Today鈥檚 early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about how Medicare has taken center stage in the presidential campaign.
: Reversing Obama Medicare Cuts May Backfire On Romney By Speeding Up Program鈥檚 Insolvency
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney鈥檚 new promise to restore the Medicare cuts made by President Barack Obama鈥檚 health care overhaul law could backfire if he鈥檚 elected. The reason: Obama鈥檚 cuts also extended the life of Medicare鈥檚 giant trust fund, and by repealing them Romney would move the insolvency date of the program closer, toward the end of what would be his first term in office (8/16).
: Health Care Leads Campaign Dialogue In Midwest
With Mitt Romney on the attack on Medicare, President Obama personally engaged in the fight on Wednesday as the popular public health program catapulted to the top of the presidential campaign agenda (Cooper, 8/15).
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: Obama, Romney Trade Jabs Over Medicare
President Obama and Mitt Romney sparred over the future of Medicare on Wednesday in a battle to shape public opinion on the proposal by Paul D. Ryan, Romney鈥檚 running mate, to revamp the popular healthcare program for the elderly and the disabled. 鈥� The heated rhetoric on what, just days ago, was a marginal topic in the presidential race reflected the impact of Romney鈥檚 decision to put the Wisconsin congressman on the Republican ticket Saturday. Obama and Romney are racing to define Ryan鈥檚 image 鈥� in opposite ways 鈥� for voters previously unfamiliar with him (Finnegan and Parsons, 8/16).
: Romney Steps Away From Paul Ryan鈥檚 Medicare Cuts
Mitt Romney on Wednesday unequivocally disavowed more than $700 billion in Medicare spending cuts proposed by his new running mate, Rep. Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin. In an interview on 鈥淐BS This Morning,鈥� Romney was asked how he squared his running mate鈥檚 plan to cut spending on the popular healthcare program for the elderly with his criticism of President Obama for making the same reductions (Finnegan, 8/15).
: Obama Says GOP Plan Would 鈥楨nd Medicare As We Know It鈥�
President Obama defended his Medicare reforms Wednesday as improvements that didn鈥檛 affect benefits for seniors 鈥渂y a dime.鈥� Countering a new critique from Republican Mitt Romney, Obama told a crowd here that his reforms have strengthened Medicare by cutting costs and saving money in prescription drugs for seniors (Parsons, 8/15).
: Obama Weighs In On Medicare Rift
President Barack Obama added his voice Wednesday to the escalating spat over Medicare policy between his campaign and that of Republican Mitt Romney. Mr. Obama accused the Romney campaign of being 鈥渄ishonest鈥� about the changes he has made to Medicare, saying 鈥渢hey鈥檙e just throwing everything at the wall to see if it sticks鈥� (Lee, 8/15).
: Romney Campaign Presses Issue Of Overhauling Medicare, While going After Obama鈥檚 Likeability
Mitt Romney鈥檚 presidential campaign is trying to stay on the offensive in the increasingly heated debate over the future of Medicare. Romney and his running mate, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, signaled Wednesday that they invite scrutiny of their plans for the health care program that affects tens of millions of seniors. Such a focus would thrust the budget proposal Ryan authored 鈥� which included a controversial measure to transform Medicare into a voucher-like system 鈥� into the center of the race for the White House (8/16).
: Ryan Hits At Obama Over Medicare In Ohio
It was a strange place to talk about Medicare 鈥� not a nursing home or before a group of seniors, but at a college campus where students beginning the school year may have different things on their minds. But Paul Ryan returned to his alma mater, Miami University of Ohio, on Wednesday to reminisce about his days on campus and attack the president over cuts to a Medicare program that he once supported (Semuels, 8/15).
: Paul Ryan On Medicare: 鈥榃e Will Win This Debate鈥�
Paul Ryan spoke about the issue of Medicare for the first time since being tapped as Mitt Romney鈥檚 running mate, telling a crowd of about 3,000 people Wednesday night at his alma mater, Ohio鈥檚 Miami University, that the conversation is one that Republicans welcome. 鈥淭he president, I鈥檓 told, is talking about Medicare today,鈥� said Ryan, who graduated from the school in 1992 with a B.A. in economics and political science. 鈥淲e want this debate. We need this debate. And we will win this debate鈥� (Sonmez, 8/16).
