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"Guinta faces rowdy crowd in NH"
By Matt Viser, Boston Globe Staff, April 28, 2011
EXETER, N.H. – Members of Congress have talked about the hard choices that must be made to get the country’s debt under control. Now, they’re figuring out just how difficult those decisions are going to be – and the political price that could be paid for making them.
Representative Frank Guinta, a first-term Republican from Manchester, faced a feisty crowd tonight at a town hall meeting in a high school in this quiet town near the seacoast.
The crowd booed at some responses, hissed at others. Audience members yelled and pointed at the congressman, and they yelled and pointed at each other.
Guinta was swept into office last year with a wave of Tea Party-fueled anger – largely over the economy and health care – and, constituents seemed to remind him tonight, he could just as easily be swept out.
It was an indication of the unrest going on throughout the country, as House Republicans attempt to defend their votes to implement drastic budget cuts and curb long-cherished entitlement programs.
A 73-year old man stood up and
criticized the plan to cut Medicare, which has become one of the most controversial aspects of the budget blueprint that was drafted by Representative Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, and approved earlier this month by the House.
“Why congressman Guinta?” he said. “Why in the world did you ever vote for the Paul Ryan Medicare plan?”
Guinta began to answer, by saying many of the changes likely wouldn’t be phased in in time to affect him.
“What about me?” shouted Joe Platte, an eighth grader from Stratham, NH. “I’m 14! What am I going to do?”
“This is a tough issue, and I sympathize with anyone who is reliant on a program like this, or who expects to be on a program like this,” Guinta said. “But my goal, my objective, is to make sure that if you’re in or near retirement, nothing changes. Because the country made a promise to you.”
Later, he said, “If you don’t like the plan, let me know.” The crowd applauded loudly to let him know they didn’t like it.
Guinta faced criticism on a variety of issues, including the extension of the tax cuts for wealthy Americans – which was approved in December, a month before Guinta took office. Throughout, he tried to keep the audience calm, repeating a mantra: “Let’s find common ground.”
“It is getting more contentious,” Guinta conceded at one point. “I’d like to see an America that doesn’t pit people against each other. I’d like to see an America that comes together.”
He also recounted seeing Representative Barney Frank, the Democrat from Massachusetts, being interviewed on MSNBC. Frank spoke in favor of several proposals that he agreed with, including potentially leaving the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and reducing certain taxes.
“If I can stand in New Hampshire and say those things, and Barney Frank can stand in Massachusetts and say those things,” Guinta said, “I think there’s hope for us in this country to find common ground.”
Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @mviser.
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Activists hold signs during a news conference in this April 15, 2011 photo on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. According to a new ABC News poll, Americans broadly reject a voucher plan for the Medicare system and support higher taxes on the wealthy, rejecting two central tenets of the Republican debt-reduction plan. Alex Wong/Getty
"Tea Party Lawmaker Frank Guinta Draws Ire Over Medicare Vote"
By MICHAEL FALCONE (@michaelpfalcone) and GREGORY SIMMONS, ABC News -
EXETER, N.H. April 29, 2011
Facing a feisty crowd of constituents who shouted, interrupted and shook their heads at him, freshman Rep. Frank Guinta, R-N.H., spent two hours Thursday night calmly
defending his vote for a GOP-led plan to overhaul the country's Medicare system.
"Why Congressman Guinta, why in the world, did you ever vote for the Paul Ryan Medicare plan," asked, Gary Patton, who posed the first question at an often raucous town hall meeting the congressman hosted at a local high school here.
Patton, 73, told Guinta that he was concerned that the plan introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the chairman of the House Budget Committee, would "end Medicare as we know it."
"The proposal that was in the House last week, again, does not affect anyone who is 55 or older," Guinta assured. "I want to try to allay some fears about the proposal, I want to make sure that people have the proper information. If you don't like the plan, let me know that."
Someone shouted back: "We don't like it!"
Guinta, who rode the Tea Party wave to Washington last year, is one of many new lawmakers who are now facing difficult questions from voters back at home as they wrestle with how to deal with the country's rising debt and whether to make sweeping changes to entitlement programs like Medicare.
