Facts were sometimes used as blunt instruments as the four remaining GOP presidential candidates hammered away at each other in the last debate before Saturday’s South Carolina primary.

• Santorum and Romney tangled on the Massachusetts health care law. Santorum wrongly claimed it was a “government-run” program. Romney erred when he said everybody was covered by private insurance, ignoring Medicare and his own expansion of Medicaid.
• Santorum also fouled up when he claimed the state has “the highest health insurance premiums of any state in the country.” Seven states and Washington, D.C., were higher in 2010, the most recent year for which figures are available.
• Gingrich claimed Romney appointees “funded” an abortion clinic. The truth is that an autonomous state agency approved a tax-exempt loan — not direct taxpayer funding — and Romney said he wasn’t aware until after he left office.
• Gingrich, slamming Jimmy Carter, said “unemployment went to 10.8 percent.” It did — nearly two years after Ronald Reagan took office. But it never exceeded 7.8 percent under Carter.
• Gingrich claimed that “none” of the ideas on the website of his Center for Health Transformation resemble Obama’s program. Actually, we found a call there for an individual mandate, which Gingrich himself repeated as recently as last May.
• Romney slammed Gingrich’s claim to have “helped” Reagan create jobs, saying Reagan mentioned Gingrich only once in his published diaries. That’s true. Reagan wrote that the young congressman’s 1983 suggestion to freeze spending “would cripple our defense program,” and he rejected it.
• Ron Paul, a physician, claimed medicine “worked rather well” in the early 1960′s. That was before Medicare, when in fact rising health care costs were forcing many of the elderly onto public assistance or charity care.

Note: This is a summary only. The full article with analysis, images and citations may be viewed on the FactCheck Web site:

Desktop users go here
Mobile users go here

Related posts:

1. Fact Checking the Republican Presidential Candidates
2. GOP Presidential Candidates Snub Women in Top Campaign Roles
3. South Carolina Governor Sanford Admits Affair, Resigns As Chairman Of Republican Governors Association

The conventional wisdom is that the biggest hurdle to President Barack Obama’s reelection is a dispirited and disappointed base.

But judging by the 100 people who showed up Thursday night for the opening of a Henderson campaign office for Obama, the president still has a lot of ardent supporters willing to campaign on his behalf.

The group reflected the young and minority voters who were key to Obama’s historic victory in 2008.

Organizing for America, the group that opened the office, formed shortly after Obama was inaugurated in 2009 to preserve the grassroots organization that help elect Obama and lay the groundwork for a second term.

Delray Gjestvang, a robotics programmer and car builder, admitted he doesn’t like the way things are going in Washington, but “it’s not Obama’s fault. Republicans won’t work with him.”

While some people in attendance said organizers received 300 RSVPs from people invited to the opening, Michael Campbell, press secretary of Organizing for America-Nevada, could not immediately confirm that number.

Aside from rank-and-file citizens and volunteers, some elected leaders showed up, including State Sen. Shirley Breeden, D-Henderson, said the presidential election will be a battle to protect Social Security and Medicare.

She briefly recounted what everyone in the office knows — that Nevada has been devastated by the recession, a situation that she believes has led to an increase in “lots of folks … committing suicide.”

“I don’t know how Republicans feel, but (the economic problems) do not just affect Democrats,” she added.

Nick Di Archangel, who lives near the office and is also a spokesman for the Service International Employees Union, called it “inspiring to see so many people so early showing up and getting into the campaign.”

“There was a lot of energy around his campaign the first time, and this shows he hasn’t lost any of that,” said Di Archangel, who added that he views Obama as the only candidate “who has an eye toward improvement for the middle class.”

Organizers took advantage of the large crowd. When the speeches ended, they handed out sheets with the names and phone numbers of people who had volunteered for Obama’s first presidential campaign. They urged volunteers to call and urge them to show up at the Jan. 21 caucus and come to other events.

