"Obama lies, grandma dies": the uncertain politics of Medicare and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

As savvy researchers, we Googled our topic: “Obama and Medicare.” Our first hit was zazzle.com, which advertised a bumper sticker with an older woman in a wheelchair hurtling down a slope with the caption “Obama Lies, Grandma Dies.”1 The bumper sticker captures the politics of health care reform and Medicare. In the summer of 2009, congressional town hall events became shouting matches over health care reform, and the Medicare program found itself front and center in the political battle. Here are snapshots from August 2009: