Ryan defends Medicare, Medicaid plan; Gingrich explains attack on GOP budget

News outlets report on continuing fallout of Newt Gingrich's comments last week on Medicare. Today, Rep. Paul Ryan, the author of the GOP plan, responded.

Politico: Ryan Dismisses Gingrich Medicare Comments
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan on Sunday called Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's characterization of his Medicare plan "right-wing social engineering" as "deeply inaccurate, a gross mischaracterization of the House Republican budget plan." Asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" if the former House Speaker undercut Republican efforts to pass the reforms, Ryan said, "Leaders are elected to lead. ... And we are leading in the House"  (Frates, 5/22).

MSNBC: Ryan Leaves Slight Opening For GOP Nomination
Ryan has been driving the fiscal debate in Washington with his plan to cut federal debt and fundamentally redesign Medicare and Medicaid, the two entitlement programs that now account for more than one-fifth of federal spending. ... As he has for weeks, Ryan again gave a vigorous defense of his proposal, saying it would avert a debt crisis. ... Last week, Gingrich denounced the Ryan plan as "right-wing social engineering," but, in the face of furious criticism from Republicans, recanted that statement and eventually tried to claim he hadn't really been referring to Ryan's proposal (Curry, 5/22).

Bloomberg: U.S. Debt Limit Increase Agreement May Take Until August, Ryan Tells NBC
Ryan defended a Republican budget plan that would cut spending by more than $6 trillion over a decade and privatize Medicare. The proposal would replace the traditional Medicare health-care system for the elderly with subsidies to buy private insurance starting with people who turn 65 in 2022. "You cannot deal with this debt crisis unless you're serious about entitlement reform," Ryan said (Brush and Riley, 5/22).

National Journal: Gingrich Says He's on Ryan's Side in Budget Debate
Speaking on CBS's Face the Nation, [Newt Gingrich] the former House speaker told host Bob Schieffer that he made a mistake a week ago in accepting Meet the Press host David Gregory's premise that Ryan's plan was politically unpopular. "I was referring to a general principle," he said. "We the people should not have Washington impose large-scale changes on us." ... Asked by Schieffer if this means he doesn't think the Ryan plan is too big a jump, Gingrich said, "I think it is a big plan that needs to be worked through with the American people. In that process, it will clearly be modified" (Madigan, 5/22).

Roll Call: McConnell Looks to Biden Talks for Budget Compromise
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declined to say Sunday whether he supports the Medicare component of the House GOP budget proposal, and he reiterated that any real movement on looming fiscal issues would take place in closed-door meetings being led by Vice President Joseph Biden. ...  McConnell emphasized that Medicare's path is unsustainable, and he linked an overhaul of the program to ongoing talks to raise the debt ceiling. "To get my vote on raising the debt ceiling, we're going to have to have significant changes to both Medicare and Medicaid," he said. Although McConnell didn't outright endorse Ryan's Medicare proposal, he did say it would empower seniors, and he accused President Barack Obama of trying to "ration" Medicare (Miller, 5/22).

The Associated Press: Democrats Meddle In Slow-Starting GOP Primary 
But the White House and its allies are meddling from the sidelines with a good cop, bad cop routine, hoping to exploit the GOP's late start. A pro-Obama group called Priorities USA is airing a TV ad in South Carolina that jabs Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, two of the best-known Republican contenders. ... Obama keeps offering praise, which he knows can damage a candidate in a Republican primary, to Romney on health care issues ... As Massachusetts governor in 2006, Romney enacted a state law that, like the federal one, requires people to obtain health insurance. ... Democrats feel Gingrich gave them a new opening on the health care front when he called a recently passed GOP House bill "radical." It would reduce Medicare's costs and benefits over time and convert Medicaid to a state block grant program  (Babington, 5/22).