Young voted for a government shutdown, against protecting Social Security from privatization, and to turn Medicare into a voucher program
INDIANAPOLIS – Sightings of Congressman Todd Young have been few and far between since the Republican primary last May. But now, with a new poll showing that he is trailing, Young is coming out of hiding – too bad it’s to talk about his out-of-touch D.C. record.
Too bad for Congressman Young: Hoosiers know he’s more interested in scoring political points with the National party than getting work done for Indiana. His party agenda caused the government shutdown, threatened healthcare for Hoosiers, and would have privatized Social Security while turning Medicare into a voucher program.
“Congressman Todd Young fell in line with the Republican Party’s out-of-touch agenda the moment he got to D.C., and now he must own up to this failed record,”said Drew Anderson, communications director. “Hoosiers deserve to know why Congressman Young voted five times for a government shutdown over his opposition to the Affordable Care Act, favored privatizing Social Security, and voted to turn Medicare into a voucher program. That is not Hoosier Commonsense – it’s a damaging ideology by Congressman Young.”
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: TODD YOUNG IN LOCKSTEP WITH THE OUT-OF-TOUCH REPUBLICAN PARTY
Government Shutdown
YOUNG VOTED FIVE TIMES TO SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT OVER THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
9/20/13: House Republicans Passed A Bill To Fund The Government That Would Defund The Affordable Care Act, Even Though They Knew It Would Be Vetoed.“Sept. 20: With a potential government shutdown 11 days off, the Republican-run House ignores a White House veto threat and uses a near party-line 230-189 vote to approve legislation denying money for much of the health care law while keeping the government open through Dec. 15. The measure moves to the Democratic-led Senate.” [Politico,10/1/13]
- HEADLINE: “House GOP Launches Shutdown Battle By Voting To Defund Obamacare” [CNN, 9/20/13]
- CNN: House Republicans “Launched The Latest Spending Battle In Congress — One That Could Bring A Government Shutdown In Less Than Two Weeks.”[CNN, 9/20/13]
- Young Voted For The Resolution To Fund The Government Through December 15, 2013 And Defund The Affordable Care Act.[CQ, 9/20/13; H.J.RES 59, Vote 478,9/20/13]
9/29/13: House Republicans Passed Bills To Fund The Government That Would Delay Implementation Of The Affordable Care Act By A Year, And Repeal The Medical Device Tax. “Sept. 29: Just after midnight on Sunday morning, the House uses a rare and lengthy weekend session to shift its demands for restricting Obamacare. By a near party-line 231-192 vote, the House votes to delay implementation of the health care law by a year. It also votes 248-174 to repeal a tax on many medical devices that helps pay for the health care overhaul. The votes send the revamped shutdown bill back to the Senate.” [Politico,10/1/13]
Medicare
YOUNG VOTED FOR THE FY 2013 RYAN BUDGET
Young Voted For House Republican Budget For FY 2013. In March 2012, Young voted for: “Adoption of the concurrent resolution that would provide $2.793 trillion in new budget authority for fiscal 2013, not including off-budget accounts. It calls for limiting discretionary appropriations to $1.028 trillion in 2013 and for major cuts in non-defense discretionary and mandatory spending over the next 10 years. It would assume significant future savings by restructuring Medicare into a “premium support” system beginning in 2023, converting Medicaid and the food stamp program into block grants to states, and repealing the 2010 health care overhaul. It calls for an overhaul of the tax code, under which the alternative minimum tax would be repealed, the six current individual income tax brackets would be consolidated into two, tax credits and deductions would be eliminated or curtailed, and the corporate tax code modified to reduce the top rate to 25 percent from 35 percent and converted into a “territorial” tax system where U.S. companies would pay tax only on income earned in the United States. It also would direct the Budget Committee to report a bill that would repeal the sequestration of discretionary spending set for January 2013 by the 2011 debt limit law and direct six House committees to find substitute savings from mandatory programs.” The resolution was adopted 228-191. [CQ,3/29/12; H Con Res 112, Vote 151,3/29/12]
FY 2013 RYAN BUDGET WOULD TURN MEDICARE INTO A VOUCHER SYSTEM THAT WOULD LIKELY SHRINK BENEFITS, FORCE SENIORS TO PAY MORE FOR HEALTHCARE
Ryan Budget Would Turn Medicare Into A Voucher Program. “Under the Ryan plan, spending would be cut $5.3 trillion below President Obama’s budget through 2022. Medicare would be reduced by $205 billion. […] Medicare would be turned into a subsidized set of private insurance plans, with the option of buying into the existing fee-for-service program. The annual growth of those subsidies would be capped just above economic growth, well below the current health care inflation rate.” [New York Times,3/29/12]
- Medicare Rights Center: “Voucher Program Designed to Make People With Medicare Spend More for Their Health Care.” “Make no mistake, the Ryan-Wyden proposal is a voucher program designed to make people with Medicare spend more for their health care so that the federal government spends less—with some bells and whistles that sound attractive, especially when key details are left out,” the Medicare Rights Center stated. [Medicare Rights Center, Press Release,12/15/11]
Social Security
2012: Young Voted Against The FY 2013 Democratic Budget, Which Stated That Social Security Privatization Should Be Rejected. In March 2012, Young voted to oppose preventing social security privatization as part of the Democrats’ proposed budget resolution covering FY 2013 to 2022. According the text of the budget resolution, “It is the policy of this resolution that Social Security should be strengthened for its own sake and not to achieve deficit reduction. Because privatization proposals are fiscally irresponsible and would put the retirement security of seniors at risk, any Social Security reform legislation shall reject partial or complete privatization of the program. ” The vote was on an amendment to the House budget resolution replacing the entire budget with the House Democrats’ proposed budget; the amendment failed by a vote of 166 to 259. [House Vote 150,3/29/12; House Budget Committee Democrats,4/15/11]
2012: Young Voted Against Stating That Congress Should Not Privatize Social Security.In March 2012, Young voted against an amendment that would have, according to Congressional Quarterly, “add[ed] ‘sense of the House’ language stating that ‘Social Security privatization is fiscally irresponsible and would put the retirement security of seniors at risk, and that any Social Security reform legislation shall reject partial or complete privatization of the program that includes private accounts funded by current payroll taxes.’ It would [have] amend[ed] the committee report to reflect the policy assumption that the resolution assumes ‘any Social Security reform legislation rejects privatization proposals, because the diversion of payroll contributions and reliance on the financial markets undermines the federal budget and the social safety net.’” The underlying legislation was the FY 2013 House Budget resolution, sponsored by Rep. Paul Ryan. The vote was on the amendment. The House Budget committee rejected the amendment by a vote of 15 to 21. [Congressional Quarterly,3/21/12; Congressional Actions,H. Con. Res. 112]
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