Warning Congress Not to Mess With Grandma

Campaigning for vice president in 2012, Paul Ryan learned firsthand what happens to politicians who dare to propose taking money from old people. One of Ryan’s big themes was the need to reform entitlement programs so the rising costs of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid wouldn’t bankrupt the nation in coming decades. That summer television ads began airing in Colorado, Florida, and Ohio depicting an evil Ryan doppelganger violently pushing a panicked, wheelchair-bound grandma off a cliff. The tag line read: “Is America beautiful without Medicare?”

As members of Congress work toward a self-imposed Dec. 13 deadline to reach a tax and spending agreement for reducing the federal budget deficit, the maker of the Ryan ad—an organization called the Agenda Project—is cautioning members of Congress that they could wind up starring in the next ad if they vote for a budget deal that includes entitlement cuts. “Granny will continue to roll over any candidate, Republican or Democrat, who tries to take benefits from older Americans who’ve worked their entire lives to get them,” says Agenda Project President Erica Payne.