"Congressman Guinta is very smooth, he's very slick," Patton, a retired resident of Hampton, N.H., said in an interview with ABC News after the town hall meeting, adding that he was not satisfied with the congressman's answer to his question.
Patton wasn't the only one.
Joe Platte, a middle school student from nearby Stratham, N.H., who took a back-row seat at the meeting, interjected: "What about me? I'm 14, what am I going to do."
The contentious gathering of more than 100 Seacoast residents did not appear to catch Guinta by surprise. He handled the combative crowd gingerly, emphasizing his desire to "find common ground" even with those who disagree with him.
He plowed through more than a dozen questions on issues ranging from ethanol subsidies ("we ought to do away with it, pure and simple," he said) to the national debt.
"I think we're at a serious point in our economy" Guinta said, "and I think we're getting got a tipping point."
He took an I-feel-your-pain approach to the issue of rising gas prices, telling his constituents that he recently filled up the tank of his Ford Edge.
"I filled up last night and it cost me $71.50," he said. "To have almost $4 a gallon gas, I think affects every single one of us in this room."
At several points Thursday night, however, Guinta could not deliver complete answers without interruptions from the crowd. "I would like to finish my statement," the House freshman said amid a mix of cheers and boos when one member of the audience declared that President Obama "doesn't give a damn about reducing spending."
"I understand that there is a lot of passion and a lot of emotion -- it's why this job is so important right now," Guinta said. "Let's put our energy on things we can agree to rather than divide the country farther."
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"Guinta missed the point"
seacoastonline.com - May 17, 2011
To the Editor:
Recently I attended Congressman Frank Guinta's town meeting in Exeter where approximately 80 percent of the audience was over 55. Prior to the meeting with Representative Guinta, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Ryan Budget, a budget that made major changes to Medicare, taking away many future benefits for people currently under 55.
After the congressman spoke for a few minutes about Washington events, he opened the event up to a question and answer session.
The first questioner pointed out that the Ryan budget "gutted Medicare," and, "given that, how on earth could you, Congressman Guinta, have voted for it?" (Pretty close to a direct quote.)
Mr. Guinta explained that the proposed budget did not affect those 55 and over, so the vast majority of his audience had nothing to worry about. The proposed changes wouldn't affect them. The immediate reaction: A strong uproar.
Mr. Guinta repeated his theme, that there was no change to Medicare coverage for those 55 and over.
The audience again made it clear that they were not happy with his response.
In an attempt to correct the disconnect between congressman Guinta and his audience, I quietly said to him (I was in the front row, about 5 feet away), "Frank, they're talking about fairness."
Until then, he had not grasped the idea that a large portion of the audience was concerned not about themselves, but about others, about what kind of future ordinary people would have in the United States. They were concerned about social justice and fairness for those who came after them.
The concept seemed completely foreign to the congressman!
Congressman Guinta was addressing the wrong issue. He responded as if the only concerns the audience had were about their own well-being. He did not see that the negative response he was getting was from people concerned with the future and well-being of others, not just themselves.
We need, as our representatives, people with a wider world view than "I've got mine, tough for the rest of you." Our country can't survive on such a self-centered philosophy.
Michael Frandzel
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
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"Medicare works, leave it alone"
By CAROL SHEA-PORTER, Special to the Bedford Journal, May 20, 2011
Beware, anyone who is old or disabled or might ever get old or disabled. If the Republicans in the United States House of Representative have their way, Medicare is going to be destroyed. The Paul Ryan plan, the so-called Path to Prosperity, privatizes Medicare and turns it into a voucher program that would hurt the old, the future old, and the disabled.
As USA Today reporter Catalina Camia wrote on April 12, “Medicare, the federal health insurance program for seniors and people with disabilities, would be turned over to private insurers under Ryan’s budget plan and would end up costing beneficiaries more money or give them less in services.”
Why would our Republican members of Congress do this to the old and the vulnerable?
They claim that it will save seniors money and allow them to choose. However, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says it will actually cost seniors more. How much more? The CBO says it would double the cost of insurance for seniors. And that is just for starters.
My mother is 87 and very ill. How in the world is she supposed to “shop around” for a good insurance deal, and what for-profit company would ever choose to insure her? Under Medicare, my mom already gets to choose. She has chosen her doctors, her hospital and her hospice. The Republicans are deliberately misleading people about this.
