their income over 100k gets taxed, so NYC, Sanfrancisco, Chicago, DC, NoVA, Conn… all those areas of social liberals would freak.
Our party has even admitted things like this, in specific that it’s always tax increases over 250k because if they did it at 100k, still more than enough, New York and California would revolt.
Our first step in getting social security fixed is purifying our party of the limo liberal types that do exist and installing populists in their place, and if we aren’t willing to do it we might as well just fess up that we are social issues only and the poor can just get bent.
Yutsano
@mechwarrior online: Oh for fuck’s sake…
Villago Delenda Est
@Steve:
No, it’s not that.
I’ve clicked submit ONCE and got five identical posts to show up.
There’s something strange going on with FYWP, and for once, it doesn’t seem to be user error.
Sometimes it hangs on the submit and freezes up trying to get the acknowledgement back from the browser.
Micheline
@Yutsano: Me thinks that mechwarrior is a troll trying sow discord in the left.
Little Boots
paul. ryan.
really?
serously?
they think this will save them?
sadness.
kay
I’m still mad he successfully stonewalled on his taxes.
That’s why Harry Reid was right to do what he did. He knew Romney was going to blow off media and they’d move on to the next thing.
He barely got it in under the wire. Maybe he can say something outrageous about the giant, mysterious IRA after they get bored with Ryan in 72 hours. There’s a narrow window there.
Yutsano
@Micheline: Yeah because telling us to purify the party will get us all to vote for Jill Stein. I swear most firebaggers failed basic civics in high school.
JGabriel
__
__
NBC via The Daily Banter:
I’ve decided to vote for Obama because the “We Killed bin Laden” app worked so much better than Romney’s “Ryan Is My VP” app.
.
Little Boots
@JGabriel:
heh.
shortstop
@Comrade Mary: It’s quite elegant. In a few short words, he manages to 1) hang the Ryan plan around the neck of every House Republican who voted for it (that would be all of them), 2) decline to allow Romney to dissociate himself from the plan that was the reason he chose Ryan (how like Mitt to want it both ways), and 3) paint Mitt as weak and not in charge.
Sometimes when our president is speaking, I get a funny, warm feeling deep in my…but no, I’ve said too much.
Valdivia
It isn’t even more than a day and I am already seething about this duo and their dogwhistles. Obama is a thief? Gah!
I don’t think I am going to make it to November if the journos behave like Schieffer did tonight.
Little Boots
@shortstop:
desperate stupid choice.
James E. Powell
@kay:
I’m still mad he successfully stonewalled on his taxes.
I’m not so sure that he did. First, to be success at stonewalling, it has to be an issue that does not cause him to lose votes. I think that it did. It is certainly something negative about Romney that has become firmly embedded. We just need to keep repeating it because voters, like the corporate press/media, have very short attention spans.
Second, we do not know that this issue has gone away. I read today that Ryan showed Romney more years of tax returns than he expects to share with the public. That can’t be allowed to fly.
shortstop
@Valdivia: There you are, Tica chica! Hey, if I were to go into Corcovado, would you recommend I start from Carate or Bahia Drake? I know the Jimenez side of the peninsula has more facilities for a tourist base, but I’m kind of liking the looks of the hike from San Padrillo to Sirena and back better. And yes, we know what we’re getting into, and yes, we’re experienced rainforest/hot weather hikers.
shortstop
@James E. Powell: I believe that move by Ryan will have exactly the opposite effect from what Team Romney intended. This is not over.
Valdivia
@shortstop:
whoa! You would be venturing to places I haven’t been very lucky to go to. Is your trip very soon? I have a friend who runs the main NGO for the national parks there and she will have all the answers. I will shoot her an email and post it here to you after she answers. Bahia Drake is supposed to be amazing.
dead existentialist
@mamayaga: You don’t get a choice to turn it down, I think. Once you’re eligible, you get your check whether you need it or not. (At least that’s what a wealthy friend told me.) So by all means raise the cap to all of one’s income, and stay away from means testing. You pay in, you get some back.
dead existentialist
@Yutsano: No shit.
shortstop
@Valdivia: Not soon at all — got a couple of other trips ahead of it, but I enjoy researching this stuff. Thanks a lot for any help you can provide! You might tell her we’re looking at staying a night or two at Sirena. We could always go all the way through and come out at La Leona, but we’d rather keep our packs light, so a round trip’s probably better since we could store some stuff in Drake. Thanks again!
shortstop
@Valdivia: Also, pass on my effusive compliments on her work. CR parks are spectacular and welcoming.
mamayaga
@dead existentialist: No, you apply for it — been there done that. They don’t automatically send you a check at a particular age because they don’t know when you’ve retired unless you tell them.
Violet
@kay:
I don’t think he has. The idea that Romney hasn’t released his taxes and is hiding something is firmly planted in people’s minds. All the Dems have to do is keep hammering away at it. Harry Reid can drop another tidbit here or there and the press will run with it. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.
JustAnotherBob
Why should working people pay higher tax rates than do working dollars?
MikeJ
@feebog: That trick never works!
Valdivia
@shortstop:
I totally will :) Once she replies I will find you in a thread. If not shoot me an email through my flickr account (just click on my nym) and through there I can give you my email so we can be in touch.
She does amazing work for the park system and mostly for the people who work in the park.
Chris T.
Someone needs to ask Romney and Lyin’ Ryan about this part:
If this choice is so great, why aren’t you “offering” it to “current seniors”?
Micheline
@JGabriel: That is such a great retort.
Uncle Cosmo
@Davis X. Machina: Y’know, in Mein Kampf Hitler wrote down exactly what he intended to do when he took power…& the entire “civilized” world was shocked! shocked! when, starting 9-10 years later, it turned out he meant exactly what he wrote.
We need to take Ryan at his words–& hang the goddamn thing around his & Mitt’s necks like an albatross the size of Rodan.
dead existentialist
@mamayaga: Yeah, I thought it sounded fishy at the time. He’s a Republican, too. Damn. I have too much faith inhumanity.
;)
Valdivia
@shortstop:
Hope you are reading this: my friend says you have to go through Carate because the other side is closed. Also: you have to make a reservation to camp in the park or stay at the Albergue. Hope this helps.
shortstop
@Valdivia: Thanks, V! I knew about the reservation system, but not that the northwest side is closed. Very helpful–appreciate it.
Valdivia
@shortstop:
Yay. Glad I could be of help.
Russell Dee
President Obama did not steal money from medicare. What Obama did is this:
When he put Obamacare together that resulted in health providers getting millions and millions of new customers/patients because people who didn’t used to be insured suddenly became insured. Since Obama brought those new customers/patients to health providers the health providers were pleased about getting the new customers so they agreed that in exchange for getting all those new customers/patients they would reduce some of the fees they charge medicare for medicare patient healthcare. So that means that medicare got to save some money because the health providers agreed to charge medicare less for medicare patient care. Obama used those savings (plus money medicare will save by not allowing so much fraud and abuse to take place in the system) to purchase more benefits for seniors who are already getting medicare. For example, Obama closed the doughnut hole (and other new benefits) with the money he got from the health providers (who were thankful about getting the new ObamaCare patients/customers) plus the money saved by stopping fraud and abuse. Obama put the money into medicare by giving the seniors new benefits. If Romney wins then seniors will lose those new benefits (such as closing the doughnut hole) because Romney will kill ObamaCare and it is the existence of ObamaCare (the new customers/patients) that got the health providers to agree to giving those new benefits to seniors. If ObamaCare goes away then the new benefits to seniors go away too.