and so on. so, you know, i think that it clarifies the choice for the american people. and i think it clarifies the choice in a way that is going to be helpful. paul ryan has been on this program five times. he s talked about these issues before. i have raised with him the fact that back when newt gingrich was on the program saying that the ryan budget and his plan to transform medicare was, in gingrich s words, right wing social engineering. something he backed off from. that a lot of republicans wanted to distance themselves, as they did, from the ryan plan. and this is what he said back in may of last year. watch. look, of course people are scared of entitlement reform. because every time you put entitlement reform out there, the other party uses it as a political weapon against you. look, both parties have done this to each other. here s the problem, david. if we don t get serious about these issues, if we don t get serious about the drivers of your debt, we re going to have a
that taking on tough fights, like medicare, in your case it was collective bargaining and pensions for state employees that it has a real political cost. you faced a recall which you survived. blitco has an interesting analysis piece by john harris and mike allen and this is part of it i want to put on the screen for you. it s hard to overstate the risks romney is taking in making a choice that virtually guarantees a far-reaching debate about the broader role of the government and the entitlement state. simply put it s a debate republicans have almost never won when they ve put it directly before voters in the past. gingrich learned when he squared off with bill clinton in the 1990s and president bush learned with his politically disastrous effort for social security reform in the second term, voters may despise spending and deficits in the abstract but they like many of these programs in particular. what i m getting at, governor, is that what you and others support so strongly about c
it s a little more complicated, though. let s bear in mind that you had the ryan rivlin program, alice rivlin was bill clinton s omb director, they came together on the medicare program. on the premium support proposal of paul ryan he s got an interesting ally in ron widen. we ll see how much pressure is put on ron widen this way. but what ryan says, and i think again the case can be made, that if you want to save medicare you have to do something. let s be clear, no changes for anybody over 55. people under 55 can stay with traditional medicare, or they can go to the premium support system. dan s right. the argument needs to be made. but he s not the only one making it, and some very prominent democrats have backed paul ryan in the past. we ll see if they step up. let me get to a break here. i want to get back, talk more about the politics of the ryan pick, look at the battleground map as well as we see this race not only getting into a higher gear but really changing in its direc
people who rely on these benefits are going to get cut the first. they re going to be hurt the worst under a debt crisis. we re saying, if we fix this now, we can keep the current promise to current seniors and people ten years away from retirement. so what he s now saying on the campaign trail with mitt romney is that president obama will scare seniors about what they want to do about medicare, here is now a duo finally saying, let s solve the problem before change is forced upon the people who need these programs most. yeah, well, let s be clear. the president already has taken steps that added eight years to the life of medicare and his budget would add several more. he s made some important choices that are going to help that program moving forward. eight years is not a real but the question but eight years there s no doubt david that we ve got to do more. but the question is are you going to do it in a way that preserves the program and the basic integrity of t
build bill bennett, let me get you in here. it s a little more complicated, though. let s bear in mind that you had the ryan rivlin program, bill clinton s omb director, they came together on the medicare program. on the premium support proposal of paul ryan he s got an interesting ally in ron widen. we ll see how much pressure is put on ron widen this way. what ryan says, if you want to save medicare you have to do something. let s be clear, no changes for anybody over 55. people under 55 can stay with traditional medicare, or they can go to the premium support system. the argument needs to be made. but he s not the only one making it, and some very prominent democrats have backed paul ryan in the past. we ll see if they step up. let me get to a break here. i want to get back, talk more about the politics of the ryan pick. look at the battleground map, as well, as we see this race not only getting into a higher gear