Republicans also claim that this will somehow drive down costs because they claim that Medicare issues blank checks and does not try to control costs. That also is false. Medicare operating costs run between 3 percent to 7 percent for overhead, while private insurance companies have been passing their overhead costs of up to 37 percent to their customers.
As the April 18, USA Today Editorial stated about Medicare: “In fact, it delivers coverage for lower costs. Doing away with the most efficient system hardly seems the best way… ”
Medicare also has set reimbursement rates for hospitals and providers, which helps save money.
Still, they must do better with our money, so I am pleased that the new health care law gets tougher on waste, fraud, and inefficiency.
Improving a great system is better than destroying it, but our members of Congress voted to destroy Medicare.
Paul Ryan and our members claim this does not hurt seniors or those who are 55 and older. This, too, is false. Their plan slashed Medicaid, and the elderly who cannot afford to pay for nursing home care use Medicaid. As a matter of fact, 25 percent of Medicaid dollars are spent on seniors, and 42 percent is spent on the disabled. That equals 67 percent of the Medicaid budget! This opens up another problem for middle-class Americans. If the Federal Government is not going to help pay for the nursing home, where will the money come from? Most hardworking middle class families will not be able to pay for their parents and pay for their children’s educations. The squeeze will just be too much, so this Medicare and Medicaid slashing will hurt all ages.
Here is the ugliest part of all. This budget plan that both of our New Hampshire congressmen voted for hurts the old and the disabled and the middle class, and our representatives admit it by saying there has to be “shared sacrifice.”
However, the money that they save will not be used to pay down the deficit. No, it will be used to cut taxes for the very rich. That’s right – the very rich will see their taxes reduced while you or your loved one see essential services reduced.
Is this what Americans really want? Apparently, it is not. Across the country, good people of all parties – Republicans, Democrats and Independents – are showing up at town halls and telling their members to leave Medicare and other essential programs alone, that they want to support programs that help their neighbors and communities, that they care about each other. House Republicans miscalculated when they figured that most people only care about themselves, so seniors would not speak up for others. Turns out they were wrong.
Just as I have always believed, we are a great nation full of great people who help each other. It is the American way. So is Medicare. Leave it alone, House Republicans.
Find the money to pay down the debt by voting against tax loopholes, taxpayer subsidies for oil companies and other huge conglomerates, by cutting waste, and by campaign finance reform, which will clean up abuse. But leave Medicare alone.
Former congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter represented New Hampshire’s 1st District from 2007-11. She wrote the proposal for and established a nonprofit, social service agency, which continues to serve all ages. She taught politics and history and is a strong supporter of Medicare and Social Security.
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"Whose side is Guinta on?"
Bedford Journal/Cabinet, Letters, May 24, 2011
To the Editor:
U.S. Representative from New Hampshire District 1, Frank Guinta, has publicly backed the budget plan presented by Rep. Paul Ryan. This plan would cut costs from the budget by gutting important entitlement programs such as Medicare while preserving billions of dollars in subsidies for the oil industry.
The Republican proposal would eliminate Medicare as we know it and put in its place a voucher system. You would receive some allotment of money to help buy your health insurance from an insurance company. If the Republicans get their way, the insurance companies will be free of the consumer protection aspects of the recently enacted health care reform legislation. This would leave the insurance companies free to reimpose pre-existing condition clauses and lifetime limits.
There is no assurance that the subsidies will make health care affordable when they take effect in 2022 or that it would keep up with health care inflation thereafter. Our minds are supposed to be put at ease by the thought that only those younger than 55 will be affected by the new plan.
Rep. Guinta tells us that he is on our side, but recent polls say otherwise. A recent Washington Post/ABC poll reported that 78 percent of those polled oppose cutting Medicare. The same poll showed that President Obama’s suggestion to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans wins solid support. The recent NY Times/CBS poll revealed that 60 percent of those responding said that they believe Medicare is worth the cost and they would rather see higher taxes than a reduction in available services.
The plan supported by Reps. Guinta and Ryan is too extreme to garner popular support and is too lopsided in favor of the insurance industry and the wealthiest Americans to provide a basis for compromise.
