On Monday, House Speaker John Boehner doubled-down on his attacks on Medicare.

In a speech to the Economic Club of New York, Speaker Boehner threatened that unless Democrats bowed to his extremists demands, "...there will be no debt limit increase."

Speaker Boehner once again showed his willingness to take the needs of all Americans hostage to the dictates of his extremist ideology.

He held up Rep. Paul Ryan's callous 2012 budget proposal, which would destroy Medicare in all but name, as a model of what House Republicans were demanding in exchange for voting to raise the debt ceiling.

The Ryan budget proposal would destroy Medicare and replace it with a voucher program for seniors who'd be dumped into the private insurance market. And if the vouchers didn't cover the cost of insurance, too bad.

Tell Speaker Boehner: Hands off Medicare.