House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has the talking points every single Democrat should be using when talking about the Republican budget and protecting America's senior and disabled citizens: "We
have a plan. It's called Medicare." That's from a
conversation she had with Greg Sargent today.
"It is a flag we've planted that we will protect and defend. We have a plan. It's called Medicare."
...Pelosi said she hopes Dems frame their defense of Medicare as a matter of values, to remind voters what's at stake. "It is a value, an ethic, a pillar," Pelosi said, charging that Republicans want to "undermine one of the strongest pillars of economic security that seniors have."
Sargent asked her about confusing reports in which she said Medicare should be "on the table" for deficit reduction.
Asked to clarify what she meant, and to detail what sort of changes she'd be open to, Pelosi insisted that any claims she could support cuts in the program are wrong. "No benefits cuts," she said flatly. Pelosi added that Dems have already put on the table the type of reform they should continue advocating for: The Affordable Care Act.
"We gave the blueprint for how we strengthen Medicare in the Affordable Care Act," Pelosi said, a plan which is still "ripening" and "which does not reduce benefits. It lowers costs to taxpayers, the deficit, and beneficiaries." She said the only type of Medicare cuts she's open to are extracting savings via bureaucratic and pharmecutical reforms that don't touch benefits.
He also asked her about the noises coming form some of the Dem "Gang of Six" members, that "undermine the strong pro-Medicare message Pelosi wants Dems to adopt."
Pelosi didn't comment directly on the "Gang of Six" talks, but she insisted she's not worried about the overall direction of things.
Pelosi indicated that the discussions that really matter — the big-picture deficit reduction talks between Dems and Republican that Veep Joe Biden is presiding over — were generally positive. She said all indications from these talks are that in the end, the President won't agree to anything in the way of serious Medicare benefits cuts.
Given the silver-platter gift that the Republican Medicare privatization is for Democrats, it's hard to see why any of them would not adopt Pelosi's messaging. It's a winner.