FLOYD INMAN
Bedford, New Hampshire
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"Cost-shifting"
Foster's Daily Democrat - Letters to the Editor — June 10, 2011
To the editor: I am disappointed by Rep. Guinta's continued support of the Ryan budget that will end Medicare. Nearly 80% of the U.S. wants this important program strengthened, not weakened and ended as Guinta and Ryan are planning. Theirs is a huge cost-shift to future seniors who, according to the Congressional Budget Office, will be required to spend 66% more on their health care than they do today. Remember, these are the same two Congressmen who voted to continue $40 billion in tax breaks and subsidies for the Big Oil companies and are now saying our country cannot afford health care for our seniors.
While the focus has been on this reckless and extreme Medicare plan, for good reason, there's another component to the Guinta/Ryan budget that has me very concerned, and is not getting much coverage. There is also an attack on Medicaid. Now, understandably, most folks don't know how Medicaid cuts will impact them. But it does so in hidden ways. Medicaid is not just for the poor and indigent — it pays for 66% of nursing home residents. By turning Medicaid into flat-amount block grants, the program is eviscerated and states will be forced to cut off funds for millions of seniors in need.
While fighting for tax cuts for the wealthy, and tax breaks for mega-corporations, Representative Guinta is telling us that we cannot afford health care for the most vulnerable in our society. Our simple message back: We cannot afford Guinta.
Joe Cicirelli
Stafford, New Hampshire
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"Ryan's budget"
Foster's Daily Democrat - Letters to the Editor — June 10, 2011
To the editor: At the Exeter Town Hall meeting with my congressman, Frank Guinta, he assured me that, as people over 54, the Medicare changes he voted for in Paul Ryan's budget will not affect me or my husband at all. However, he was not able to assure me that our children and grandchildren will have the economic security that real Medicare provides when they reach retirement age.
Since that meeting, I have learned more about the Ryan budget that Mr. Guinta voted for. Besides more tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, it takes away the Medicare improvements in the Affordable Care Act that will cut costs for us old folks. I am particularly upset about the doughnut hole fix that Carol Shea Porter worked so hard to get. That will save our family a lot of money. And who's to say that once real Medicare is gone for the young, some future Congress won't decide it's too expensive for the dwindling number of beneficiaries of the real thing.
You ran accusing Carol Shea Porter and other Democrats of trying to cut Medicare when they were trying to cut costs, not benefits. Now you are trying to abolish it completely and you think you can fool us by not changing the name. Vouchers to buy private insurance, if we can get it, are not going to provide any security in old age when most of us have the highest health care costs in our lives. No, I'm not buying, Mr. Guinta.
Lucy Edwards
Northwood, New Hampshire
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"Telling the truth would be end of road for Guinta"
seacoastonline.com - Letter to the Editor - June 30, 2011
June 26 — To the Editor:
My phone rang the other night. When I picked it up, there was a recorded message inviting me to stay on the line to participate in Congressman Guinta's tele-town hall. As an interested citizen, I decided to stay on the line. This was my second tele-town hall this year. As I listened to Frank blather on, I thought to myself, "This guy has it made. He gets credit for holding 'town halls' while not having to deal with the public. Clever, indeed."
As I listened, I was reminded how exhausting it is just to try to figure out what our congressman is saying. Rarely does he answer a question directly, and by the time he finishes his response, you have forgotten what the question was. Nor can you figure out what he has actually said. The congressman has become an artful dodger. He also must have realized that the longer his responses, the fewer questions he has to answer.
I also noticed that Frank's statements are misleading. He repeatedly mentions how he is all for bipartisanship. That sounds good until you look at his voting record. I guess the bipartisanship occurs when Democrats come over to his side.
Frank is also not fully honest with voters. His statements about Medicare, which I have heard repeated over and over again, and seen printed in the political propaganda he sends out (at taxpayers' expense) tell only half the story. "Congressman Frank Guinta supports a plan that protects and strengthens Medicare by preserving the existing benefits for workers and retirees over age 55, eliminating waste and fraud and giving younger workers more choices for their healthcare ..." Frank and his staff forget to mention that "the choices" for those under age 55 will cost them plenty. He sugarcoats the truth, hoping to sweet-talk voters into looking no further. Of course, the voting population under 55 is large indeed. Frank must realize that, if he tells the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, he is history.
