John Boehner Warns Budget a "Real Vision" of How GOP Would Rule

After the House of Representatives voted 228 to 191 in favor of Rep. Paul Ryan's budget which would dismantle Medicare and replace it with a subsidized insurance-exchange system thing which is called Medicare but is not Medicare, House Speaker John Boehner came forward to voice surprisingly harsh and out-of-character criticism toward his fellow conservative legislators…

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Thursday afternoon that the budget proposal put forward by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is a "real vision" of how Republicans would govern if they had more control of Washington.

Oh, wait, nevermind. I think he meant that as a compliment…

"So I applaud my colleagues," he said of those who worked on the Ryan budget, "for the tough decisions they've made, to try to do the right thing for the country, to lay out a real vision of what we were to do if we get more control here in this town. It's still a Democrat-run town."

I'm sorry. It just really really seemed like a criticism.

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Tags: House of Representatives, John Boehner, Medicare, Money, Paul Ryan

GOP Budget Would Only Take Health Care Away from 48 Million People

You know, despite what the media might have you presume, Paul Ryan's proposed budget isn't all doom and gloom. There are some positive aspects.

Like, for example, all the millions of non-millionaires who will have their lives turned inside out…

Since Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) new budget eliminates $1.5 trillion from the Affordable Care Act, cuts $770 billion from Medicaid and reduces Medicare spending by $200 billion, Ezra Klein points out that "it would be very interesting to see an estimate of the uninsured population under Ryan's budget."

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis of Ryan's plan does not provide those numbers, but a rough back-of-the-envelope estimate suggests that at least 48 million Americans could lose their health insurance.

48 million newly uninsured Americans?! Oh, wow. This is not going to go over well with the Republican base.

He couldn't have bumped it up to an even 50 million?! That's why this guy is strictly VP stock.

.

Related: Paul Ryan Unveils New Budget for Democrats to Attack

Photo by T.J. Kirkpatrick/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Tags: Budget, Health Care, House of Representatives, Medicaid, Medicare, Money, Paul Ryan, Wisconsin

Tweet Untweet: Romney's Birthday

Romney is 65 today. He plans to celebrate by trying to cripple Medicare for anyone 10 yrs younger than him.

— Paul Begala (@PaulBegala) March 12, 2012

Tags: Medicare, Mitt Romney, Tweet Untweet, Twitter

Newt Gingrich Is Trying to Seduce Your Jewish Grandmother

After sucking up to the Bubbas of South Carolina, it's now time for the candidates to pander to the Bubbes of Florida. As anyone who remembers the 2000 election knows, old Jews hold the key to victory in the Sunshine State.

And apparently, Newt Gingrich knows exactly where his challah bread is buttered…

At his first rally of the morning, Newt Gingrich rolled out a new attack line: Mitt Romney took kosher food away from elderly Jewish people.

"He eliminated serving kosher food for elderly Jewish residents under Medicare," Gingrich said. "I did not know this; it just came out yesterday.  The more we dig in, I understand why George Soros in Europe yesterday said it makes no difference if it's Romney or Obama, we can live with either one."

Newt Gingrich may be great at wooing congressional staffers, but he's a total pro at seducing Miami retirees. He knows the only way to a Jewish grandparent's heart is through their stomach and heart medication.

Though it is kind of surprising that observant Jews would go near the candidate considering their strong aversion to pork products. Newt sure knows a lot about keeping kosher for a guy who resembles a Christmas ham.

Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Tags: Florida, Jewish, Medicare, Newt Gingrich, Primaries, Republicans, Senior Citizens

Ron Paul Fans Plot to Annoy the Elderly with "Operation Grandma"

It was only a matter of time. Ron Paul's army of supporters/internet trolls have finally crawled out from underneath their Reddit pillow forts to take part in a mission greater than themselves that doesn't involve leaving vaguely threatening all-caps comments.

Commence Operation Grandma…

It's like 2008's The Great Schelp, in which comedian Sarah Silverman urged young liberals to talk to Bubbie about scary African Muslim Barack Obama, but much more annoying. Libertarian author Tom Woods wants Ron Paul fanatics to stop pestering celebrities on Twitter and start pestering their own grandparents to join the Ron Paul Revolution.

Sure, Paul's ultra-libertarian policies would destroy much of the social safety net that keeps elderly men and women out of poverty. But he's a doctor. Grandma always wanted you to be with a doctor.

Tags: Florida, Libertarian, Medicare, Primaries, Republicans, Ron Paul, Senior Citizens, Social Security