Ron Johnson Votes To Kill Medicare for Wisconsinites Age 55 and Under

Ron Johnson, U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, voted today for the Republican/Paul Ryan budget which kills Medicare for citizens who are 55 and under in favor of a voucher program which will cover less than half the costs of health insurance.

Even though Republicans are quietly and swiftly walking back from the plan that nearly all House Republicans voted for, Johnson just had to vote against us. Five Senate Republicans voted against the budget and for us. So there was cover for Johnson to vote against his party's wishes. Instead, he simply toed the party line, but did we really expect anything less from Johnson?

Actually, we should expect more from Ron Johnson in this case. Johnson's own Senate campaign website has a blog post, Keeping Promises to Our Seniors by Preserving Medicare and Social Security Benefits, that rips on the Affordable Care Act ("ObamaCare") for cuts to Medicare. Johnson promises to repeal the Act in order to eliminate the cuts. Now he voted to cut Medicare even further than the Act he wishes to repeal does, to the point of near extinction.

However, not only is Johnson flip-flopping from his earlier position, he's lying about the Act's cuts to Medicare. They're cuts to Medicare spending by increasing efficiency, not by reducing benefits. The Republican budget would cut Medicare spending by reducing benefits, which Johnson says in his post he's against. The title says it all, "Keeping Promises to Our Seniors by Preserving Medicare and Social Security Benefits."

Thanks a lot, Ron Johnson! Could you get off my Medicare and please start creating some jobs, that is what you told us you would do!

I believe we can recall Ron Johnson, but at this point his power is much more benign than Governor Scott Walker. Something to think about after a successful Walker recall. From now on, we must think carefully when placing our vote. There was no doubt that Johnson was a dud from the start, and many people were stunned by his win. So, unless that election was stolen (doubtful), we weren't doing our work when we elected Ron Johnson.