A few hours after Mitt Romney announced he had selected Paul Ryan as his running mate, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Christopher Shays issued a statement praising the choice.
Shays said the Congressman from Wisconsin is “an experienced leader” and “a vice president all America can be proud of.”
From Shays’ Republican opponent, Linda McMahon, the reaction was more muted, even as one of McMahon’s Democratic rivals, U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, tried to tie her to Ryan.
“Congressman Ryan’s budget plan has become a litmus test for Republican candidates,” said Taylor Lavender, spokeswoman for the Murphy campaign. “Linda McMahon infamously toyed with the idea of making huge cuts to Medicare the last time she tried to buy this election. Does Linda McMahon also support Congressman Ryan’s disastrous budget? Connecticut’s seniors and middle class families deserve to know.”
McMahon spokesman Tim Murtaugh said Monday that the candidate backs Romney’s choice but does not agree with all of his ideas.
“She thinks Paul Ryan is on the right path as far as his thinking about the need to cut government spending,” Murtaugh said. “The whole notion that federal…spending is out of control is exactly right, [but] she has her own ideas about how to get there.”
The McMahon’s plan calls for a 1 percent cut in all non-defense spending, Murtaugh said.
On Saturday, McMahon campaign manager Corry Bliss said “Linda McMahon will never support a budget that cuts Medicare.”
Here’s what McMahon had to say to the New York Times about Ryan and Medicare back in 2010:
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4 Responses to McMahon on Ryan: Hands off Medicare
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Spending is indeed out of control… Linda’s campaign spending which is again heading to $100 per vote!
And Linda’s vaunted jobs “plan” is all smoke and mirrors. What about the deficits Linda? Remember them?
Murphy’s image is clearly on the decline as voters awaken to the fact that if he’s reelected, and if Obama gains a 2nd term, Murphy will simply continue supporting Obama’s disastrous policies that have needlessly exacerbated and prolonged the recession that started in 2008 as the nation began to angst over the prospects of an Obama presidency.
While Murphy laughably professes bipartisanship, he’s actually one of Pelosi’s/Obama’s most reliable votes as he supports the party line 98% of the time. (He’d probably hit 100% were it not for the few times when Pelosi gave him a bye on ‘throwaway’ legislation that appealed to his more conservative constituents.) Ideologically and by scoring his votes, Murphy is most closely aligned with his Connecticut colleague Rosa DeLauro and South Carolina’s James Clyburn, and is only exceeded in his leftist leanings by Arizona’s Raul Grijalva. Bipartisan? Please. (Someone had better call Rosa to let her know her reputation is in danger of being conflated with that of former CT congressman Chris Shays.)
Voters in CT-5 have grown more than weary of Obama’s failed policies and on the assumption that Murphy and McMahon both win their respective primary challenges tomorrow, it is anything but a foregone conclusion that Mr. Murphy will prevail in November.
The tide is turning, and Murphy knows it.
Everyone should know that Linda is a RINO and she’s not who she say’s she is. She’s gut less and only cares about winning a senate seat but won’t get anything done as a Senator. While says has his issues, he balanced a federal budget. I do not trust Linda McMahon. Paul Ryan is the future and the Republicans have a deep bench of young talent. I am offended and embarassed to have Linda McMahon at the head of the GOP Ticket. I am even more disappointed with the lemmings who embrace her for her money and donations. CT GOP is doomed.
4 questions for Health Care Reform before I can support Ryan’s plan:
1. How do the private sector Health Care Insurers plan to match Medicare’s Overhead rate of less that 2% of premiums? The CBO and McKinsey estimate private insurers to have a 12% overhead rate. High overhead rates are good for profits but very bad for member benefits.
2. Who will insure the working poor and chronically ill? The insurance business is only profitable with high overhead rates and a high Health:Un-health membership ratio. The voucher system will not cover the entry level plan for the cash strapped working poor and risk adjusted premiums for the chronically ill. Currently, the Emergency Room and Medicare picks up the uninsured, poor and sick whose care becomes the tax payer’s responsibility. I think Ryan’s current plan will accelerate this trend. I doubt any credible actuary would contradict.
3. Where is the plan to deal with Health Care costs? Currently there is a terrible shortage of Doctors in America which drives up costs. The shortage will only worsen as millions of Baby Boomers reach 65 years old over the next 5 years. Obama does not deal with this fundamental and foreseeable disaster either.
4. Ryan does not address the wasteful Fee for Service payment to providers policy. Under this policy Health Care providers have no incentive to make sensible care decisions inline with a diagnosis, instead Medicare pays for any and all services provided. Never questioning the value.