Gingrich Was Right About Ryan Plan

Written by Jeb Golinkin on Friday June 24, 2011

The elderly and large numbers of independents oppose the Ryan Plan, meaning GOP presidential hopefuls touting its proposals could be driven out of contention.

Americans want the deficit reduced, but they aren’t so keen on Paul Ryan’s medicare plan. A new Bloomberg Poll finds that Americans by a 57 percent to 34 percent margin say that they will be individually worse off if Paul Ryan’s Medicare Plan became the law.

The poll reveals trends that pose particular problems for GOP presidential candidates. On one hand, voters consistently say they want the deficit addressed. However the poll also show that 58 percent of independent voters said they would be worse off under the Ryan Plan.

This is a very serious problem: the Ryan budget plan specifically lays out a way to draw down the nation’s debt. But if the elderly and large numbers of independents both oppose the plan strongly, supporting the Ryan plan could singlehandedly drive a candidate out of contention.

What is perhaps most ironic about the results of this poll is that it shows that Newt Gingrich was right about the Ryan plan.

If you remember, Gingrich took heat for his Meet the Press statement, “What you want to have is a system where people voluntarily migrate to better outcomes, better solutions, better options, not one where you suddenly impose it. I am against Obamacare imposing radical change, and I would be against a conservative imposing radical change.”

Gingrich was compelled to apologize. But it turns out Gingrich hit the nail right on the head: Americans do think Ryan’s plan is radical.

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