| 00:00:00 | Benefi for everyone
else and maybe gives democrats a
campaign gift.
|
| 00:00:07 | >> The main act is the ryan
budget.
|
| 00:00:10 | >> The concurrent resolution is
agreed to.
|
| 00:00:12 | >> First, only one of them owned
it.
|
| 00:00:14 | Now they all do.
|
| 00:00:15 | House republicans vote an
overwhelming numbers for the tea
party inspired medicare killing
government slashing paul ryan
budget.
|
| 00:00:24 | >> Something happened last
november and the american people
gave the keys to this town to
the republicans.
|
| 00:00:30 | >> Do you realize that your
leadership is asking you to cast
a vote today to abolish medicare
as we know it?
|
| 00:00:38 | >> Democrats are saying this is
crazy.
|
| 00:00:44 | >> It's the same old agenda,
this time on steroids.
|
| 00:00:47 | This plan will completely change
the structure.
|
| 00:00:50 | >> That ends medicare for senior
citizens.
|
| 00:00:53 | >> Substantial changes in
medicare.
|
| 00:00:56 | >> Republicans have a new hero.
|
| 00:00:57 | Democrats have a new target.
|
| 00:00:59 | >> Congressman ryan's plan.
|
| 00:01:01 | >> His approach.
|
| 00:01:03 | >> His budget --
>> yes, paul ryan's presentation
was thrilling.
|
| 00:01:07 | >> This is the same guy who
voted for two wars, bush tax
cuts and prescription drug bill
but wasn't paid for it.
|
| 00:01:13 | >> His response to the repeal
efforts, bring it.
|
| 00:01:16 | >> You want to repeal health
care, go at it.
|
| 00:01:19 | >> I think the president feels
very comfortable about the
framing of this debate going
forward.
|
| 00:01:24 | >> President obama is already
using his fights with
republicans in his campaign.
|
| 00:01:29 | >> He's owning it.
|
| 00:01:30 | >> Really relishing the upcoming
challenges.
|
| 00:01:34 | >> Taking it from the steps of
the recession to the door step
of recovery.
|
| 00:01:37 | >> Bring it I'm strong, I love
that guy.
|
| 00:01:41 | >> He got a little tougher and
candid off camera.
|
| 00:01:45 | >> He says bring it and sounds
feisty and tough.
|
| 00:01:48 | >> The president is even using
donald trump's favorite topic.
|
| 00:01:52 | >> I mean what's more likely he
was born here or his war hero
grandfather con spirped to plant
evidence in a honolulu
newspaper.
|
| 00:02:03 | >> I wasn't born here.
|
| 00:02:04 | I grew up in chicago.
|
| 00:02:06 | I was born in hawaii.
|
| 00:02:13 | >> Good evening from new york
today, congressman paul ryan's
budgets plan became the house
republican budget plan.
|
| 00:02:20 | The house voted to adopt ryan's
2012 budget proposal, which
2 trillion in
spending over the next ten
years.
|
| 00:02:29 | All but four republicans voted
yes and every democrat casting
the easiest vote of their career
voted no.
|
| 00:02:37 | Just before the vote, minority
leader nancy pelosi who should
be an expert on the price of
tough votes, went to the floor
and offered this warning to
republicans.
|
| 00:02:49 | >> I want to say to my
republican colleagues, do you
realize that your leadership is
asking you to cast a vote today
to abolish medicare as we know
it?
|
| 00:03:00 | Because that is the vote that we
have.
|
| 00:03:04 | This is not about an issue.
|
| 00:03:06 | This is about a value.
|
| 00:03:08 | This is about an ethic.
|
| 00:03:10 | Medicare is a core value of our
social compact with the american
people.
|
| 00:03:16 | >> And then, 235 republicans
cast that vote and the
congressional election campaign
was on.
|
| 00:03:26 | >> This republican budget stops
medicare.
|
| 00:03:28 | It puts an end to medicare.
|
| 00:03:30 | >> They end medicare as you know
it.
|
| 00:03:32 | As we all know it.
|
| 00:03:34 | >> The republican plan destroys
medicare.
|
| 00:03:36 | >> They were willing to break
the social contract in our
country.