In a news release, Organizing for America-Nevada boasted that its volunteers have already made more than 282,000 phone calls to supporters, held more than 2,500 one-on-one meetings and hosted more than 490 house parties and meetings.

They could add at least one more phone call, made by Audrey Martinelli, who sat on the sidewalk outside the office Thursday with her list of names and numbers and started making calls.

A 26-year-old UNLV student, Martinelli said Obama’s health care law touched her personally because its provision requiring insurance companies to cover those with pre-existing health problems aided a relative. Obama also increased Pell Grant funding for college students.

“I’m a student at UNLV and extending Pell Grants is what’s paying for me to be at school right now,” she said, then turned to her sheet and started punching another number into her cell phone.

[Source: Las Vegas Sun]

So what can you do? Try this:

• Join the volunteers on BarackObama.com;
• Join your county’s Democratic Party. The Nye County’s is at Nye County Democratic Party;
• If you aren’t registered to vote yet and will be age 18 by election day in November 2012, then register.
• Be sure to participate in the Democratic Caucus on January 21, 2012;
• Get active. You don’t have to devote your entire life to politics, but get yourself informed. Join your local Democratic Party.

Related posts:

1. Open Letter to President Obama
2. 67% speech watchers support Obama’s plan
3. President Obama pushes Congress on healthcare

Las Vegas, NV – Today unelected Senator Dean Heller doubled down on his reckless plan and voted again in the Senate to end Medicare. Heller has even bragged that he’s “proud to be the only member of Congress who will get to vote for it twice.”

Heller will vote twice for a plan that ends Medicare to pay for billions of dollars in tax giveaways to the Big Oil companies that have contributed over $80,000 to his campaign. Heller’s plan would dramatically cut the benefits Nevada seniors receive, increase the out-of-pocket cost of their healthcare by $6,000 a year, nearly double the amount they pay in prescription drug costs and put private insurance companies in charge of seniors’ healthcare.

His plan also puts insurance company bureaucrats between seniors and their doctors, giving insurers the power to decide what tests and treatments seniors get.

“For the second time, Dean Heller put the health and livelihood of Nevada seniors at risk and voted to end Medicare to pay for tax giveaways to the Big Oil companies that bankroll his campaign,” said Zach Hudson, spokesperson for the Nevada State Democratic Party.

“Dean Heller once again made clear that his priorities are with his special-interests campaign donors, not Nevada seniors. Nothing could highlight more why we need Shelley Berkley in the Senate fighting to protect Medicare, not a politician like Dean Heller who would rather shill for Big Oil than stand up for Nevada seniors.”

[Source: Nevada State Democratic Party]

Related posts:

1. Republican Senator Dean Heller voted to ship jobs to China
2. GOP Seeks to Reform Medicare
3. Republican Congressman Dean Heller’s Dilemma

The raise is expected to be 3.5%. We’ll find out for sure Wednesday.

Some of the increase in January will be lost to higher Medicare premiums, which are deducted from Social Security payments. Medicare Part B premiums for 2012 are expected to be announced next week, and the trustees who oversee the program are projecting an increase.

Monthly Social Security payments average $1,082, or about $13,000 a year. A 3.5% increase would amount to an additional $38 a month, or about $455 a year.

Most retirees rely on Social Security for more than 90% of their income.

The COLA was enacted in the 1970”s (before the Tea Party and the current GOP craziness.

[Associated Press]

Related posts:

1. Sharron Angle wants to phase out Social Security
2. Republican Paul Ryan plans cuts to Social Security
3. Reminder: Joe Heck Calls Social Security a pyramid scheme

Nevada Republican Congressman Joe Heck

The Nevada State Democratic Party took on Nevada’s Republican Representative Joe Heck’s June 8, 2011 appearance at the American Legion Post 40, in Henderson, Nevada. Calling the event a “trainwreck” the Democratic Party wrote:

Less than 24 hours after calling Social Security a “pyramid scheme” again, Heck held a trainwreck townhall last night where he and his staff said multiple times that the only questions allowed to be asked were those pertaining to veterans issues.

