has out-maneuvered Rick Perry in the effort to surreptitiously embrace an overhaul of Medicare reform -- a top goal of conservative elites -- without drawing too much attention or criticism in the Republican presidential primary.
Romney unveiled the outline of his Medicare plan on Thursday and Friday as part of a larger proposal to cut spending and the federal budget deficit. Perry included his Medicare plan a week ago -- which was less detailed than Romney's -- in a rollout that focused on his tax reform plan.
Perry stepped all over his entitlement reforms by emphasizing his optional 20 percent flat tax idea, almost to the exclusion of everything else. His recommendations for Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid got some attention from conservative policy wonks and journalists in the days that followed, but very little otherwise.
It was not even clear that Perry wanted much attention for his entitlement reforms. The Texas governor's highlighting of the tax reform plan was intended to capture some of the enthusiasm over tax simplification that had gathered behind Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan.
The Romney campaign clearly intended, however, for its Medicare proposal to get some attention. The measure was included among a grab bag of proposals that were by and large fairly pedestrian. Many of the measures had been included in Romney's 160-page jobs plan that he released in early September.
In addition, the former Massachusetts governor dribbled out a piece of his Medicare approach in a USA Today op-ed released Thursday evening. The three-sentence paragraph on the topic was placed near the end of the piece. The Romney campaign then followed up with more details on Friday that made it clear he was embracing what is essentially an optional version of the "premium support" idea of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). The basic proposal is that the federal government would give seniors defined benefit amounts to take to insurers, with lower income seniors getting more generous amounts than middle- and high-income seniors.
If seniors found an insurance plan that cost less than the amount of their voucher, they could keep the money to pay for out-of-pocket medical expenses. The intent would be for insurers to compete for customers by offering cheaper plans, placing downward pressure on health care providers to lower prices.
The result of Romney's rollout? The Medicare proposal was immediately seized upon by some in the press late Thursday and early Friday -- including conservative journalists at the Washington Post, Weekly Standard and Washington Examiner -- while most reports focused on the more generic spending cut proposals. There was skepticism from some corners over whether Romney's plan would work, but more importantly he was recognized as finally putting forward a proposal on the issue.
Yuval Levin, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center who has written about the debate over how to save Medicare, gave Romney high marks for his plan.
"While some important details ... clearly remain to be decided, the general framework Governor Romney presented today is an extremely encouraging and smart proposal," Levin told The Huffington Post by e-mail. "It is exactly the kind of reform that will be necessary to make Medicare more secure and more effective, to save the program (and with it the long-term federal budget) from fiscal collapse, and to help restrain the growth of health-care costs not just for seniors but for everyone."
Romney also met last week with Ryan, the House Budget Committee Chairman, and discussed his plan with the influential Republican. Ryan has been the only member of his party willing over the past few years to propose a comprehensive plan to make Medicare solvent using small government, free market ideas. The two have talked on the phone about the plan as well.
Ryan commented favorably on Romney's plan Friday, declaring himself "very pleased with these kind of entitlement reforms," giving a big boost to Romney among conservative influentials.
No such opinions were sought of Perry's proposals on entitlements last week. That may have also been because Perry did not fully embrace any specific proposals on Medicare, instead saying there were several "reform options" but not wholeheartedly embracing any in particular.
Entitlements, and Medicare, are of crucial concern to conservatism's policy wing for two reasons. One, Medicare is a significant contributor to both runaway health care costs and to the nation's growing long-term debt obligations. And second, if conservatives can overhaul Medicare, they believe they can strike a big blow to the liberal vision of a big government welfare state.
Romney underscored that there would be no changes to Social Security or Medicare for Americans who are at or near retirement.
Perhaps to shield Romney from attacks as the campaign grows more heated, many of the most controversial aspects of the plan were hazy. It was unclear, for example, how a potential Romney administration would set the level of premium support for Medicare and how much that defined amount would increase as medical costs continue to skyrocket. Though Romney said wealthier seniors would be asked to pay more than low-income seniors, he did not explain how those differentiations would be made.
The Obama campaign and some of Romney's Republican rivals criticized the plan from opposite ends of the spectrum. Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said Romney's plan would place "a great burden on the middle class and the elderly."
A spokesman for Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who has proposed limiting federal spending to 18% of the gross domestic product and giving Americans the option of a 20% flat tax, accused Romney of "tinkering around the edges."
During his long march toward the Republican presidential primaries, Romney has found it far more difficult to ignite the passions of tea party activists than rivals like Perry — who captured their interest initially before slumping in the polls — and former business executive Herman Cain, who spoke at Friday's gathering to wildly enthusiastic cheers.
The audience applauded many of Romney's spending-cut proposals, which included limiting the salaries and benefits of government workers to those of private sector workers, and eliminating federal subsidies for Amtrak and for family-planning clinics that provide abortion services.
But Romney, who has been hampered in the polls by the health insurance mandate that he put in place in Massachusetts as governor, won his biggest cheers with his promise to repeal Obama's healthcare plan, which he said would save $90 billion.
"I should have started with that line," he said as the crowd gave him a standing ovation.
Friday night, meanwhile, GOP candidates who are struggling to make a mark in the presidential race gathered to press their cases before committed Republican activists at an Iowa state GOP fundraising dinner in Des Moines.
While a few made veiled swipes at their rivals, they reserved their harshest words for Obama, saying he had made the recession worse, had a dangerous foreign policy and that essentially he was in over his head.
"What we are faced with is the results of a radical ideology, and an inexperienced and incompetent president," Newt Gingrich said. He received the warmest reception of the evening from nearly 1,000 attendees when he said that if he were the nominee, he would challenge Obama to seven three-hour debates, and if the president refused, he would follow him from town to town every day of the campaign.
Rick Santorum this week finished his tour of all 99 counties in Iowa.
"It is great, I would say, to be back in Iowa, but I've been here a little while," said the former Pennsylvania senator, who put out a 20-point plan to strengthen families, protect traditional marriage and fight against abortion.
Perry tried to define himself as an outsider who would shake up Washington, and took the most obvious swipe at Romney.
"I happen to believe your choice in this race is between status quo tinkerers who represent the establishment, those who support bailouts and oppose major tax reform such as the flat tax," and himself, who would bring a "wrecking ball" to the nation's capitol, Perry said.
Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann said the nominee must not be willing to concede.
"We have to have a commitment that is absolutely grounded in cement that our nominee will be an individual who will stand strong and make sure there is no compromise" with repealing Obama's health plan and banking regulations and abolishing the tax code, she said.
And Texas Rep. Ron Paul turned to his favorite subjects, the importance of the gold standard, and the need to audit the Federal Reserve and to downsize America's foreign policy.
"If we sent people to Washington who live within the confines of the Constitution, we can solve our problems quickly," he said.
All about: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, United States, Paul Ryan, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann
No comments:
Post a Comment