|
| 00:03:40 | >> This was wrong, wrong, wrong.
|
| 00:03:41 | And I'm glad to be on the right
side of history.
|
| 00:03:44 | >> Speaker boehner reminded the
members as they were about to
run off for two weeks recess,
that there is much more
governing to be done.
|
| 00:03:54 | >> So president asked congress
to raised the debt limit without
addressing washington's spending
problem.
|
| 00:04:00 | The president wants a clean
bill.
|
| 00:04:03 | And the american people will not
tolerate it.
|
| 00:04:07 | Now, let me be clear, there will
be no debt limit increase,
unless it's accompanied by
serious spending cuts and real
budget reform.
|
| 00:04:18 | >> Congressman chris van holen,
the ranking member accurately
countered that debt ceiling
argument with the fact that the
debt ceiling would be a
recurring problem even if the
republican plan became law.
|
| 00:04:31 | >> I would point out that even
if we adopt the republican
budget, we're going to have to
lift the debt ceiling for years
and years to come.
|
| 00:04:42 | Let's not play russian roulette
with the united states
government.
|
| 00:04:46 | >> Joining me now is democratic
congressman peter welsh who
represents the one and only
congressional district of
vermont.
|
| 00:04:53 | Thank you very much for joining
us tonight, congressman.
|
| 00:04:56 | >> Good to be here.
|
| 00:04:57 | >> Congressman, the democrats
are saying the republicans voted
to end medicare.
|
| 00:05:01 | Republicans say no, no, no they
voted to reform and to save
medicare.
|
| 00:05:07 | So I want to read you something
from the referee.
|
| 00:05:09 | I want to read you a description
of what the congressional budget
office says would happen if the
republican plan b became law,
the medicare plan.
|
| 00:05:20 | People who turn 65 in 2022 or
later years and disability
insurance beneficiaries who
become eligible in 2022 or
later, would not enroll in the
current medicare program.
|
| 00:05:36 | But instead would be entitled to
a premium support payment to
help them purchase private
insurance.
|
| 00:05:43 | That reads to me, congressman,
from cbo that these people voted
to end medicare.
|
| 00:05:50 | >> Well, they did.
|
| 00:05:52 | That's exactly what it is.
|
| 00:05:54 | You know, congressman ryan is
saying the cost of medicare is
too much and I think the
democrats have to acknowledge
that the cost of health care,
not just medicare, is too much
and that's why we need to reform
the way we deliver health care.
|
| 00:06:05 | But medicare has been successful
because it's an entitlement and
successful because seniors are
able to select their doctor and
go to the hospital of their
choice and it really is a one
payer.
|
| 00:06:18 | They pay for this throughout
their lives as we all do.
|
| 00:06:22 | And then when they need it, they
know it's there.
|
| 00:06:23 | What the ryan proposal does, is
basically turn that into a
private insurance program.
|
| 00:06:30 | All of the hassles that all of
us experience who are trying to
deal with private insurance,
those would now become the
burden of anyone who's 55 and
becomes 65 in 2022.
|
| 00:06:40 | It does take away the government
sponsored program of medicare
and turn it over to you, each of
us individually, to go buy
health insurance in the private
market and what the cbo also
said, it would cost ever seen
yor $6,000 more a year.
|
| 00:06:58 | It would -- and end medicare as
we know it.
|
| 00:07:01 | >> It would cost those seniors
$6,000 a year if they could
afford a policy that fit them
and fit their conditions and fit
their situations.
|
| 00:07:08 | There could be many situations
where people fall through the
cracks and cannot afford the
policy that may or may not exist
for them out there.
|
| 00:07:17 | >> Well, see, that's true.
|
| 00:07:18 | And also, you know, as you know,
the republicans also abolished
in the house the health care
bill that was passed and
sponsored by president obama.
|
| 00:07:28 | That had in it some very
important insurance reforms so
that if you have a preexisting
condition you can still buy
insurance.
|
| 00:07:35 | So can you imagine what it would
be like for somebody 55 and most
of us by the time we're 55 have
some condition that's going to
need medical attention, that an
insurance company could charge
us whatever they wanted or deny
us coverage all together.
