Dem group’s ad depicts Paul Ryan stand-in tossing elderly woman off a cliff

[iwishiwas]

I think it hits the spot just fine.




http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/05/20/dem-groups-ad-depicts-paul-ryan-stand-in-tossing-elderly-woman-off-a-cliff/

Dem group’s ad depicts Paul Ryan stand-in tossing elderly woman off a cliff
By Stephen C. Webster
Friday, May 20th, 2011 -- 11:02 am
39


Republican scare-mongering of Democratic health reform has officially come back to bite them -- hard -- in a rather juvenile ad from an independent Democratic group.

The ad, by advocacy group The Agenda Project, depicts a man in a black suit, ostensibly a stand-in for Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), pushing an elderly woman in a wheelchair off a cliff.

It evokes all the worst images from 2009's summer-long health reform debate, in which Republicans on Fox News insisted for months that offering insurance coverage for "end-of-life care" was somehow akin to establishing what they called "death panels" that would decide who was worthy of saving.

Agenda Project's ad is a response to Rep. Ryan's plan to end the public health program Medicare, which currently supports the well-being of more than 46 million Americans. Ryan's plan would convert Medicare into a coupon program over the next decade and force many seniors to seek care from the more costly private market....................

[LiberalLoner]

1. We always say, we want the D's to learn how to fight and control the

message like the R's do. Looks like we D's are learning.

K&R

[zbdent]

3. that would be good, but ...

with today's "liberally biased media" ... you're going to get plenty of screams about how "juvenile" (see OP) or "nasty" the ads by Democrats are, without really pointing out the "mainstream" Republicans who talked about the "Democrat" Party's "death panels" and such ... usually, when a Repug does something, the "liberally-biased media" tends to point out "to be fair, the Dems did it too ..."

[DCBob]

2. That is a nasty tactic..

but I love it! well done!

[iwishiwas]

6. I know, I chuckled but there

was something I did not like about it. Oh well.

[DCBob]

8. yeah i know.. maybe a bit over the top but..

sometimes in politics you have to do something like this to get the attention of ignorant masses.

[LiberalLoner]

4. I want to say something too about this situation of taking Medicare away from the elderly. About

saying they ought to become more savvy consumers of health care, more discerning, instead of using so much healthcare.

There is no way that seniors existing on Social Security, with whatever savings they had depleted by the collapase in home prices and the collapse in the stock market, can afford to pay for their own end-of-life care.

I know that R's always say, they can just go to the Emergency Room. And there's some truth in that, BUT - here's the thing.

I think most of them are NOT going to go in and get care if they don't think they can afford it. They will instead tell themselves, "Oh, that chest pain is just a pulled muscle or some gas, it will go away soon." Because they don't want to think about how on earth they are going to pay tens of thousands in medical bills.

I had a medical emergency a couple of months ago and if I didn't have terrific, FREE medical care through the military, I never would have sought care. If I had been just on my own the way these senior citizens will be, or rather how WE will be when we reach 65, I never would have gone into the ER.

I had severe lower back pain with some loss of sensation in both my legs and my hands. My legs were getting pretty weak and I kept falling when I tried to walk. The only way I could get up stairs was by pulling myself with my arms with the handrail. My legs still worked, sort of, but it was like they were on half-power or something. And my hands were numb and clumsy; I kept dropping things.

I figured I'd pinched a nerve in my back and I thought I should just wait for it to resolve itself. Thank God my husband insisted on taking me into the ER that Sunday.

By Tuesday I was in the ICU, completely unable to walk or void my bladder or bowels on my own. I was paralyzed from about two inches above my waist all the way down.

The doctors started IVIg therapy on me, at $10,000 a bag. I had five bags of the stuff. I got better before the paralysis reached my lungs, so I didn't end up needing to spend weeks or months in the ICU on a ventilator.

I figure my care cost at least a good $100,000, since I was in the ICU for 8 days. Probably closer to $200,000 with all the tests they performed on me and the ambulance right from Ft. Belvoir to Walter Reed AMC (doc insisted I take the ambulance.)

If I didn't have free health care, no way would I have gone in. I would have stayed at home until the paralysis got to my lungs and then I would have died.

I figure it's about the same with anyone who doesn't have health insurance. If they take away Medicare from the elderly, I figure that's how it's going to be for them too.

[iwishiwas]

5. I agree. I am glad you are well now.

[LiberalLoner]

7. Thank you! :) n/t