MEMO: Political Impact of Ryan Budget Redux
March 19, 2013
To: Interested Parties
From: Alixandria Lapp, Executive Director, House Majority PAC
Re: Political Impact of Ryan Budget Redux
Date: March 19, 2013
“[House Republicans] will again back a budget that did not help their nominee win the presidency and cost them House seats…”
– National Journal, March 12, 2013
House Republicans are set to begin consideration of the third iteration of the Paul Ryan budget. A statement of Republican priorities, the major planks of the Ryan budget are well-known: ending the Medicare guarantee, shifting healthcare costs to seniors and cutting Pell Grants all while providing millionaires and billionaires a tax cut of up to $200,000 a year and raising taxes on the middle class to the tune of possibly $3,000 a year.
House Republicans’ dogged pursuit of such an extreme plan will again provide Democrats with highly effective and compelling arguments to demonstrate to voters how out of touch Republicans are.
After all, in nearly all of the top Democratic pick-ups last cycle, House Majority PAC drove home to voters across the country the message about Republicans’ misguided and dangerous priorities by concentrating on the Ryan budget. Below are a handful of examples of the depth and breadth of attacks afforded by the extreme Ryan/GOP plan.
FL-18 (Allen West v. Patrick Murphy) – In one of the most closely watched races of the entire 2012 cycle, the Paul Ryan budget played a significant role. House Majority PAC aired several ads focusing on different aspects of the Ryan budget, including higher taxes for the middle class, tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas and, most notably, on increased costs that would be borne by seniors as a result of Ryan and the GOP’s push to end the Medicare guarantee.
MN-08 (Chip Cravaack v. Rick Nolan) – The Ryan budget was featured in every one of House Majority PAC’s five TV ads in this race. After citing the cuts to Medicare and the increased healthcare costs for seniors, House Majority PAC’s last ad of the race pointed to the Pell Grant cuts that the Ryan budget would have imposed.
IL-11 (Judy Biggert v. Bill Foster) – “Hiding” demonstrates the potency of Ryan budget attacks. Running in mid-October 2012, the ad refers specifically to Judy Biggert’s vote for the “Paul Ryan budget” and contrasts increased healthcare costs for seniors with promised tax breaks for the wealthy.
CA-52 (Brian Bilbray v. Scott Peters) – Both of House Majority PAC’s ads in this competitive race used Paul Ryan’s commitment to end Medicare as it’s known as part of a larger narrative to present Brian Bilbray as out of touch.
NH-02 (Charlie Bass v. Annie Kuster) – Using Charlie Bass’ own remark that the Ryan budget was “a great statement of principle,” House Majority PAC’s ad drove home the misguided nature of Bass’ priorities.