Greg Sargent first observed six Republicans, including CA-26 (Ventura County) candidate Tony Strickland, running from the Romney-Ryan Medicare plan. Sure enough, here’s Strickland claiming that he would have voted no on the Ryan budget because – and this is a true profile in courage, or something – the Ryan plan would give vouchers in lieu of Medicare for those 55 and younger, while Strickland’s cutoff is age 50. In other words, while Ryan’s plan is a huge, neon-orange, screaming
if you’re under 55, FUCK OFF, YOU DON’T MATTER
Strickland’s version is
if you’re under 50, FUCK OFF, YOU DON’T MATTER
Oh. That’s reassuring.
On Friday, August 17, Strickland held a press event on the grounds of a local seniors’ center that followed the Republicans’ Ryan budget pushback to the letter: “Inoculate by pledging to save and protect Medicare; use credible third party validators (mom or seniors)…”
Here’s Strickland, inoculating and validating at a senior center with wheelchair-bound seniors on the sidelines, dramatically signing a pledge to protect Medicare and Social Security for anyone 50 and older as he repeats the lie, which is to say the pants on fire lie, that Obamacare steals $500 billion $700 billion from Medicare. At Crooks & Liars, here’s the entire video of Strickland’s lies, including the oft-repeated “death panels” lie. Of course, to Strickland and his advisors “protecting” Medicare and Social Security means turning Medicare into a voucher program and privatizing Social Security, all in order to continue to favor the very wealthy and the corporate special interests over the middle class and the seniors forming the chorus line of his photo opportunity.
How much does Strickland want to run from the Romney-Ryan plan to end Medicare as we know it? To get to the truth, a Ventura County voter could check his website… oops, issues “coming soon.” 
Or a reporter could ask how much of the Ryan plan he’s read… oops, turns out he’s only read enough to articulate one small difference between him and Ryan, never mind the rest of the Path to Poverty. But Strickland can’t run from radical Ryan. Ryan co-founded the Young Guns program, and immediately named Strickland as one of his Young Guns. Strickland chairs the Romney-Ryan election California team. No wonder he’s wrong for California, and too extreme for Ventura County.
A Ventura County voter who wants to really preserve Medicare and Social Security, without Romney-Ryan-Strickland doubletalk, could vote for progressive champion Julia Brownley. And a voter anywhere who wants to give the gavel back to Nancy Pelosi – CA-26 is a nationally prominent toss-up race – could donate to Brownley.