Ellmers, who represents North Carolina's 2nd District, knows how it feels to defend her voting record.
"What they are saying is that my criticism of my predecessor, that I am doing the same thing today and that is nothing farther from the truth," Ellmers said.
On Friday, House Republicans passed what they called a blueprint to overhaul Medicare.
In a blistering You Tube political video, Ellmers and four other freshman House members are accused of breaking their promise not to cut Medicare.
She defended her vote at the town hall meeting, saying the country faces some tough financial choices.
"If we don't change this landscape, if we don't rescue Medicare from where we are right now, our children and grandchildren are simply not going to have what we have," Ellmers said.
She spoke for about 30 minutes.
Ellmers plans to transform Medicare for future beneficiaries from a government program that directly pays medical bills into a voucher-like program that subsidizes the purchase of private insurance.
The plan also trims $6 trillion from the federal budget over the next ten years.
Democrats argue the Republican plan unfairly targets the poor and disabled while allowing the wealthy to keep many of their benefits.
In the You Tube commercial, it claims Republicans lied when they said they would protect Medicare. Republicans say everyone 55 and older won't be affected but younger Americans say they have to understand changes have to be made to save the program.
"What we have is fundamental fight between liberals and conservatism," Ellmers said. "Liberals think all the answers should come from the government"
She went on to say as a conservative, she believes the answers come from the public because the less government the better.
Ellmers has similar town hall meetings planned around her district. She will be in Lee County Wednesday.
The Congresswoman is not pushing legislation or a law, but a non-binding blueprint for running the government. The Democratic controlled Senate hasn't released its budget plan yet, so there is still a lot of talk and political rhetoric to come.
Classifieds | Report A Typo |
Send Tip |
Get Alerts | See Click Fix
Follow @abc11 on Twitter | Become a fan on Facebook
