Weigel

Boehner: Medicare Was “A Small Part of the Reason” GOP Lost NY-26

Speaker of the House John Boehner used only the lightest sugar coating when talking about this week’s Republican loss in NY-26.

“You had a third party candidate who spent nearly $3 million attacking the Republican candidate,” said Boehner this morning, at a briefing in the House. “I can be somewhat critical of how the campaign was run. But the fact is, we didn’t win. And furthermore, a small part of the reason we didn’t win clearly had to do with Medicare.”

There has been only a little bit of a scramble away from the Ryan plan this week. Five Republicans opposed it in the Senate, for example. “We’ve outlined a plan, frankly, that we believe in,” said Boehner. But the rest of his answer was interesting for the way he pivoted to the argument that did not save Jane Corwin: Reminding people of the cuts that were part of the Affordable Care Act.

“The only people in Washington, DC who have voted to cut Medicare have been the Democrats,” said Boehner, “when they voted to cut $500 billion in Medicare during Obamacare.”

Mediscare today, Mediscare tomorrow, Mediscare forever.