GOP turns to jobs, but Medicare questions keep coming

With the House GOP Medicare reform plan dominating political discourse since the House GOP budget passed in April, a special election lost to Democrats in a conservative GOP stronghold and unemployment still at 9 percent, House Republicans attempted to turn the page today by introducing an agenda to create jobs.

At a press conference this morning unveiling the proposal, Majority Leader Eric Cantor said that this effort will show voters the contrast between Republicans and Democrats.

"There is a choice in which the American public will see -- we have a spending reduction plan in the Ryan budget," he said. "It's clear that the president, former Speaker Pelosi and the Democratic leader in the Senate Reid do not have a spending plan. We have a growth plan, they do not."

The 10-page plan includes many provisions already proposed in the House GOP budget and the Pledge to America. Some of the proposal have already passed the House, but not the Democratic Senate. It proposes reducing and reviewing regulations, tax code reform that would bring the highest tax rates down by 10 percent, and it calls for reform of the patent system to "protect American ideas and products."

The proposal also calls for a review of the immigration visa system to see that it's meeting employers' needs. "Possible solutions include keeping the most accomplished graduates in math, science and other critical field here in America as well as making it easier for start-up entrepreneurs to obtain visas," according to the GOP agenda document.

But Republicans could not completely change the subject from Medicare to jobs.

Speaker Boehner was asked during the question-and-answer portion of the press conference about the special election in New York's 26th district where Democrats won a reliably Republican seat on Tuesday.

"You know, special elections are just that -- they're special," Boehner said of the Republican loss to Democrat Kathy Hochul. "And when you look at what happened in this election, you had a third-party candidate that spent nearly $3 million attacking the Republican candidate. And I could be somewhat critical of how the campaign was run, but the fact is we didn't win."

Boehner admitted that a "small part of the reason we didn't win clearly had to do with Medicare." But the speaker made clear that Republicans are sticking by their proposal to turn Medicare into a voucher program.

"The only plan out there to preserve and protect Medicare for current and future retirees is the plan that we put forward," the speaker said. "The Democrats' plan is to do nothing. And the trustees at Medicare have made clear that doing nothing means that the Medicare plan will go bankrupt and seniors' benefits will be cut."

"We have outlined a plan, frankly, that we believe in," Boehner said.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said before the Republican press conference that GOP members aren't getting the message that Americans are unhappy with the Medicare plan.

"What's interesting to me is the tin ear that the Republicans have," Pelosi said referring to a vote yesterday in the Senate on Paul Ryan's budget. "Forty Republicans yesterday voted for the Republican plan that ends Medicare and gives tax breaks to big oil. This is what they believe."

When asked for her thoughts on the GOP proposal today to create jobs and grow the economy, Pelosi called it "warmed over stew."

"These are the same policies in the Bush Administration that did not create jobs, that increased the deficit, did not strengthen the middle class and they'll come back with this same thing," Pelosi said.

House Republicans, however, say that they are the only ones offering ideas for job growth, and they hope unveiling the plan today will pressure Democrats to consider some GOP proposals.