It was reported that Heck used Republican Sharron Angle’s technique of dodging reporters. The Nevada Dems continued:

In fact, it was so bad that in a scene reminiscent of last year’s Senate race in Nevada, Heck actually “ran into a private room when approached by reporters at the end of the town hall,” despite telling the audience he would stay to address additional questions according to the Las Vegas Sun.

Describing how “bad” the trainwreck was, The Democrat site quoted from the Las Vegas Sun explained:

Because the forum was held at an American Legion hall, Heck said he would answer only questions related to veterans’ issues. Social Security arguably falls into that category, but Heck wouldn’t budge, even though an announcement advertising the event, posted Monday on Facebook, listed Social Security, Medicare and Veterans Affairs as the main topics for discussion.

It is understandable that Heck, having called Social Security a “pyramid scheme” wouldn’t want to talk about it. Even his Republican supporters who receive Social Security doesn’t want to hear him characterize the Social Security program in that manner. Social Security is something that Democrats and Republicans (and independents as well) seem to agree on. They all want it left alone because it is a government program that works, Heck and Paul Ryan notwithstanding.

For more see:

Related posts:

1. Reminder: Joe Heck Calls Social Security a pyramid scheme
2. Angle ducks media
3. Sharron Angle wants to phase out Social Security

Nevada Republican Senator Dean Heller

Nevada Republican Representative Joe Heck

That Republican Representative Paul Ryan’s budget plan will change Medicare “as we know it,” seems to be widely accepted. Democrats oppose the Ryan Plan across the board. Many in Mr. Ryan’s own party reject the Ryan Plan. The plan would transform Medicare into a voucher-style system dubbed “premium support.” You’d get federal dollars to supplement the purchase of health insurance in a regulated private market.

Republican Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts has stated he will not vote for the plan. Brown states it would force seniors to pick up too much of the burden for rising healthcare costs. He fears that as health inflation rises, the cost of private plans will outgrow the government premium support forcing the elderly to pay ever higher deductibles and co-pays. Brown also noted that “Medicare has already taken significant cuts to help pay for Obama’s health care plan.” President Obama and Congress cut a half trillion dollars to the private side of Medicare leaving seniors at risk of losing their Medicare Advantage coverage.

Brown states, “We should start by making improvements to the traditional Medicare plan.” The Government Accountability Office estimates nearly 10 percent ($47 billion) of annual Medicare spends is nothing but waste, fraud or abuse. Attorney General Eric Holder puts the figure at $60 billion. Medicare administrators need to prevent those improper payments instead of paying then chasing to recover the improper payments proposes Brown.

Brown also thinks savings could be increased by increasing congressional oversight of how Medicare reimburses providers and improve the quality of Medicare to seniors. He also suggests tort reform to limit frivolous lawsuits.

Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine has said she will vote against the Ryan Plan, which seeks to cut $5.8 trillion in federal spending over 10 years.

The Ryan budget proposal passed the House on April 15 235-193. The public is divided on the issue. A USA Today/Gallup Poll last month found 44 percent supporting Obama’s budget compared to 43 percent backing Ryan’s. Still, 66 percent said they were worried the Republican plan would cut Medicare too much, while 71 percent said they were afraid Democrats wouldn’t go far enough in addressing the deficit.

Nevada Republican Senator Dean Heller voted for the Ryan Plan when he was in the House and said he’d vote for it again as Senator. Republican Joe Heck voted for the Ryan Plan in the House.

Both Heller and Heck were chastised by the Nevada Democratic Party for misleading Nevada seniors by claiming the Ryan Plan would not affect seniors over age 55 issuing the following statement:

“The GOP budget plan would reopen the donut hole and result in over 26,000 Nevada seniors paying $15 million more alone in prescription drug costs next year. This clearly affects Nevadans over the age of 55 and Heller and Heck are wrong to mislead them. Their reckless pandering to the TEA Party would nearly double prescription drug costs for seniors and end Medicare as we know it, all so they can cut taxes for millionaires.”

