Democrat Accuses Sen. McConnell Of Voting To Increase Medicare Beneficiaries’ Costs $6,000
Alison Lundergan Grimes makes the assertion in a campaign commercial, but analysts suggest that claim may not be right.
The Associated Press: Shaky Negative Ad Based On Medicare In Ky. Senate Race
Shaky claims about Medicare were common in the 2012 campaign, from President Barack Obama on down. Now they've surfaced in this year's midterm elections, in one of the hottest Senate races in the country. Allison Lundergan Grimes, Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell's Democratic opponent, released her first attack ad Tuesday, accusing McConnell of voting to raise a retired coal miner's Medicare costs by $6,000. He didn't. If coal is king in the Kentucky race, Medicare is a potentially powerful issue, too, and Grimes touches both bases in the 30-second statewide TV ad, staged in front of a fire truck for good measure (Beam and Woodward, 7/9).
The Louisville Courier Journal: New Grimes Ad Attacks McConnell On Medicare
Alison Lundergan Grimes will go on the offensive Tuesday morning with an ad that accuses Sen. Mitch McConnell of voting to raise seniors' Medicare costs by $6,000. ... The vote refers to a 2011 procedural vote on the Paul Ryan budget. McConnell was one of the Republicans who voted to proceed to a vote on the bill. The motion failed. According to the Washington Post Fact Checker, the "left-leaning" Center on Budget and Policy Priorities ruled that under the Ryan plan, the out of pocket expenses for Medicare recipients would rise from $6,000 to $12,000 annually by the year 2022. The American Medical Association, however, says that if the plan had been in place in 2009, Medicare costs would have gone up just $800 for each senior citizen (Gerth, 7/8).
And in coverage of the Florida governor's race -
The Wall Street Journal: Charlie Crist Tries A New Embrace Of Obama
On the campaign trail, Mr. Crist, who took heat from Republicans for hugging Mr. Obama in 2009 before his split from the GOP, has vigorously defended the president's health-care law, called for expanding Medicaid coverage under it—which Florida hasn't done—and backed the administration's high-speed-rail plan (Campo-Flores, 7/8).
