SHAMOKIN - If his "pink pig" school bus didn't get voters' attention, Democratic congressional candidate Gene Stilp hopes his 15-foot-tall wheelchair will.
He had both in Shamokin on Wednesday, along with a second that touts his "Preserving Medicare" tour.
The long-time Dauphin County activist, known for props that have included an inflatable pink pig, is challenging Republican incumbent Lou Barletta for the 11th Congressional District seat.
Wheelchair downtown
At 10 a.m., Stilp had constructed the wheel chair - made of bicycle wheels, PVC pipe and paint trays - in front of the Downtown Medical Center, which happens to be painted pink, along Commerce Street. The buses were parked nearby.
"Some want their kids to sit inside the wheelchair, and we let them," Stilp said. "It really helps me get the message across."
Stilp opposes a Republican budget-cutting measure that, according to the Obama administration, would remove $11 billion from Medicare while taking millions from Affordable Care Act implementation programs. Stilp says it would cripple Medicare.
Stilp cited a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation that says a voucher-like Medicare plan similar to one proposed by GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, would boost premiums. Despite all of the attention in the presidential debate, "This is one issue that has been forgotten," Stilp said.
"Lou Barletta has already promised a vote to Ryan on such a plan," Stilp said. "We need to find ways of reducing health care costs now, spend more money on lower-cost options like preventative care, eliminate doctors who defraud the system and the gouging of the pharmaceutical firms."
Barletta's response
Asked for a response to Stilp's claims, Lance Stange Jr., campaign manager for Barletta said Stilp is merely "hiding his support for Obamacare and its $716 billion cut to Medicare behind toys, gimmicks and distortions of Rep. Barletta's record."
Stange said Medicare trustees have indicated the program will run out of money in 2024, an issue that requires a serious solution - one that Stilp hasn't offered, Strange said.
"Mr. Stilp's inaccurate claims and shocking lack of a plan six months after he promised to 'offer a plan for the long run' to preserve Medicare demonstrates his lack of seriousness on yet another serious issue," he said.
He said vouchers have no part in the House-passed plan to save and strengthen Medicare.
"To the contrary," he said, "future retirees would receive a list of Medicare-approved guaranteed coverage options, including a traditional Medicare option, and would be empowered to select a plan that best meets their needs. The federal government would then issue a direct payment for the plan of their choosing to the insurer."
The plan would work much the same way as the Medicare Advantage or Medicare Part D prescription drug plans operate, which more than 900,000 Pennsylvanians already use.