Republican Newt Gingrich, criticized the plan as "radical" and "right-wing social engineering” but has backed away from his criticism receiving a skewering by conservatives.

The GOP is squirming between a rock and a hard place. Having described the Medicare Reform as socialist Obamacare they are discovering that their voter base isn’t all that enthusiastic about repealing Obama’s Medicare Reform, whether socialized or not. They are also discovering that extreme positions can be dangerous to their political health.

In any event even though the House has passed the Ryan Plan the GOP will have a difficult time in getting the Plan approved in the Senate. And even if they do President Obama will veto it. That leaves the GOP with the problem of getting a 2/3^rd’s vote to override his veto. Not likely.

Related posts:

1. GOP attack on Medicare/Medicaid
2. Republican Dean Heller voted twice to end Medicare
3. Reform Reality Check: You Medicare is safe, and stronger with reform

Republican Nevada Congressman Joe Heck tells Jon Ralston on Face to Face he wants to “protect” Medicare by dissolving it!

Is that what you want?

Related posts:

1. Republican Joe Heck employs Sharron Angle’s dodge of media
2. GOP Seeks to Reform Medicare
3. Reminder: Joe Heck Calls Social Security a pyramid scheme

Will U.S. Reps. Joe Heck, Dean Heller Vote to End Medicare/Medicaid As We Know Them For Nevada Seniors, Children, and People With Disabilities …

While Giving Millionaires and Big Corporations Another Tax Break The Nation Can’t Afford?

IRRESPONSIBLE: Congress Expected to Vote Friday on Republican Budget Plan That Would Replace Medicare With a Voucher System That Shortchanges Seniors on Care, That Would Force At Least 136,563 Nevada Residents Off Medicaid, and Would Cost 2 Million Americans Their Jobs … All While Giving Trillions in New Tax Breaks to the Rich

Washington DC – All eyes are on U.S. Reps. Joe Heck (NV-3) and Dean Heller (NV-2) with a vote expected Friday in the U.S. House on the Republican budget plan to irresponsibly give trillions of dollars in new tax breaks for millionaires and big corporations at the same time it ends Medicare and Medicaid as we know them and asks Nevada seniors, children and people with disabilities to shoulder more burden in the form of dramatically higher premiums and less care. According to the Las Vegas Sun: “Republican House members Joe Heck and Dean Heller have both welcomed the Ryan budget idea of privatizing Medicare and converting Medicaid into block grants at least in concept.”

Tom McMahon, Executive Director, Americans United for Change: “There is nothing courageous or responsible about Republicans in Congress who are asking millions of seniors, the less fortunate and the disabled to make more sacrifices and the richest among us to make less.  If they had their way, there would be no more guaranteed Medicare benefits for seniors, only a guarantee of paying more and more out of pocket for less care after being left to the mercy to the private insurance industry.  There would only be a guarantee that millions of Americans would lose their jobs – only a guarantee that Nevada’s poor and disabled will live sicker and die younger while millionaires get another tax break they don’t need and the nation cannot afford.  If Congressmen Heck and Heller intend to vote Yes on ending Medicare as we know it so Paris Hilton can have another tax break, they owe their constituents a very good explanation why.”

Authored by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), the Republican budget plan:

Ø Ends Medicare As We Know It. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Ryan plan “would essentially end Medicare.”  Indeed, it calls for replacing the efficient Medicare system with an inefficient voucher system that would leave seniors at the mercy of the private insurance industry. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office: “Under the proposal, most elderly people would pay more for their health care than they would pay under the current Medicare system.”  It has been estimated that under the Ryan plan, 10 years from now, seniors on Medicare would be to paying nearly $6,400 more than they are today.  As the AARP noted: “The Chairman’s proposal, rather than tackling skyrocketing health care costs, would simply shift these costs onto the backs of people in Medicare.”  CLICK HERE TO VIEW the TV ad ‘Hands Off Medicare!’ that Americans United for Change aired on national cable last week.

