On Meet the Press yesterday, House Republican Leader Eric Cantor called for Republicans to “embrace” the controversial budget ‘road map’, proposed by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, that would privatize Social Security and dismantle Medicare. Democrats demanded Representative Pat Meehan to come forward and oppose his party’s devastating budget proposal in advance of its author, Representative Paul Ryan, delivering the Republican response to the State of the Union.  
“House Republican Leader Eric Cantor made clear that House Republicans are now full speed ahead on a devastating plan that would privatize Social Security and eliminate Medicare.  It’s time to see if Representative Pat Meehan agrees or if he is ready to put on the breaks before seniors get left out in the cold,” said Jesse Ferguson of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “It’s past time for Representative Pat Meehan to stand behind or against his leadership’s plan to gamble Social Security in the stock market and eliminate Medicare?”
 
 
BACKGROUND
 
The Boehner-Ryan Budget Roap Map Privatizes Social Security and eliminates Medicare as American Seniors know it:
 
·         Ryan’s ‘Road Map’ would “privatize a substantial portion of Social Security” and “end traditional Medicare and most of Medicaid” [Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 7/7/10]
 
·         Ryan Plan Would Privatize Social Security and Dismantle Medicare. Under the Republican “Roadmap for America’s Future” that Boehner praises, “Medicare is privatized. Seniors get a voucher to buy private insurance, and the voucher’s growth is far slower than the expected growth of health-care costs. Medicaid is also privatized… And beyond health care, Social Security gets guaranteed, private accounts that CBO says will actually cost more than the present arrangement” [Washington Post’s Ezra Klein, 2/1/10]
 
·         According to a independent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Analysis, under the Ryan Budget:
 
Traditional retirement benefits would be reduced below those scheduled under current law for many workers who are age 55 or younger in 2011… A system of individual accounts would be established in 2012. In that year, workers who are age 55 or younger would be able to participate in voluntary individual accounts, funded with a portion of their payroll taxes. [Congressional Budget Office, 1/27/10]
 
·         Ezra Klein of The Washington Post explains the implications Ryan’s budget alternative would have on Social Security:
 
“Social Security gets guaranteed, private accounts that CBO says will actually cost more than the present arrangement, further underscoring how ancillary the program is to our budget problem.” [Washington Post, 2/1/10]
 
On Friday, Republicans selected Paul Ryan to give the Republican rebuttal to the State of the Union Address, again embracing his controversial budget proposal. As late as December, Republican leadership were unwilling to commit to this spending plan.
[Washington Post, 1/21/11]