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Ryan Budget Would Reshape Medicare, Medicaid & Tax Code

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Republican Vice Presidential candidate, current House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., introduces his controversial "Path to Prosperity" budget recommendations, on Capitol Hill in Washington in 2011. (AP)
Republican Vice Presidential candidate, current House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., introduces his controversial "Path to Prosperity" budget recommendations, on Capitol Hill in Washington in 2011. (AP)

The flashpoint of the moment in the presidential campaign is who cuts Medicare more: President Obama, Mitt Romney or his vice presidential pick, Congressman Paul Ryan.

The Obama campaign says Ryan, in his latest budget proposal, would "end Medicare as we know it" by turning Medicare into a voucher program where seniors would receive a capped amount of money and if their health care costs more, they'd have to pay out of pocket.

In response, the Romney campaign is turning the tables, going on the offense, saying it's President Obama who is cutting $700 billion dollars from Medicare and current beneficiaries to pay for health care reform that has come to be known as Obamacare.

But the Ryan budget actually includes those same $700 billion dollars in Medicare cuts that Ryan is slamming Obama for, and Mitt Romney has vowed to restore that money.

David Lauter, Washington bureau chief for The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune writes that Ryan's proposed budget "would reshape American government, achieving long-sought conservative goals and reversing an 80-year path of larger, more expensive federal programs."

Guest:

  • David Lauter, Washington bureau chief for The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune

This segment aired on August 15, 2012.

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