Yoder Says Young Would Rubber Stamp the Ryan Plan to Privatize Medicare

Statement

Shelli Yoder, the 9th District Democratic congressional candidate, released the following statement today following Mitt Romney's selection of Congressman Paul Ryan as his vice-presidential nominee:

"Selecting Paul Ryan as the Republican vice-presidential nominee brings Indiana's 9th District congressional race into the forefront. The strong commitment of Ryan's supporters, including Todd Young, to end Medicare, the most efficiently operated health insurance in the country, and to replace it with a coupon program, is now on the table in the 9th District. Young, a faithful soldier of Mr. Ryan's on the House Budget Committee and on the House floor, twice voted for Ryan's plan to phase out Medicare. With Ryan as Vice President, Young would be a reliable rubber-stamp vote to privatize Medicare and further undermine our middle-class retirees.

"Under the Ryan/Young plan, Medicare would be replaced with a voucher system that gives insurance companies, not you and your doctor, final say over whether or not to pay for certain medical care, irrespective of its medical necessity. It would substantially increase the costs seniors pay for their care by thousands of dollars every year. The Ryan/Young plan would devastate 9th District seniors, ending the Medicare guarantee and shifting health-care costs to those who can often least afford them. The Ryan/Young plan is not reform -- it is rationing.

"Beyond ending the guarantee of Medicare, the Ryan/Young plan hurts middle-class families in many other ways. For example, the plan encourages companies to ship jobs overseas instead of creating them here at home. It also hands more tax breaks to millionaires while cutting educational opportunities for students. Is this what we want? This Ryan/Young budget is the wrong approach to put our citizens back to work and to care for our seniors.

"The choice for Congress in Indiana's 9th District could not be more clear. It's a choice between a fighter and a voice for working and middle-class Hoosier families versus a partisan ideologue who will gamble on a radical budget plan that cripples the economic security of 9th District middle-class families and senior citizens."

Yoder's key issues include creating jobs and expanding opportunities for all Hoosier families. Her 10-point jobs plan includes increasing worker training, funding health-research initiatives, and investing in manufacturing and green technologies. Yoder is running to unseat Todd Young in the general election on November 6, 2012. For more information, please go to www.shelliyoderforcongress.com.

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