Beth Olshansky
Durham, New Hampshire
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"Guinta voted for harmful health care legislation"
Seacoastonline.com - Letter to the Editor - July 9, 2011
July 7 — To the Editor:
In April, Frank Guinta and his fellow Republicans in the House of Representatives voted for the budget sponsored by Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). This budget would eliminate Medicare as a guaranteed benefit program. Under Ryan, future seniors would get a voucher to be used to purchase private insurance.
Their plan would not hold down health care costs. Instead, costs would be shifted to seniors, who would have to pay more and more out-of-pocket for their health care. Under today's Medicare, seniors are typically responsible for 25 percent of their total costs. Stuck with having to purchase private insurance with a voucher of diminishing value, future Medicare beneficiaries could have to pay up to 68 percent of their health care costs (source: Congressional Budget Office).
In another alarming but less noticed provision, the Ryan plan increases the age at which seniors get Medicare. It's now 65, but starting in 2022, the eligibility age would increase by two months per year, so that by 2033, you'd have to be 67 to get Medicare.
Frank Guinta's assertion that current Medicare beneficiaries would be held harmless is not true. The Ryan plan would do immediate harm by repealing the Affordable Care Act of 2010. Repeal would eliminate free preventive health screenings and would bring back the gap in prescription drug coverage (the "doughnut hole"). The Ryan plan would wipe out the savings on prescription drugs just now kicking in under ACA.
The Ryan budget contains more than changes to Medicare. It is a plan for the entire federal budget. If it ever became law, middle- and low-income individuals would be burdened with serious benefit cuts, but corporations would still get their wasteful tax subsidies. Millionaires and billionaires would get yet another tax break.
We know from the Bush years that corporate tax loopholes and massive tax cuts for the super-wealthy did not create jobs. Instead, income for the very rich soared while the rest of us were left with stagnant wages.
Unfortunately, our congressman supports these failed policies. They did not work in the past and will not work in the future. Based on his vote on the Ryan budget alone, Frank Guinta does not deserve re-election.
Joan Jacobs
Portsmouth, NH
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"Rep. Guinta running from his vote to gut Medicare"
seacoastonline.com - Letter to the Editor, January 17, 2012
Jan. 15 — To the Editor:
At his recent senior center visit in Somersworth, Rep. Frank Guinta said that seniors "worry about the future," especially about Medicare and Social Security, until he manages to "assuage" their fears "somewhat." But seniors should worry. Mr. Guinta's slick line is deceptive.
Mr. Guinta keeps on denying the undeniable, namely that he voted to privatize Medicare and, yes, to turn it into a voucher system. He voted for privatization; he should have the courage to embrace it. He voted to terminate Medicare as a guaranteed benefit program and to make seniors — many of whom have pre-existing conditions or serious illnesses — buy insurance on the private market. The premium support payments (yes, they're vouchers) would be tied to the cost of living and not to the cost of health care (which has been rising more than three times faster). The ever-
increasing gap between voucher support and premium costs will eventually force seniors to choose between, say, food and medical coverage. What insurance company would even want to sell affordable insurance to seniors, who are certain to need medical care? Where's the profit in that?
This is why Medicare was instituted in the first place — because by the 1960s, most seniors had no health insurance and couldn't afford it. Though Guinta is too young to remember how it was, he should at least inform himself. Is he ignorant or does he just not care about his constituents? Either way, he's in the wrong job. He should go back to the insurance business.
Susan Newman Manfull, Ph.D.
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
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"Guinta's voting record is puzzling"
EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA, Letter, January 18, 2012
To the editor:
I am getting annoyed at being puzzled by my congressman, Frank Guinta. I got a video from a friend showing that Mr. Guinta didn't know that when he voted for HR 3630, the payroll tax cut extension, he also voted to
increase the amount of Medicare premiums paid by high-income beneficiaries and the number of beneficiaries required to pay these higher premiums, and to
cut the Medicare provider rates for physicians and hospitals. Cutting that rate would mean fewer doctors would take on new Medicare patients.
