Mitt Romney's
running mate, Paul Ryan, was booed at the annual American Association of Retired
Persons, AARP, convention after saying that, if elected, their Republican
administration would repeal the nation's
healthcare law as the best way to save Medicare.
Just five
minutes into his talk at the gathering of the powerful 50-and-older lobby on
Friday, the architect of the Republican proposal to change Medicare for the next
generation of seniors was repeatedly interrupted as he criticized President
Obama's healthcare law.
"The first step to a stronger Medicare is
to repeal Obamacare, because it represents the worst of both worlds," Ryan said
as the crowd in New Orleans booed audibly.
"I had a feeling there'd be mixed reaction," Ryan acknowledged, pausing briefly. "So let me get into it."
But Ryan only
drew further objections from the crowd as he provided a more detailed
explanation for his criticism of the healthcare law.
When he
suggested that Obama was cutting $716 billion from Medicare over the next decade
to pay for the costs of insuring more Americans under the healthcare law, those
gathered booed. Ryan's own budget relies on using the same savings from
Medicare, but he applies it to paying down the nation's deficit.
Ryan also
elicited a round of objections when he suggested that the healthcare law
"weakens Medicare for today's seniors and puts it at risk for the next
generation." The healthcare law reduces spending on Medicare payments to
providers, which officials have said would add eight years to the program's
solvency, though it is still expected run out of money by 2024. LA Times
AN/SM