Campaign 2010

Jun 06, 2011

Kelly Slams Own Record of Scaring Seniors, Threatens to Leave Republican Party

Representative Mike Kelly (PA-03) is flailing in defense of his vote to end Medicare to pay for subsidies for Big Oil.  Today, Representative Kelly threatened to leave the Republican Party if it lied to seniors about losing their Medicare. The problem is that Representative Kelly ran an ad last year called “Seniors,” which falsely told seniors that they would be losing their Medicare benefits if they didn’t elect him to Congress.

“Republican, soon to be Independent, Representative Mike Kelly won his congressional seat by scaring seniors with TV ads claiming that seniors would lose their Medicare,” said Josh Schwerin, Northeast Press Secretary at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.  “Now that Representative Kelly has voted to end Medicare, he is hypocritically complaining about being held accountable for his voting record.  Will Mike Kelly follow through on his threat and leave the Republican party in response to his own ads meant to scare seniors?”

“I really find it offensive, when you don’t have a plan, absolutely no fix for what is wrong and then you … tell seniors that they’re going to lose … their Medicare and Medicaid and it’s all because of Republican policy — that’s a flat-out lie,” Kelly said. “They know it’s a lie and they still put it out there and the reasoning is that’s what they have to do to win the next election.”

Kelly said that if the Republican Party were doing the same thing, he would leave it. – The Hill, 6/6/11

Background:

Kelly Ad Said Health Care Reform Cut Medicare By $500 Billion, Could Cause Seniors To Lose Benefits. A 2010 campaign ad run by Mike Kelly for Congress said that the health care reform bill, “cuts Medicare by $500 billion, and it could cause seniors to lose their current Medicare plan.” Kelly stated in the ad that, “They shouldn’t have to be worrying right now at this point in their life about whether their Medicare is going to be funded properly. It’s not right, it’s not fair.” [Mike Kelly for Congress, 10/15/10]

  • FactCheck.org: Health Care Reform Did Not Cut Medicare Or Benefits. In March 2010, Factcheck.org corrected a statement by John Boehner that President Obama's health care reform bill contained "$500 billion worth of Medicare cuts." According to Factcheck.org, "The truth is that those 'cuts' are really reductions in the growth of future spending, not changes to current benefits. The proposal is to reduce waste in Medicare in order to bring costs down, not to reduce benefits [Factcheck.org, 3/15/10]

Kelly Said Ryan Budget Made “No Changes” To Medicare For Current Beneficiaries. After voting for the Ryan budget, Kelly said, “Under our proposal, seniors are safe, with no changes to the current program for those 55 and older.” [Office of Congressman Kelly, 4/15/11]

  • Republican Plan Would Affect Current Seniors. “Republicans say their Medicare plan wouldn’t affect anybody near retirement age. But it would. Republicans are convinced that burnishing the public’s view of their unpopular proposal to overhaul Medicare depends on assuring today’s seniors that they won’t be affected […] There’s only one problem with the strategy: It’s not true. The policies in the House GOP budget, if enacted, would begin affecting millions of seniors almost immediately by increasing their costs for prescription drugs and probably long-term care. Further, Medicare costs could rise over time if healthier seniors choose to abandon the traditional benefit program.” [National Journal, 6/2/11]
  • FactCheck.Org: Ryan Plan Would Reinstate “Doughnut Hole.” According to FactCheck.org, in May 2011, “Ryan’s budget plan does indeed reinstate the so-called ‘doughnut hole,’ a gap in Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage. As the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said: ‘The proposal would repeal the provisions that created the Independent Payment Advisory Board and that expanded subsidies for the “coverage gap” in Part D (a range of spending in which many enrollees have to pay all of their drug costs, sometimes called the doughnut hole).’” [Factcheck.org, 5/06/11]
  • The Republican Budget Will Force 266,000 Pennsylvania Seniors To Pay An Additional $149 Million For Prescription Drugs Next Year Alone. “The Republican budget will end Medicare and put insurance company bureaucrats between seniors and their doctors.  Their budget provides a windfall of trillions to the health insurance industry, paid for on the backs of seniors  - it would force Pennsylvania seniors to pay $6,303 more in out-of-pocket expenses for health care in the first year alone  – more than double the cost under current law. Republicans falsely claim that today’s seniors will not be impacted by their reckless plan – but the fact is that starting next year, more than 266,300 Pennsylvania seniors will be forced to pay $149 million more in prescription drug costs. In addition, the Republican budget slashes billions in health care for seniors through Medicaid, putting seniors at risk and costing thousands of private sector jobs. Democrats are committed to protecting and strengthening Medicare and Medicaid by cutting waste, fraud and abuse – not benefits.” [DPCC, accessed 6/6/11]

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