That bill would also
raise Medicare premiums on seniors by 15 percent starting in 2017 and slash the health care reform law's Prevention and Public Health Fund by $8 billion. The public health system and preventative health initiatives not only safeguard our health, they save us all money.
I guess Frank didn't read the bill. He really doesn't have to, because he has corporate masters who tell him how to vote on things. Carol Shea-Porter read the bills she voted on. How do I know? I looked at her legislative record, and saw that she added amendments to a number of bills that improved them substantially.
Shea-Porter knew how to persuade her colleagues to do the right thing. She cared about us, and we need her back in Congress!
Lucy Edwards
Northwood, N.H.
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"What about the rest of us, Rep. Guinta?"
Seacoastonline.com - Letter to the Editor - January 28, 2012
Jan. 24 — To the Editor:
On Jan. 22, Seacoast Sunday published "Reflections ..." by Rep. Frank Guinta. I expected to read about what has been done for his constituents. After all, we pay his salary! Instead, let's just see the emphasis of his reflections on his "performance" for us. After his short introduction, I have his extracted excerpts beginning in the second paragraph to highlight what he sees as important:
"I reached ... I took ... I've done ... I went ... I made ... I'm pleased ... My office ... My staff ... I have ... My weekly ... I held ... everybody can talk to me ... I'm working ... I'm working ... I visit ... I'm pleased ... I'll tell ... I've sponsored ... I've co-sponsored ... I was honored ... I'm actively ... I voted ... I voted ... I only have ... I look ... I can ... I'm doing ... I am ... [end of excerpts]."
And what did you accomplish for the rest of us, Mr. Guinta? What about us, Frank? All you seem to care about is providing us voters with what you want us to think — that you are busy. I noticed that you never mentioned privatizing Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid. You never mentioned trying to strangle the government's resources by refusing to support revenue increases.
Try using first-person singular a little less and a conscience a little more.
Hiram Connell
Somersworth, NH
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"Guinta defends, Democratic candidates blast, latest Paul Ryan budget plan"
By JOHN DiSTASO, Senior Political Reporter, NH Union Leader, March 20, 2012
WASHINGTON _ Republican U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta today embraced the House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's proposed budget, which was unveiled on Capitol Hill this morning, as a bold solution to the nation's fiscal woes.
While Democrats blasted the plan as a scheme to balance the nation's budget on the backs of seniors, the poor and middle class, House freshman Guinta, who is up for reelection in November, said, “We must rise to the challenge of reforming and modernizing government programs that were enacted in the 1960s and make them more effective and efficient for the needs of the 21st Century.
“If we don't,” he said, “we will be buried in an avalanche of debt that will cripple our country financially for decades to come.”
Fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass, who backed the Ryan plan last year and is also expected to have a tough reelection fight this year, took no immediate position on the updated version, promising to "take a very hard look at his proposal to make sure it balances our state and nation's needs while getting our fiscal house in order.”
Guinta, as a member of the budget committee headed by Wisconsin Republican Ryan, has been closely involved in the formulation of the plan.
It calls for spending cuts that would reduce the deficit from its present $1.18 trillion to $797 billion in 2013 _ nearly $200 billion less than under President Barack Obama's budget,
Guinta said in an interview that although the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office believes, based on its economic assumptions, that the plan would not allow the deficit to be erased until 2038, House Budget Committee Republicans believe that under a “best case scenario,” the plan sets the budget on a course to balance between 2016 and 2024.
The plan would change Medicare for those under age 55 from a direct government-payment program for all to one that allows recipients to choose either the existing system or one in which the government subsidizes the purchase of private health insurance.
Guinta called that “a bipartisan, practical approach to safeguarding Medicare for future generations.”
“You can choose the existing plan as it exists today with no changes, or you can opt to do ‘premium support,'” he explained.
“It still does not affect anyone 55 or older. It is more of a competitive approach and you have means testing so the wealthier the senior, the less assistance they get. The more needy the senior, the more financial assistance they get,” said Guinta.
“There is a recognition that Medicare, according to the program's trustees, will go broke within 12 years if we don't do something about it,” Guinta said. “There is a growing bipartisan willingness to change the system.”
