Robert Reich is a guy who doesn't let the truth get in the way of a good story. The first edition of his memoirs infamously "described dramatic episodes and dialogue that did not match the record of C-Span tapes and transcripts of Washington meetings," according to the NYT. Funny thing is, Reich's version of events "did not match" in ways that always made him look heroic and smart, and his opponents look petty and stupid.
Keep that in mind when you read Reich's description of Paul Ryan's response to critics of his Medicare plan:
Ryan calls it "demagoguery," accusing (Congressional candidate Kathy) Hochul and her fellow Democrats of trying to "scare seniors into thinking that their current benefits are being affected."
Well, Ryan's got a point here, seeing as how his Medicare reform plan doesn't take effect for a decade...and so has no effect on the "current benefits" of seniors...and in fact will NEVER affect the benefits of anyone who is 55 or older.
How does Reich respond to this? By writing this:
Seniors have every right to be scared. (Ryan's) plan would eviscerate Medicare by privatizing it with vouchers that would fall further and further behind the rising cost of health insurance.
Actually, seniors have no right to be scared; Paul Ryan's plan DOES NOT AFFECT THEIR MEDICARE BENEFITS, unless by "seniors" you mean "people who will be 65 in 2021." But by that logic, a three-year-old is a teenager.
Of course, Reich knows this. But the truth doesn't serve his purposes, so he simply pretends that it is something that it is not.
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