Tell Idaho Senators "Hands Off Medicare!"

Clicking here will add your name to this petition to the 40 Republican extremists who voted to end Medicare, including Idaho Senators Crapo and Risch: "I am appalled that you would vote for Rep. Paul Ryan's irresponsible and extreme budget plan to end Medicare as we know it. Stop attacking Medicare."

40 Republican extremists in the Senate, including Senators Mike Crapo and James Risch of Idaho, voted to end Medicare as we know it. In doing so, Sens. Crapo and Risch once again showed a willingness to callously rip apart the social safety net and throw seniors under the bus rather than ask corporations or the ultra rich to pay their fair share. It's appalling. And it's also incredibly unpopular. After House Republicans voted to end Medicare, there was a tremendous uproar from their constituents. And the ensuing firestorm of criticism helped push the Republicans back on their heels and put them on the defensive. If we can do this again, we can help take Medicare off the table as a bargaining chip in the debt ceiling and 2012 budget fights. Tell Sens. Crapo and Risch: Stop attacking Medicare. Click here to automatically sign our petition. The vote in question was on a budget proposal originally put out by Rep. Paul Ryan. It would replace Medicare with a voucher program for seniors who'd be dumped into the private insurance market. And if the vouchers didn't cover the cost of insurance, too bad. There is no doubt that something needs to be done to control the increasing cost of Medicare. But the Ryan proposal does nothing to actually control costs. All the Ryan plan does is shift the cost of health care onto the backs of seniors. And, in fact, by forcing seniors into the inefficient private insurance market, it would actually drive up the cost of providing health care to them. Tell Sens. Crapo and Risch: Stop attacking Medicare. Click here to automatically sign our petition. The Ryan budget proposal was one of the most brutal attacks on the social safety net in decades. Paul Krugman called it both "ludicrous" and "cruel." "Ludicrous" because the budget projections were pure fantasy, "cruel" because it proposed massive spending cuts for programs that mainly help children, the poor and the elderly, while slashing taxes for corporations and the ultra-rich. This is the extremist and irresponsible plan Sens. Crapo and Risch voted for. Speak out now. Tell Sens. Crapo and Risch: Stop attacking Medicare. Click here to automatically sign the petition. Matt Lockshin, Campaign Manager CREDO Action from Working Assets