The plan also calls for major tax code reforms. It would reduce the number of tax brackets from six to two, at 10 percent and 25 percent. The highest rate for the wealthiest Americans is now 35 percent.
The corporate tax rate would also be cut from 35 to 25 percent.
He also the corporate tax rate drop will allow American companies that are now investing in other countries to keep their profits at home and invest at home.
Democrats called the proposed change in individual tax rates nothing more than tax cuts for the wealthy, but Guinta said the plan reforms “our broken tax code to spur job creation and economic opportunity by lowering rates, closing loopholes and putting hardworking taxpayers ahead of special interests.”
Bass, in a statement, commended Ryan "for putting forth a budget – something the Senate Democratic leadership has failed to do for nearly three years now – that recognizes Washington's current habit of spending and ignoring the unsustainable growth of programs will only land us in further debt. I will take a very hard look at his proposal to make sure it balances our state and nation's needs while getting our fiscal house in order.”
Even if the plan passes the House, it is dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate. But Guinta said that with an April 15 deadline looming, there is an outside chance that, through a process called reconciliation, “this budget could become law with very few amendments” with a simple majority in the Senate.
“The Senate hasn't passed a budget within 1,000 days,” Guinta said. “I'd ask why the Senate is choosing to ignore a basic responsibility.”
He said that even if the Ryan plan does not pass, it will be House GOP blueprint for negotiations on future spending bills.
“So, this is not simply an exercise in futility,” Guinta said. “This is real. These numbers will set the tone for our negotiating points for however the Senate chooses to move the process forward.”
Democratic former two-term 1st District U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, who was defeated by Guinta in 2010 and is seeking a rematch this year, said that he and other House Republicans “have once again taken aim at the old, the young, the sick, the poor, and the middle class.
“We need to shrink the deficit, but I will not support doing that by giving tax cuts to the very wealthy and to oil companies, rewarding companies that send jobs out of the country, ending Medicare and turning it into a voucher program, cutting Pell grants that help students pay for college, and by cutting too deeply into the budget,” Shea-Porter said.
Shea-Porter said Guinta “does not believe in government. He has said that he wants to privatize Social Security and Medicare, the Department of Education, the EPA, the Department of Energy, Amtrak, medical research, and many other programs. Congressman Guinta is too extreme for New Hampshire, and his budget is too extreme for New Hampshire also.”
Fellow Democratic 1st District U.S. House candidate Joanne Dowdell said, “We need to balance the budget,” but Republicans “want to do it by eliminating Medicare as we know it while giving millionaires a free pass. I want to do it by making special interests, huge corporations, and the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share.”
Dowdell and Shea-Porter are facing off in a Democratic primary for the right to face Guinta in the general election.
Guinta said, “What you see from the Democrats is more partisan rhetoric than anything else.”
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"Guinta's funding cuts reflect his real interests"
SeaCoastOnline.com - Letter to the Editor, March 26, 2012
March 22 — To the Editor:
Last week, many of us received a multicolored campaign mailer from Congressman Frank Guinta (paid for by the New Hampshire taxpayers), vowing that he would protect the Women, Infants & Children (WIC) nutrition program. Yesterday, in the Budget Committee consideration of the Republican Ryan Budget, Guinta provided the deciding vote (19-18) to cut that program, along with funding for veterans' services, transportation, programs for seniors, and services like Pell Grants and other support for education.
Guinta's vote helped push this bill through committee in just 24 hours, without giving House members time to read it. I don't know exactly which special interests Frank Guinta is looking out for, but I know it's not the best interests of the citizens of the 1st Congressional District. We need to change our representative in Congress.
Lenore Patton
Hampton, N.H.
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"Guinta announces he's again a candidate for Congress"
By John DiStaso, New Hampshire Senior Political Reporter, NH Union Leader, September 22, 2013
MANCHESTER — Calling for an end to partisan gridlock and for more "New Hampshire common sense" in Washington, former U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta made it official today that he is a candidate for the 1st District seat he lost last November.
The former Manchester mayor made the announcement, along with his wife, Morgan, in a two-minute web video available on his web site, TeamGuinta.com. He also announced his candidacy in the 2014 mid-term elections during an early-morning appearance at the Bedford Republican Committee's annual breakfast meeting at the Manchester Country Club.
