There is a perception lingering about Newt Gingrich that he was a critic of Paul Ryan’s budget plan and therefore a critic of conservative fiscal policy in the House of Representatives. Is that conclusion true? Or is it an oversimplification? Like many misconceptions floating around during a heated political season, it is not true. Let’s examine the facts.
On April 5, 2011, Representative Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman, introduced the Republican budget for 2012. Included in that budget was a premium support model for Medicare. This budget was based on a similar plan previously laid out by Ryan called The Roadmap for America’s Future. That document had been a Republican Party policy call to change the budget and put it on sound fiscal grounds compared to the Democrats’ unwillingness to budget at all and tax and spend into infinity. The Harry Reid-run Senate has not passed a budget for over three years, even though they are required to by law.
Gingrich praised the Ryan plan in an article in Human Events on April 13. He called it the most serious attempt by an elected official to rethink our public finances and the modern welfare state in a generation. That is quite a compliment from a former speaker of the House to a current committee chairman. Using a golfing metaphor, Gingrich celebrated the plan, calling it a Ryan “eagle.” Is that comparison a negative critique, or is it commendation? One week later, on April 20, Gingrich in the same space heaped more praise on the plan. He compared Paul Ryan to Paul Revere, one of our nation’s great heroes, and compared the Ryan Medicare plan with his own previous welfare reform. Why would he disparage something he would compare to one of his greatest achievements? Gingrich later said he would have voted for the plan if he had had the opportunity.
On May 15, 2011, Gingrich was on Meet the Press. He had a slightly disjointed discussion with host David Gregory because Gregory kept interrupting him. After a substantial discussion on the debt-ceiling debate, Gregory turned to entitlements and asked Gingrich a hypothetical and loaded question. He said, “What about entitlements? The Medicare trust fund, in stories that have come out over the weekend, is now going to be depleted by 2024, five years earlier than predicted. Do you think that Republicans ought to buck the public opposition and really move forward to completely change Medicare, turn it into a voucher program where you give seniors...some premium support and — so that they can go out and buy private insurance?”
Notice that his question is not about whether the Ryan plan is a good plan. Gingrich had already praised the plan. The question was, should Republicans buck public opposition and completely change Medicare? Gingrich’s answer was a criticism not of the change, but how it should be implemented. Not because it wasn’t the right thing to do, but because politicians should get the public behind it first. Note what Gingrich said:..................
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/02/does_ryan_now_agree_with_gingrich.html#ixzz1pfBN7AUT
Yes, that is another good example where Newt Gingrich said things the “wrong” way, and gave ammunition to the liberals.
Thanks for that. It’s also more recent. It appears that it isn’t just Santorum who says things that get misrepresented by the media.
Don’t you miss Rick Perry?
In my experience, willful deceit comes easy to CWCT.