: Paul Ryan Ventures Into The Medicare Debate
Medicare has become a flashpoint in recent days, with both campaigns arguing that the other would gut the program. The proposed changes in Mr. Ryan鈥檚 budget blueprint touched off the debate, but until Wednesday, he had not mentioned Medicare on the stump during his solo campaign events (Nelson, 8/15).
: Paul Ryan Uses The 鈥楳鈥� Word
For the first time since he was minted as his party鈥檚 vice presidential nominee, Paul Ryan used the 鈥淢鈥� word in his stump speech as he campaigned Wednesday night on the campus of his alma mater. That is, he talked about Medicare, the federal health program for senior citizens that he has proposed 鈥� in the future 鈥� to turn into a voucher program for some people (Summers, 8/15).
: Biden Sticks To Script, Goes After Ryan Plan On Medicare
A light moment 鈥� when he got a big chuckle from the audience to a line in his stump speech mocking the Romney campaign鈥檚 distinguishing 鈥渙utsourcing鈥� and 鈥渙ffshoring鈥� 鈥� put him back into a more feisty form, just in time to hit the message of the day: Medicare. 鈥淭hey make massive changes in Medicare, turning it into a voucher system,鈥� Biden warned of the Republicans (Memoli, 8/15).
: GOP Sees A Medicare Retort
Republicans are drawing lessons from a House election last year in Nevada for how to talk to voters about the party鈥檚 plans to revamp Medicare, typically a thorny issue for the GOP and one that President Barack Obama has used in attacking Mitt Romney. Former state Sen. Mark Amodei turned the tables in the Nevada special election last September. Parrying Democratic efforts to focus on GOP proposals for changing Medicare, he argued that his Democratic opponent supported Medicare cuts that were part of Mr. Obama鈥檚 2010 health-care law (Hook, 8/15).
: Some Seniors Worry Over Ryan Selection
The news that Mitt Romney picked Rep. Paul Ryan, who has suggested changing Medicare, as his running mate sparked worries over the weekend among some residents at the Stella Maris retirement community in Miami Beach鈥攃oncerns that could reverberate among seniors nationwide (Campo-Flores, 8/15).
: Boehner Urges House GOP To Go On Offense Over Medicare Issue
Speaker John Boehner is urging rank-and-file House Republicans to go on offense over Medicare as Democrats argue that the GOP presidential ticket of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan would end the government-run health care program that seniors have embraced for decades (8/16).
: House Dems Huddle On Medicare
After Speaker John Boehner roused his GOP conference to aggressively head off Democratic attacks on Paul Ryan, House Democrats had their own huddle to urge its members to keep the heat on Republicans over Medicare. On a conference call Wednesday afternoon, Democratic lawmakers discussed Boehner鈥檚 remarks and the charges that Mitt Romney and Ryan 鈥� the GOP鈥檚 newly anointed vice-presidential pick 鈥� have lobbed against President Barack Obama and Democrats over their health-care law, according to an aide (Kim, 8/15).
: Hedge Funds Seized On Health-Care Uncertainty
David Einhorn鈥檚 Greenlight Capital Inc. and Daniel Loeb鈥檚 Third Point LLC were among the prominent hedge funds that placed bets on health insurers even as Wall Street fretted over a Supreme Court ruling on the health-care overhaul (Chung and Beniot, 8/15).
: Mental Illness Sans Cliches
The shift in television characterizations might be a result of pressure from groups such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness, which sends out monthly newsletter alerts praising or panning entertainment portrayals of mental illness. Or maybe it鈥檚 the fact that more than one-fourth of Americans, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder every year. No doubt, a lot of Hollywood insiders can relate. The more accurate portrayals might even be because creative folks are getting tired of the same old stories (Brink, 8/15).
: Far More Could Be Done To Stop The Deadly Bacteria C. Diff
A USA TODAY investigation shows that C. diff is far more prevalent than federal reports suggest. The bacteria is linked in hospital records to more than 30,000 deaths a year in the United States鈥� about twice federal estimates and rivaling the 32,000 killed in traffic accidents. It strikes about a half-million Americans a year (Eisler, 8/16).
: Hoag, St. Joseph Form Hospital Partnership In Orange Country
Two nonprofit hospital companies with a major presence in Orange County announced plans for a partnership as the federal healthcare law spurs more consolidation nationwide. St. Joseph Health System and Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian said Wednesday they have agreed on an affiliation among seven of their hospitals in Southern California (Terhune, 8/15).