Ø Replaces Medicaid With a ‘Block Grant’ That Would Shift Costs to States, Leave 136,563 in Nevada Without Care.  Ryan’s budget would covert Medicaid into a ‘block grant’ to the states that will not cover raising health care costs and do nothing to contain those costs.  According to CBO, block granting Medicaid would shift those costs to states, beneficiaries, and health care providers.  Those hit hardest would be low-income children, seniors, and people with disabilities who make up the bulk of Medicaid beneficiaries and who rely on long-term care such as nursing homes. In fact, according to a new analysis, “The GOP Plan Could Force At Least 136,563 Nevada Residents Off Medicaid.”

Ø Robs From The Poor, Elderly, and People With Disabilities to Give to The Rich: According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the Ryan plan would “produce the largest redistribution of income from the bottom to the top in modern U.S. history, while increasing poverty and inequality more than any measure in recent times and possibly in the nation’s history.  That’s because the Ryan plan would generate at least two-thirds — about $2.9 trillion — of its $4.3 trillion in budget cuts over 10 years from programs for people of modest means, while making permanent all of President Bush’s tax cuts for high-income Americans as well as a new estate-tax giveaway in the December 2010 tax package.”

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND ON PAUL RYAN’S ‘ROADMAP TO RUIN’ …

• Rep. Paul Ryan has received more than $2.1 million in contributions to his campaign and his PAC from health and insurance interests.
• Nearly 90% of Americans want to increase or preserve federal funding for Medicare, and 75% want to preserve or increase funding for Medicaid.
• CBPP Analysis: ‘State-By-State Data: What if Ryan’s Medicaid Block Grant Had Taken Effect in 2000? ; Federal Medicaid Funds Would Have Fallen over 25% in Most States, Over 40% in Some, by 2009’
• Economic Policy Institute: ‘Ryan plan to slash Medicaid will cost the economy nearly two million private sector jobs’

• Think Progress: ‘Paul Ryan Does Wall Street’s Bidding In Budget’
• Most Americans say the best way to reduce the deficit is to raise taxes on millionaires and eliminate giveaways for oil companies.
• Governors in 17 states sent a letter to Congressional leaders opposing the Republican plan to cut Medicaid by turning it into a block-grant program, which they say would “do little to address cost growth while shifting costs to states and threatening program integrity.”
• NEW REPORT: GOP BUDGET WOULD IMMEDIATELY REPEAL ‘DONUT HOLE’ FIX, COSTING SENIORS ADDITIONAL $44B IN Rx DRUG COSTS THROUGH 2020

Related posts:

1. GOP Seeks to Reform Medicare
2. Republican Dean Heller voted twice to end Medicare
3. Republican Paul Ryan plans cuts to Social Security

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis. will unveil in a few weeks a 2012 budget plan that will include a way to rein in the costs of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Last year, Ryan released "A Roadmap for America’s Future," which included plans to replace Social Security with private savings accounts and replacing Medicare with vouchers for senior citizens to buy private insurance.

Source: USA Today

Related posts:

1. Social Security recipients getting a raise in January
2. Sharron Angle wants to phase out Social Security
3. Reminder: Joe Heck Calls Social Security a pyramid scheme

Can’t win for losing. The GOP continues playing a political game.

Daily Kos reports today that

Yesterday, Democrats said they would be willing to move towards the GOP’s position on spending cuts in order to avoid a government shutdown.

Today, Republicans responded by moving the goalposts, saying that unless Democrats agree to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, Republicans will block an increase the national debt limit, forcing the United States into default:

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell warned on Friday (today) that GOP senators will not vote to increase the government’s borrowing limit unless President Barack Obama agrees to rein in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, laying down a high-stakes marker just weeks before the debt ceiling is reached.

The GOP continues to squeeze the middle-class in conducting its class warfare. Have you hugged your GOP Senator today?

Related posts:

1. Social Security recipients getting a raise in January
2. Republican Paul Ryan plans cuts to Social Security
3. Sharron Angle wants to phase out Social Security