Paul Ryan defends Medicare plan in wake of Newt Gingrich's slam

[TomCADem]

Source: LA Times

Rep. Paul Ryan spent Monday defending his plan to radically rework Medicare after it came under fire in surprising fashion from a fellow Republican, Newt Gingrich.

Gingrich became the first GOP presidential candidate to openly rip the plan, which would convert Medicare into a private insurance program, after the proposal -- part of a House budget blueprint to tame federal spending -- drew heavy criticism from some voters, and polls showed it to be unpopular.

“The budget passed by the House last month takes credible steps to controlling healthcare costs,” Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, said in a speech to the Economic Club of Chicago. “It aims to do two things: to put our budget on a path to balance, and to put our economy on a path to prosperity.”

Gingrich had called Ryan’s proposal “right-wing social engineering.” He said the effort imposed “radical change.”

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-ryan-defend-medicare-20110516,0,5361374.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fmostviewed+%28L.A.+Times+-+Most+Viewed+Stories%29

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When the right wing extremists of the past are calling our current right wingers extreme, it just shows you just how radicalized the Republicans have become.

[1620rock]

1. Hmm, Gingrich eh? Well, even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and again.

[yellowcanine]

2. Right wing food fights are so much fun.

[peace4ever]

3. newt will say anything to get elected, and he knows how this is polling

he will just package something simular, 'better'.

[Yon_Yonson]

4. I love it when NEOCONS throw each other under a speeding train

[russspeakeasy]

5. I think Ryan also said that "with friends like Newt, we don't need

the left".

[The Green Manalishi]

6. Even a broken clock is right twice a day

EOM