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6B Daily News – Saturday, August 18, 2012 Obama, Romney camps now seek presidential election advantage with Medicare SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — The jobs-and-economy election suddenly seems all about Medicare — for now, at least. Republican Mitt Romney is embrac- ing a topic his party usually approaches gingerly. He is taking a calculated risk that voters' worries about federal deficits and the Democrats' health care overhaul have opened the door for a robust debate on the solvency of Medicare, the insur- ance program for retirees. President Barack Obama is welcom- ing the conversation, which has tem- porarily taken attention from the weak economic recovery. One party may regret its position on Nov. 6. Retirees in politically prized states such as Florida have often resisted changes in Medicare, one of the govern- ment's most popular but costliest pro- grams. But GOP strategists say today's voters realize Medicare spending must be constrained, and Romney is banking on disenchantment with Obama's 2010 health care law to pave the way for his own proposals. Romney, who has spent more than a year running almost entirely on the economy and jobs, put Medicare at the campaign's center when he chose as his running mate. Rep. Paul Ryan is Con- gress' chief advocate of significantly restraining entitlement programs. Ryan was critical of Obama's han- dling of Medicare during a campaign stop in Springfield, Va., repeating his assertion thata the GOP ticket welcomed the debate over the future of Medicare. The Wisconsin congressman is expected to revisit Medicare in some depth in Florida on Saturday. He will face voters in a retirement community north of Orlando known as The Villages. Ryan's 78-year-old mother, a Medicare recipi- ent, plans to attend. ''We will not duck the tough issues; we will lead,'' Ryan told the Virginia crowd. issue was underscored Thursday when he used a marker and classroom-type whiteboard to summarize his thoughts Romney's willingness to tackle the WORLD BRIEFING on Medicare, with hardly a word about the unemployment rate. He said his plans would keep Medicare solvent while Obama's would not, a claim Democrats call absurd. On Friday, summarizing the political Romney's campaign disputed the ad, and repeated its own claim that Obama's plans would siphon spending from Medicare without safeguarding the pro- gram's long-term stability. Obama's campaign has tried for months to tie Romney to House Repub- licans and Ryan's budget proposal, which would turn Medicare into a voucher-like system for future retirees. The Obama campaign released a new TV ad Friday defending the president's record on Medicare. It points to the AARP, a group that represents senior cit- izens and said in a letter to lawmakers earlier this year that Ryan's plan would lead to higher costs for seniors. view from the right, the Romney cam- paign distributed a Wall Street Journal editorial that declared: ''By governing so far to the left, Mr. Obama may have neu- tralized 'Mediscare' and made voters more receptive to center-right solutions. Medicare is already changing because it must.'' Activist punk rockers get 2 years style activists who briefly took over a cathedral in a raucous prayer for deliver- ance from Vladimir Putin were sen- tenced to two years in prison for hooli- ganism on Friday, a decision that drew protests around the world as it highlight- ed the Russian president's intensifying crackdown on dissent. Protesters from Moscow to New York and musicians including Madonna and Paul McCartney condemned the prosecu- tion of the three women, members of a band called Pussy Riot. Several coun- for anti-Putin stunt MOSCOW (AP) — Three punk rock- tries, including the U.S., and even some Kremlin loyalists decried the verdict. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Maria Alekhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutse- vich, 30, were arrested in March after performing a ''punk prayer'' in Christ the Savior Cathedral, dancing and high-kick- ing as they called on the Virgin Mary to save Russia from Putin, who was elected to a third term as Russia's president two weeks later. Judge Marina Syrova ruled Friday that the band members had ''committed hooliganism driven by religious hatred.'' She rejected the women's arguments that they were protesting the Russian Ortho- dox Church's support for Putin and did- n't intend to offend religious believers. Putin himself had said the band mem- bers shouldn't be judged too harshly, cre- ating expectations that they could be sen- tenced to time served and freed in the courtroom. This, however, would have left the impression that Putin had bowed to public pressure, something he has resisted throughout his 12 years in power. Every picture tells a story. http://dfm-ssp.medianewsgroup.com Visit dfm-ssp.medianewsgroup.com throughout the day. News • Sports • Entertainment • Best Images of the Day See photojournalism at its best. Bookmark photos.redbluffdailynews.com today. dfm-ssp.medianewsgroup.com If every picture is worth a thousand words, the dfm-ssp.medianewsgroup.com Media Center will take your breath away. Filled with images from across America and the globe, our Media Center is constantly updated to showcase the best in photojournalism. Bookmark dfm-ssp.medianewsgroup.com today and see the world in a whole new way. DAILYNEWS dfm-ssp.medianewsgroup.com RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY dfm-ssp.medianewsgroup.com