In the video, Guinta, dressed casually, sits at a table, presumably in his home, and says that the "news out of Washington is pretty depressing these days" with "politicians of both parties" more interested in "fighting than making tough decisions and solving our problems."
He says that by working together "we can find common ground without sacrificing our principles."
Guinta says that as Manchester's mayor from 2006 through 2009, he "worked with Democrats and Republicans to improve the city" and, "together, we cut spending, lowered property taxes and improved services."
He calls for "reform" of
Medicare and Social Security and for "economic policies that create opportunity and growth."
While Guinta talks about his service as mayor in the video, he does not mention that he is a former congressman.
"While some politicians always think bigger government is the answer, in New Hampshire, we know better," he said. "It's about putting people first."
Morgan Guinta calls her husband "a super dad" to their two children, "a great leader"and "great at listening and bringing people together to solve problems."
Guinta turns 43 on Thursday. He wants a "rubber match" next fall with Democrat U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, whom Guinta ousted from the House seat in 2010, only to have her return the favor in 2012.
Guinta is expected to first face a Republican primary. Political newcomer Dan Innis of Portsmouth last week said he will resign as dean of the Peter T. Paul School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire. He is expected to announce his candidacy within the next several weeks.
Guinta was a strong supporter of the House Republican agenda during his term in office. As a member of the House Budget Committee, he was a supporter of budget committee chairman and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who was last year's party nominee for vice president.
Ryan will return to the Granite State in October to campaign for Guinta.
Democrats wasted no time criticizing Guinta.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said Guinta "had an opportunity to stand up for his constituents, but instead he voted in lockstep with Paul Ryan and the Tea Party to try to
end Medicare as we know it and raise taxes on New Hampshire's middle class families. Voters already fired Congressman Guinta for his attempts to impose his out-of-touch agenda, which hurt New Hampshire's economy and stifled job creation."
A Guinta spokesman declined to comment on the Democratic criticism.
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October 20, 2014
"Frank Guinta Admits He Still Wants to Cut Seniors’ Benefits: Tea Partier in Concord Monitor: Republican Congress Will Push Cuts"
MANCHESTER — Former Congressman Frank Guinta affirmed that he still plans to cut seniors’ benefits in an interview with the Concord Monitor last week, saying that “Republicans are going to want” to adopt a benefit-cutting measure, Chained CPI, in the next Congress.
“New Hampshire seniors beware: Frank Guinta has a plan to cut your earned benefits,” said Shea-Porter spokeswoman Marjorie Connolly. “Instead of ending tax breaks for Big Oil and huge corporations, Guinta would balance the budget on the backs of our seniors. His extreme Tea Party platform would not only punish seniors, but also the hardworking Granite Staters who pay into this system with the expectation that their earned benefits will be there when they need them.”
Disturbing facts about Guinta’s benefit-cutting proposal to adopt Chained CPI:
• Guinta’s proposal would hit beneficiaries harder as they age.
• Since women live longer than men and the cuts accelerate over time, women would be hit especially hard.
• Under Guinta’s proposal, a senior who retires at 65 would lose almost $14,000 by age 85, and $28,000 by age 95.
• By the time retirees reach 85, their benefits would be cut by an average of $1,147 per year.
• A 92-year-old would lose an entire month’s income from his or her annual benefits.
• Guinta’s proposal would cut almost 14 weeks’ worth of food from a 75-year-old’s budget, and almost 24 weeks of food from an 85-year-old’s budget.
• Even Guinta’s hyper-conservative pal Grover Norquist opposes the proposal, saying that it’s “a very large tax hike over time.”
Unlike Guinta, Carol Shea-Porter opposes the benefit-cutting chained CPI proposal, and successfully fought to eliminate it from President Obama’s budget proposal.
BACKGROUND
Concord Monitor: “He (Guinta) said Democrats are going to want to expand Social Security and Republicans are going to want so-called ‘chained CPI,’ which would adjust the formula used to determine cost-of-living increases in Social Security.”
Link: www.sheaporter.com/Media/Press-Releases/2014-10-frank-guinta-admits-he-still-wants-to-cut-seniors-be
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