Little more than a month after they backed sweeping changes to
Medicare, Republicans are on the political defensive, losing a House
seat long in their possession and exhibiting significant internal
strains for the first time since last fall's election gains.
"We've got to get beyond this," Rep. Paul Ryan,
R-Wis., said recently after several days of back and forth over the
proposal he authored and included in the budget that cleared on a party
line vote. "And we've got to get onto a serious conversation about what
it takes to fix the fiscal problems in this country."
Under Ryan's proposal, Medicare would remain
unchanged for those 55 or older, including the millions who now receive
health care under the program. Anyone younger would be required to
obtain coverage from a private insurer, with the government providing a
subsidy to cover part of the cost of premiums.
In the weeks since the budget cleared, President
Barack Obama led a Democratic attack and GOP presidential hopeful Newt
Gingrich sharply criticized Ryan's proposal before apologizing a day or
two later.
On Tuesday night, Republicans suffered a reversal at
the ballot box, losing a House seat long in their possession in upstate
New York. The Democratic winner in the multi-candidate race, Kathy
Hochul, attacked her Republican rival over Medicare.
Source : yahoo news
