Romney Campaign Press Release - The Obama Record: "Gutted"

"President Obama's economic policies have left middle-class families struggling. But instead of offering families a hand up, the President is trying to give people a handout by gutting work requirements from welfare. President Obama is also hurting today's seniors by gutting $716 billion from Medicare to pay for Obamacare. The Romney-Ryan Plan will restore work to welfare and strengthen Medicare for today's seniors and future retirees." – Andrea Saul, Romney Campaign Spokesperson

President Obama "Gutted" President Clinton's Bipartisan Welfare Reforms By Allowing Waivers From Work Requirements:

The Obama Administration's Welfare Changes "Quietly Opened The Door For States To Seek Major Changes" In Work Requirements. "The Obama administration has quietly opened the door for states to seek major changes in how they meet federal welfare-to-work requirements for some of their poorest residents, and leading conservatives are crying foul." (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, "Obama Administration Opens The Door For States To Seek Major Changes In Welfare-To-Work Law," The Associated Press, 7/13/12)

• The Associated Press: "Obama Administration Opens The Door For States To Seek Major Changes In Welfare-To-Work Law" (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, "Obama Administration Opens The Door For States To Seek Major Changes In Welfare-To-Work Law," The Associated Press, 7/13/12)

Richmond-Times Dispatch, On President Obama's Welfare Changes: "If You Want To Get More People To Work, You Don't Loosen The Requirements — You Tighten Them." "Nuts. If you want to get more people to work, you don't loosen the requirements — you tighten them. That's why, as critics of the new waivers point out, the work requirement of the 1996 law was 'specifically designed not to be waivable.' The 1996 law allows waivers for certain provisions — such as state reporting rules — but the 'mandatory work requirements' contain no waiver provisions. ... The administration is simply ignoring the law." (Editorial, "Welfare Reform: Gutted," Richmond Times-Dispatch, 8/15/12)

• Richmond Times-Dispatch Headline: "Welfare Reform: Gutted" (Editorial, "Welfare Reform: Gutted," Richmond Times-Dispatch, 8/15/12)

Detroit News: President Obama "Tossed Out The Clinton-Era Welfare Reform That Required Able-Bodied Aid Recipients To Work." "Democrats and Republicans alike should be distressed by President Barack Obama's disregard for constitutional limits on his authority. The president's flouting of the separation of powers risks turning this country into something other than a representative democracy. Congress should move in a bipartisan rebuke of Obama's overreach before he neuters that institution. In a blatant challenge to the legislative branch, Obama by executive order tossed out the Clinton-era welfare reform that required able-bodied aid recipients to work, saying the federal government will no longer enforce the law." (Editorial, "Obama's Power Grab Flouts Constitution," Detroit News, 8/6/12)

President Obama Gutted $716 Billion From Medicare To Pay For Obamacare – A Decision His Campaign Now Touts As An Achievement:

According To The Nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, Obamacare Cuts $716 Billion From Medicare. (Congressional Budget Office, Letter To Speaker John Boehner, 7/24/12)

• Miami Herald: "Obama's $700 Billion Medicare-Cut Problem" (Marc Caputo, "Obama's $700 Billion Medicare-Cut Problem," Miami Herald, 8/12/12)

President Obama's Senior Campaign Aide Has Bragged That President Obama "Achieved" $700 Billion In "Cuts In Medicare." CUTTER: "Well, you know ask the wealthy to pay a little bit more. Cut waste from the government. Reform Medicare. More than $300 billion in savings from Medicare. On top of the savings we've already achieved. You know I heard Mitt Romney deride the $700 billion cuts in Medicare that the president achieved through health care reform." (CBS's "Face The Nation," 8/12/12)

Obamacare's Cuts Will Cause Enrollment In Medicare Advantage To "Plummet By About 50 Percent" And Leave Seniors With "Higher Out-Of-Pocket Costs." "In addition to flagging provider cuts as potentially unsustainable, the report [HHS] projected that reductions in payments to private Medicare Advantage plans would trigger an exodus from the popular alternative. Enrollment would plummet by about 50 percent. Seniors leaving the private plans would still have health insurance under traditional Medicare, but many might face higher out-of-pocket costs." (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, "Report Says Health Care Will Cover More, Cost More," The Associated Press, 4/23/10)

FactCheck.org, On Medicare Under President Obama: "The Promise That 'Benefits Will Remain The Same' Is Just As Fictional As The Town Of Mayberry..." "Currently, about 1 in every 4 Medicare beneficiary is enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan. For many of them, the words in this ad ring hollow, and the promise that 'benefits will remain the same' is just as fictional as the town of Mayberry was when Griffith played the local sheriff." (Brooks Jackson, "Mayberry Misleads On Medicare," FactCheck.org, 7/31/10)

And Middle-Class Prosperity Has Been Gutted In The Obama Economy With Fewer Jobs And Lower Take-Home Pay:

"Unemployment Rates Rose In 44 U.S. States In July, The Most States To Show A Monthly Increase In More Than Three Years And A Reflection Of Weak Hiring Nationwide." (Christopher S. Rugaber, "Unemployment Rates Rise In 44 States In July," The Associated Press, 8/17/12)

"By Just About Any Measure," President Obama Has Presided Over A Feeble Economic Recovery. "The recession that ended three years ago this summer has been followed by the feeblest economic recovery since the Great Depression. Since World War II, 10 U.S. recessions have been followed by a recovery that lasted at least three years. An Associated Press analysis shows that by just about any measure, the one that began in June 2009 is the weakest. The ugliness goes well beyond unemployment, which at 8.3 percent is the highest this long after a recession ended." (Paul Wiseman, "Economic Recovery Is Weakest Since World War II," The Associated Press, 8/15/12)

• "Economic Growth Has Never Been Weaker In A Postwar Recovery. Consumer Spending Has Never Been So Slack." (Paul Wiseman, "Economic Recovery Is Weakest Since World War II," The Associated Press, 8/15/12)

People Who Have Jobs "Are Hurting" With Paychecks That "Have Fallen Behind Inflation." "More than in any other post-World War II recovery, people who have jobs are hurting, too: Their paychecks have fallen behind inflation." (Paul Wiseman, "Economic Recovery Is Weakest Since World War II," The Associated Press, 8/15/12)

Since President Obama Took Office, Median Household Income Has Declined More Than $4,000. "Yet real median household income in March was down $4,300 since Obama took office in January 2009 and down $2,900 since the June 2009 start of the economic recovery, according to an analysis of census data by Sentier Research, an economic- consulting firm in Annapolis, Maryland." (Mike Dorning, "Obama Fails To Stem Middle-Class Slide He Blamed On Bush," Bloomberg, 4/30/12)