April 14, 2011 07:32 PM UTC

It's a Trap, Scott Tipton!

• 18 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: Check out the release we just got from Americans United for Change (full text after the jump), lest you think Democrats in Washington aren’t keen to exploit Tipton’s too-swift support for the “Ryan Plan” budget. Says Executive Director Tom McMahon,

“There is nothing courageous about Congressman Scott Tipton and his Republican colleagues asking millions of seniors, the less fortunate and the disabled to make more sacrifices and the richest to make none.   If Rep. Tipton has his way, there would be no more guaranteed Medicare benefits for Colorado seniors, only a guarantee of paying more and more out of pocket for less care after being left to the mercy to the private insurance industry.  There would only be a guarantee that millions of Americans would lose their jobs – only a guarantee that Colorado’s poor and disabled will live sicker and die younger while millionaires get another tax break they don’t need and the nation cannot afford.  It appears Congressman Tipton intends to blindly follow his party leaders and vote Yes on ending Medicare so Paris Hilton can have another tax break — and he owes his constituents a very good explanation why.”

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Too late, as the Pueblo Chieftain’s Patrick Malone reports:

That Obama revived the issue of the Bush tax cuts was expected. Several Democrats in the Colorado delegation said eliminating those tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans is necessary to any plan to reduce the national debt. The president called them “$1 trillion worth of tax cuts for every millionaire and billionaire in our society.”

Sen. Mark Udall agreed.

“I strongly support ending tax cuts for millionaires,” Udall said after Obama’s speech. “I opposed extending those irresponsible tax breaks in December.”

But not Rep. Scott Tipton, oh no!

House Republicans said any Obama call for tax increases was a “nonstarter” in drafting the 2012 federal budget or developing a long-term plan for cutting the deficit.

Rep. Scott Tipton, the freshman Republican who represents Pueblo and the 3rd Congressional District, echoed that objection.

“With double-digit unemployment across our district, I have serious reservations with the president’s plan to raise taxes as a way to shrink the deficit,” Tipton said in a statement. “We must create jobs and grow our revenue base, rather than stunt it with tax increases on job creators.”

Fellow freshman Rep. Cory Gardner had about as much to say, and it was Gardner who in fact declared letting the Bush tax cuts for people making over $250,000 per year expire a “nonstarter.” But it’s a little different critique for Gardner, who prudently didn’t leap all over the first, draconian budget proposal from Rep. Paul Ryan. That was Tipton. Tipton did that.

And folks, if Obama wins the budget debate–note we’re not talking about the actual budget as passed so much, if Obama wins the hearts and minds he needs for next year with a more popular proposal–he could do a great deal to sink Tipton. Polls have shown that the public is willing to consider sunsetting the 2003 tax cuts for rich Americans–if they see evidence of some vaguely-defined “fiscal responsibility” from government. The fact is, tax burdens on wealthy Americans are at historic lows since 2003, and the economic benefit from them is nowhere to be found. Like we said before and firmly believe today, if you actually confront voters with the fulfillment of the pledges Republicans have made, as Ryan’s plan creditably does, there’s a strong likelihood of totally horrifying them.

As of yesterday, right into President Obama’s moderate embrace. Just before election time.

In addition to being critically smart politics for Obama, this would leave Rep. Scott Tipton, among a number of other House freshmen around the nation, in support of massive cuts to nearly every federal program, privatizing Medicare, while in Tipton’s case, slashing corporate taxes even more than Paul Ryan. Suddenly his 2010 “Tea Party” assets become very serious liabilities.

If we were Tipton, we would stop waffling, and sharply limit press availability until he (or staff) comes up with a better message. His “cut the government in half” silliness on the campaign trail last year was a warning to those who want him in office that he requires intensive management. Without an irrational “Tea Party” wave behind Tipton, he’s rightly considered most vulnerable.

Will U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton Vote to End Medicare/Medicaid As We Know Them For Colorado Seniors, Children, and People With Disabilities …

While Giving Millionaires and Big Corporations Another Tax Break The Nation Can’t Afford?

IRRESPONSIBLE: Congress Expected to Vote Friday on Republican Budget Plan That Would Replace Medicare With a Voucher System That Shortchanges Seniors on Care, That Would Force At Least 245,730 Colorado Residents Off Medicaid, and Would Cost 2 Million Americans Their Jobs … All While Giving Trillions in New Tax Breaks to the Rich

Washington DC – All eyes are on U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO-3) with a vote expected Friday in the U.S. House on the Republican budget plan to irresponsibly give trillions of dollars in additional tax breaks for millionaires and big corporations at the same time it ends Medicare and Medicaid as we know them and asks Colorado seniors, children and people with disabilities to shoulder more burden in the form of dramatically higher premiums and less care.   Tipton has already issued a public statement praising the Ryan ‘roadmap to ruin.’

Tom McMahon, Executive Director, Americans United for Change: “There is nothing courageous about Congressman Scott Tipton and his Republican colleagues asking millions of seniors, the less fortunate and the disabled to make more sacrifices and the richest to make none.   If Rep. Tipton has his way, there would be no more guaranteed Medicare benefits for Colorado seniors, only a guarantee of paying more and more out of pocket for less care after being left to the mercy to the private insurance industry.  There would only be a guarantee that millions of Americans would lose their jobs – only a guarantee that Colorado’s poor and disabled will live sicker and die younger while millionaires get another tax break they don’t need and the nation cannot afford.  It appears Congressman Tipton intends to blindly follow his party leaders and vote Yes on ending Medicare so Paris Hilton can have another tax break — and he owes his constituents a very good explanation why.”

Authored by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), the Republican budget plan:

Ø      Ends Medicare As We Know It. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Ryan plan “would essentially end Medicare.”  Indeed, it calls for replacing the efficient Medicare system with an inefficient voucher system that would leave seniors at the mercy of the private insurance industry. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office: “Under the proposal, most elderly people would pay more for their health care than they would pay under the current Medicare system.”  It has been estimated that under the Ryan plan, 10 years from now, seniors on Medicare would be to paying nearly $6,400 more than they are today.  And as the AARP noted: “The Chairman’s proposal, rather than tackling skyrocketing health care costs, would simply shift these costs onto the backs of people in Medicare.”  CLICK HERE TO VIEW the TV ad ‘Hands Off Medicare!’ that Americans United for Change aired on national cable last week.

Ø      Replaces Medicaid With a ‘Block Grant’ That Would Shift Costs to States, Leave 245,730 in Colorado Without Care.  Ryan’s budget would covert Medicaid into a ‘block grant’ to the states that will not cover raising health care costs and do nothing to contain those costs.  According to CBO, block granting Medicaid would shift those costs to states, beneficiaries, and health care providers.  Those hit hardest would be low-income children, seniors, and people with disabilities who make up the bulk of Medicaid beneficiaries and who rely on long-term care such as nursing homes. In fact, according to a new analysis, “The GOP Plan Could Force At Least 245,730 Colorado Residents Off Medicaid.”

Ø      Robs From The Poor, Elderly, and People With Disabilities to Give to The Rich: According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the Ryan plan would “produce the largest redistribution of income from the bottom to the top in modern U.S. history, while increasing poverty and inequality more than any measure in recent times and possibly in the nation’s history.  That’s because the Ryan plan would generate at least two-thirds – about $2.9 trillion – of its $4.3 trillion in budget cuts over 10 years from programs for people of modest means, while making permanent all of President Bush’s tax cuts for high-income Americans as well as a new estate-tax giveaway in the December 2010 tax package.”