Here's evidence that U.S. House Republicans are facing at least some of the anger that House Democrats faced in townhall meetings in the previous session. The concerns seniors had over the impact health care reform would have on Medicare have resurfaced again, but this tome over Paul Ryan's budget proposals.
There appears to a caveat however. Ryan's plans only impact Medicare for those under 55. The question will be whether the elderly will accept those changes as long as their coverage is steady. This seems to pit the old against the young, but it may work politically:
The proposed new approach to Medicare — a centerpiece of a budget that Republican leaders have hailed as a courageous effort to address the nation’s long-term fiscal problems — has been a constant topic at town-hall-style sessions and other public gatherings during a two-week Congressional recess that provided the first chance for lawmakers to gauge reaction to the plan.
An example of the response came Tuesday as Representative Daniel Webster, a freshman Republican from Florida, faced an unruly crowd at a packed town meeting in Orlando, where some attendees, apparently organized or encouraged by liberal groups, brandished signs like “Hands Off Medicare” and demanded that he instead “tax the rich.”
Mr. Webster, shown in video from station WFTV, sought to defuse the situation by telling constituents that any changes were years away and that current retirees would not see a difference. “Not one senior citizen is harmed by this budget,” he said, noting that his new granddaughter was “looking at a bankrupt country.”