|
| 00:07:50 | That's what awaits us with the
ryan approach on medicare.
|
| 00:07:55 | It's very, very dangerous
actually.
|
| 00:07:57 | >> You're in the house today
when this vote is being cast.
|
| 00:07:59 | Frequently you can get a feel
for what's really going on on
the other side of the aisle.
|
| 00:08:04 | They knew this was an academic
vote, that this was just a
symbolic vote, that they weren't
voting on something that was
going to become law and it is a
politically risky vote.
|
| 00:08:13 | Everything that we know about
the politics of medicare, just
about no one in that building
prior to this year, ever wanted
to cast a vote that ended
medicare the way this vote did.
|
| 00:08:23 | Do you sense that there was some
real political fear on the
republican side of the aisle
today of what they have brought
on themselves in their
re-election campaigns by voting
this way?
|
| 00:08:35 | >> I actually didn't.
|
| 00:08:36 | It hasn't registered yet because
this is an ab straks, I want to
give him some credit, he was
specific and concrete and laid
something down that's real.
|
| 00:08:49 | It's when you examine it, you
ask yourself, does this make any
sense?
|
| 00:08:53 | He did something, put a real
plan down.
|
| 00:08:55 | What you're seeing is there's an
ideology that's at work with the
republican plan.
|
| 00:09:01 | That is that revenues are always
bad and a tax cut is always good
and it's better to cut rather
than to invest.
|
| 00:09:08 | And if you come at what is a
very challenging fiscal
situation as an ideologue cal
battle to be one as opposed to a
practical problem to be solved,
you're going to have people
marching over the cliff and
doing things like end medicare,
when that is going to have i
think very bitter political
consequences for them.
|
| 00:09:30 | But also wouldn't work.
|
| 00:09:31 | By the way, in the ryan plan,
the money that he saves by
turning this over to the
insurance companies and putting
a higher burden on seniors, he
gives to high income individuals
in the form of tax cuts,
doubling down on the bush tax
cuts at the high end.
|
| 00:09:49 | And even after doing that, this
is the major flaw of the ryan
plan, we would explode the debt
from 15 or so trillion dollars,
to $23 trillion in the next ten
years.
|
| 00:10:02 | That's under the ryan plan.
|
| 00:10:04 | >> Congressman peter welch,
thank you very much for joining
us tonight.
|
| 00:10:09 | >> Thank you.
|
| 00:10:10 | Inchts joining me now is
"washington post" columnist e.j.
|
| 00:10:15 | Deon.
|
| 00:10:15 | Thank you for joining me
tonight.
|
| 00:10:17 | >> Good to be with you.
|
| 00:10:17 | >> Let me read you something
harry reid said about this.
|
| 00:10:20 | The republican plan to end
medicare and immediately raise
prescription drug costs for
seniors in order to pay for
millionaire tax breaks will
never pass the senate.
|
| 00:10:29 | The fact that it passed the
house shows just how far to the
right the tea party has dragged
the republican party.
|
| 00:10:36 | That's pretty good political
analysis of what happened in the
house, isn't it?
|
| 00:10:40 | >> I think that's true.
|
| 00:10:41 | I mean, I think passing this
budget could be to be the
republicans what letting babe
ruth go was for my dear boston
red sox.
|
| 00:10:51 | Maybe the curse won't last for
86 years, but I think
substantive and politically this
is a big mistake.
|
| 00:10:57 | The other thing is, almost
nothing ever unites democrats,
yet this budget did it.
|
| 00:11:04 | But I'm actually feeling
optimistic about the long term
of solving the budget problem
much more than I was a couple
weeks ago.
|
| 00:11:12 | Solving the budget crisis is not
a big technical problem.
|
| 00:11:15 | It's about some moral and
philosophical choices.
|
| 00:11:20 | Make deep cuts in programs or
are you willing to raise taxes?
|
| 00:11:25 | Finally we're having that
argument.
|
| 00:11:28 | Congressman ryan put out the
budget and president obama took
his own side in the argument and
made a forceful case for the
alternative which voflz raising
taxes to prevent the cuts.
|
| 00:11:38 | I think that's a great thing.
