Democrats say GOP wants to kill Medicare

Republicans have their senior's bill of rights, trying to win the elderly to their side in the health care debate.

Democrats retaliated this evening with a new TV ad that accuses the GOP of wanting to kill Medicare, the main government health program for seniors.

The Democratic National Committee cited a vote earlier this year in the House in which 137 Republicans voted for a budget proposal offered by the Republican leadership that the DNC says would have ended Medicare for Americans under age 55. Instead, the proposal called for younger workers to enroll in private plans and receive subsidies equal to the average Medicare benefit.

"Republicans want to end Medicare," the announcer says in the spot. "You heard right, Republicans actually voted to abolish Medicare for future generations -- one of the most important programs for seniors.

"America's seniors have relied on Medicare for over 40 years -- and Democrats are working to strengthen Medicare," the narrator continues, over images of smiling seniors. "But the plain truth is, Republicans have opposed Medicare from the start.

"Their leaders have called for cutting Medicare -- and now for killing it. The Republican Party -- no friend of seniors," the announcer concludes over photos of House Republican leader John Boehner and Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele.

The DNC says the ad will air on national cable in and in 10 the districts of 10 Republican members of Congress, including Boehner, his No. 2 Eric Cantor, and favorite liberal target Michele Bachmann of Minnesota.

In unveiling the seniors' bill of rights earlier this week, the RNC vowed to protect Medicare, which it asserted was in jeopardy under the proposals of President Obama and Democrats to find savings and efficiencies.

“Let’s agree in both parties that Congress should only consider health reform proposals that protect senior citizens,” Steele says in his ad. "For starters, no cuts to Medicare to pay for another program. Zero."