GOP Super PAC Hits House Dems on Medicare
The Congressional Leadership Fund, a leading Republican super PAC focused on House races, is out with its first, health care-themed hit of the 2014 election cycle this morning, tying 11 House Democrats to upcoming rate cuts for privately-run Medicare plans.
The new release provides another early, though incomplete, look at the group's top targets ahead of the 2014 House elections; there are no new freshmen on the Obamacare-themed list, though two came back to Congress this year after being defeated in 2010. The Democratic members named are: Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick and Ron Barber of Arizona, John Garamendi and Jerry McNerney of California, John Barrow of Georgia, Collin Peterson of Minnesota, Carol Shea-Porter of New Hampshire, Tim Bishop and Bill Owens of New York, Kurt Schrader of Oregon, and Nick Rahall of West Virginia.
CLF is highlighting upcoming 2014 government reimbursement rate cuts to Medicare Advantage plans as part of the implementation of the 2010 health care reform law, signaling the group continues to see health care -- which featured heavily in its 2012 advertising -- as a winning issue for the next campaign. The group's first move in the new cycle is to once more hit Democrats for "cutting Medicare." About half of the targeted Democrats represent districts Mitt Romney won in the 2012 presidential election.
CLF and its affiliated non-profit, the American Action Network, were the top outside spenders on the Republican side of the most recent House campaign. The two groups spent nearly $22 million between them in 2012. Their target list overlaps significantly with the National Republican Congressional Committee's early list of top 2014 targets among veteran House Democrats.

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