|
| 00:11:40 | >> The thing that complicates
the situation is the debt
ceiling and john boehner has
referenced it and his insistence
has been that we will not pass a
debt ceiling increase without
some significant commitment to
deficit reduction and debt
reduction going forward.
|
| 00:11:58 | Kent conrad explained, they
don't expect to be able to put a
bill together that would do that
by the time they raise the debt
ceiling, but some kind of
agreement would be in place that
everyone felt there was
something they could work with
going forward.
|
| 00:12:14 | What do you think of odds are of
that coming together?
|
| 00:12:16 | It has to come together in the
next seven or eight weeks at the
latest.
|
| 00:12:20 | >> I think and I hope that we're
not going to play russian
roulette with the debt ceiling
or have a countdown clock on
going broke or on sort of
walking away from our debts.
|
| 00:12:32 | I think that what they are
probably going to try to find is
some -- they are going to maybe
take the trigger mechanism,
president obama suggested and
put some kind of trigger,
probably not a strong one to say
if we don't hit balance by a
certain point, certain things
happen automatically.
|
| 00:12:50 | It would be a huge mistake for
the country to mess around with
the debt ceiling.
|
| 00:12:55 | I don't think john boehner wants
to do it and I hope he's not
forced to do it.
|
| 00:12:59 | >> He clearly doesn't want to do
it but it also clearly seems to
have new members and possibly
new senators like rand paul who
do not understand it and don't
understand the risk they are
dealing with in even talking
about maybe we won't raise the
debt ceiling, what that can do
to markets around the world.
|
| 00:13:19 | We've never seen this happen
before.
|
| 00:13:22 | Debt ceilings pass clean or
tagged on to a bill already
moving.
|
| 00:13:25 | They've never been used as
something that will carry some
other giant piece of legislation
like this.
|
| 00:13:31 | >> Right, usually the opposition
party votes against it, the
party in power votes for it.
|
| 00:13:37 | But or you have some kind of
arrangement.
|
| 00:13:39 | You're right.
|
| 00:13:40 | I think they may listen to some
of the folks on wall seet
saying please don't do this.
|
| 00:13:49 | But I think the catastrophe has
to be clear to them.
|
| 00:13:53 | When the cbo report came out and
showed these 38 billion that
these cuts aren't anything close
to that, that may increase
pressure from the right to play
games with this.
|
| 00:14:03 | There is a real danger here.
|
| 00:14:05 | , when you see this new
group of politicians controlling
a new style of dialogue on
something like the politics of
medicare.
|
| 00:14:13 | We are working on the old models
that says, if you do this, vote
the way they voted today, then
you cannot survive this
politically as a party.
|
| 00:14:22 | Is there any possibility that
something has changed in that
10% of the electorate that
decides, that swing voter, that
the attitude in there somewhere
has changed and they are open to
the idea of dismantling the
program like medicare?
|
| 00:14:38 | >> I don't think so.
|
| 00:14:41 | And I think that the republicans
want a not only victory but in
the house, a really big victory.
|
| 00:14:48 | And I think there's a tendency
when you win a victory like
that, democrats do it too, is to
say the people are with us.
|
| 00:14:55 | They really moved the other way.
|
| 00:14:56 | Heck, there were a lot of
liberals who thought that 2008
was the end of conservatism.
|
| 00:15:04 | That didn't quite pan out.
|
| 00:15:05 | I think the temptation on the
republican side is to think the
country has moved a whole lot
more to the right than it has.
|
| 00:15:11 | dionne, thank you for
joining me.
|
| 00:15:15 | >> Good to be with you.
|
| 00:15:16 | >> Still to come, president
obama says congressman paul ryan
isn't on the level.
|
| 00:15:21 | You weren't supposed to know
that he said it.
|
| 00:15:23 | And what does the arizona bill
requiring proof of citizenship
to be on a ballot have to do
with donald trump?
|
| 00:15:30 | A lot.
|
| 00:15:31 | That's coming up.
|
| 00:17:47 | >>> Still to come, donald
trump's lies about the birth
certificate drive legislators to
take action, the state is the
first to pass a bill requiring
proof of citizenship to be on a
ballot.
|
| 00:17:58 | And we found out a little more
|
