(viaHotAir) Marco Rubio throws down the gauntlet on Medicare reform in a powerful video and column in yesterday’s Miami Herald, scolding Democrats for demagoguing Paul Ryan’s reform plan without offering a plan of their own to save the program from bankruptcy. Rubio starts with the personal, telling how Medicare allowed his father to die with dignity and his mother to access health care after a lifetime of hard work and sacrifice, and says the program must be saved — but really saved, and not just kept on life support for another couple of years.

But Medicare is going bankrupt. Anyone who says it is not is simply lying. And anyone who is in favor of doing nothing to deal with this fact is in favor of bankrupting it. Medicare will go broke in as little as nine years. No one likes this news, but it is the undeniable truth. And the sooner we begin to deal with it, the better off we are all going to be.

My goals are simple. First, I will not support any plan that changes Medicare for people like my mother who are currently on the plan. We cannot ask seniors to go out and get a job to pay for their healthcare.

Second, any solution must solve the problem. We need to save Medicare, not simply delay its bankruptcy.

And third, any solution cannot hurt economic growth. At a time of high unemployment, Americans cannot afford to pay more taxes.

Rubio says that he backs the Ryan plan, because (a) it actually solves the problems in Medicare, and (b) no one has offered any alternatives. For those who oppose Ryan’s plan, Rubio says he’s open to other ideas … but where are they?

Where is the House Democrat plan to save Medicare? Where is the Senate Democrat plan to save Medicare? Where is President Obama’s plan to save Medicare?

They have no plan to save it, and they do not plan to offer one. They have decided that winning their next election is more important than saving Medicare for my mother and retirees like her.

Indeed. They have made a political calculation that doing nothing benefits them in the short term, but it leaves Americans twisting in the wind, especially with the budget crises that have to get solved now. We cannot solve the red-ink catastrophes without addressing its major source, and we cannot plan for future spending without addressing the hundreds of trillions in unfunded liabilities we now have in Medicare, Medicaid, and other entitlement programs. Anyone who says we can is simply not telling the truth, for whatever purposes they have.

Don’t like Ryan’s plan? Fine. Let’s see your alternative, and pretending nothing’s wrong is totally unacceptable. That’s the proper response to people in either party that want to demagogue the Ryan plan. Rubio delivers it masterfully here. (article link)

For me, Medicare is not a political talking point. My parents immigrated to  the United States in the late 1950s. They worked hard for over 40 years to  provide their children the chance to do all the things they themselves could  not. But they never made much money.

As a result, they retired with precious little in savings. Medicare was and  is the only way they could access healthcare.

When my father got sick, Medicare paid for his numerous hospital stays. And  as he reached the end of life, Medicare allowed him to die with dignity by  paying for his hospice care.     

       Like most 80-year-olds, my mother has several age-related ailments.  Without the access to quality healthcare that Medicare pays for, I cannot  imagine what life would be like for her.

America needs Medicare. We need it to continue without any benefit  reductions for those like my mother currently in the system. And we need it to  survive for my generation and my children’s generation.

But Medicare is going bankrupt. Anyone who says it is not is simply lying.  And anyone who is in favor of doing nothing to deal with this fact is in favor  of bankrupting it. Medicare will go broke in as little as nine years. No one  likes this news, but it is the undeniable truth. And the sooner we begin to deal  with it, the better off we are all going to be.

My goals are simple. First, I will not support any plan that changes Medicare  for people like my mother who are currently on the plan. We cannot ask seniors  to go out and get a job to pay for their healthcare.

Second, any solution must solve the problem. We need to save Medicare, not  simply delay its bankruptcy.

And third, any solution cannot hurt economic growth. At a time of high  unemployment, Americans cannot afford to pay more taxes.

I will support any serious plan that accomplishes these three things. It  does not matter to me if it comes from a Democrat or a Republican. Saving  Medicare is more important than partisan politics.

Rep. Paul Ryan has offered a plan that would make no changes whatsoever for  anyone age 55 and older. I support it because, right now, it is the only plan  out there that helps save Medicare. Democrats oppose it. Fine. But, if they have  a better way to save Medicare, what are they waiting for to show us? What is  their plan to save Medicare?

Either show us how Medicare survives without any changes or show us what  changes you propose we make. Anyone who supports doing nothing is a supporter of  bankrupting Medicare.

Where is the House Democrat plan to save Medicare?

Where is the Senate Democrat plan to save Medicare?

Where is President Obama’s plan to save Medicare?

They have no plan to save it, and they do not plan to offer one. They have  decided that winning their next election is more important than saving Medicare  for my mother and retirees like her.

I have been in the Senate just long enough to be disgusted by the reality  that Washington has too many people who think their personal political careers  are more important than our country’s future.

Maybe the Democrats’ strategy to use Medicare as a political weapon will  work. Maybe not offering their own plan to save Medicare will help them win  seats in Congress and re-elect President Barack Obama. Maybe it is great for the  Democratic Party. But it is terrible for people like my mother, and it is  terrible for America.

Medicare is going bankrupt. If something does not happen soon, in just a few  years whoever is in charge in Washington will have to go to people like my  mother and tell them we can no longer afford to continue providing her with the  same Medicare she is used to.

We have always had intense partisan politics in America. But throughout our  history, on issues of generational importance, our leaders have agreed to put  aside politics for the sake of our country. Shouldn’t saving Medicare be that  kind of issue?

I am ready to work with anyone in Washington who is serious about saving  Medicare. I am open to any serious solutions they have.

We are running out of time to save Medicare for our parents and secure it for  our children. If we fail, history will never forgive us.   (Miami Herald)

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