david brooks says that great journeys like paul ryan's begin with one greatly. on the opposite side, paul krugman says it is mean-spirited ness. >> we have to deal with entitlements. nobody else is saying it, he said, and he deserves credit for it. on the other hand, it has problems. his goal is to a 18% of gdp revenue. that is not enough. we are going to have to face up to that, but he doesn't. >> it also it does absolutely nothing about the cost of health care. to pick up what evan just said, president reagan function with taxes at 22% rate of gdp, not 18%. we didn't have twice the number of baby boomers, which we do now, going into retirement, using medicare, medicaid, all those things. when you look at those as the numbers, you see is a much more daunting task. the ryan budget would have no money for bridges, no money for kids, no money for most things. >> who benefits most from the ryan plan? >> america at. it prevents us from going off the cliff. it does tax reform. even obama supports it, but he will not propose a plan. it also recapitulates the 1996 a fo

ryan's plan he did it i liked it and he went right at the medicare cuts which democrats believe are a winning issue for them for the republicans to say you're going to reform transform medicare take away that guarantee health care benefits for seniors is a winning issue to be believed because seniors vote may vote in important states like florida where they were tired which is going to be important for the president so he went right at that but i do think you know give the republicans credit they sort of frame this issue paul ryan's budget as frame the issue for the president now he is responding to it a week later so if you think that obama lost out perhaps he entered the game a little bit too late i mean as i imagine the deficit reduction committee that was last year that was in december then republicans came out and they were the first found low this budget in the middle of the whole budget debate you know just for that for the next six months that we were going through i think it's important to point out that the president embraced some of the proposals in the commission's plan

ryan's budget why is that he explained well i think one of the one of the major reasons was paul ryan didn't want to go too far at the beginning he did want to put everything on the table that needed to be cut but there's nothing cut from defense that's true well it was or seventy billion dollars in cuts which basically stops growth of spending that is stopping growth and spending a cut no and there needs to be cuts that there needs to be drastic cuts and one of the reasons that we haven't raised the defense cutting issue is because people don't know how to cut we can actually keep the military at this a current size that is and keep the exact same fire power and save two hundred billion dollars if there was simply a reorganization of the military the way the officer rank the officer corps structured how many officers are just going example we have one hundred flag officers in afghanistan right now that's one hundred colonel and above. officers this isn't a normal expense the amount of fuel that we use we use five it costs five hundred dollars a gallon of gas in afghanistan these all

host: that is paul ryan from last night. jobs will ultimately come back into this discussion after this week, molly hooper? guest: they are always in the discussion, it seems. the one thing the republicans were arguing is that they have to pass something. as one caller said earlier, you can i go week to week. you cannot find your business week to week. that has affected a lot of small businesses. i was talking to one freshman republican, tim griffin from arkansas, saying that it was unclear whether not there would be a deal, i get this text from a small business owner in my district and he said, who do i call about this long-term cr thing? it turns out i have federal contracts and that the federal government's us down, i will not get paid and i will have to lay people off. but the long term cr does is create more certainty as paul ryan said some businesses know they will not have to interrupt government contracts, and again, that is the one thing that republicans have said. now we can focus on spurring economic growth. but o

budget committee paul ryan has been the leader on fiscal issues and that chamber will soon consider his budget plan for the next fiscal year. chairman ryan believes this blueprint could reverse washington's trend of spending beyond its means and passing the debt on to our children and grandchildren, and i believe he's on target. his budget reflects the kind of difficult and politically unpopular choices that lawmakers will need to make in order to do something about our unsustainable spending and debt. and perhaps that's why

guest: let's talk about paul ryan's budget for a minute. the fact that he has gotten people into the debate, in terms of entitlement. a lot of people say they are willing to talk about cutting entitlements. we often do not see a lot of proposals that indicate they will. even with ryan's budget, he is the chair of the committee. we have not seen an endorsement from speaker baker, eric cantor, or kevin mccarthy, any of the republican bigwigs. no one has said, i favor this proposal. they have praised him for bold steps, for good, strong leadership, but they do not say they will vote in favor of the bill. even the freshmen republicans, the ones that want to cut the most, will say they are in favor of a bill that cuts $4 trillion of out of the budget in the next decade. the conversation is easy to start, hard to finish. we will see congressman ryan does, especially with president obama coming out this week talking about entitlement reform. host: they are supposed to vote on this this week, right? guest: there will be voting on the resolution to

. >> what paul ryan did this week starts a national conversation slash debate that runs all the way through the 2012 election. it is a conversation and debate that's not really about the budget, it is about what is the role of government in the 21st century america and how much are you willing to pay to have that role fulfilled. >> if you think about gingrich, he had those revolutionaries behind him, his base, the further i was pea he pull on the

what we need is what is good about paul ryan's plan that they can live with. what is good about chris' plan they can live with. what the country needs to hear from the leaders in washington. we understand how big the problem is. we're willing to lose elections to do what is best for the country. that is what is not happening now. >> chris: senator coburn, if i may interrupt, sir. you are a member of the so-called "gang of six." six bipartisan three democrats, three republicans senators who are trying to come up with your own plan. what are the chances that you are going to be able to come up with a deal when and how will it differ from both obama and ryan? >> well, first of all, i'm not going to go into the details of how it will differ. there is a good chance that we can come up with a bipartisan agreement that people can swallow. nobody is going to like what we come up with. the left isn't going to like it and the right isn't going to like it. that's one thing that is indicator of the best compromise we'll get. i think we'll have a good likelihood we can get

paul ryan put forth this plan. it is not the final plan, but it is a place for us to start having a discussion. host: ollie, pennsylvania. the beat on the democrat's line. caller: hello, grandma. i am a friend, -- grandma, too. i finally made $100,000 in one year, but they are going to tax me, and they are not going to stretch it out over three years. so i will be screwed that way. you said something that i want to respond to. you said you want to give everything to the states with medicare. the states are broke, so that is going to work out fine. why did the insurance companies raise their rates right before this obama's health care comes in? my daughter and her family are struggling. they have to pay $115 a month for insurance. how can you live when you only make -- it is stupid. there is real money to be had. we are talking about ceo compensation and you say that you cannot control it. well, maybe that is true, but you could tax them. you are sure taxing me. everything else, the security, at the airport, all of

you need to know this republicans will likely vote on paul ryan's two thousand and twelve budget this week you know the one the benefits only the top one percent of americans that sells off medicare to for profit health insurance company leeches that hands an enormous tax cut to millionaires and billionaires and sinks or nation deeper into debt and that's not stopping progress is in the house of introducing their own budget one this serves the other ninety nine percent of the american people the progressive twenty twelve budget saves money by ending the wars in iraq and afghanistan it ends taxpayer subsidies to transnational oil corporations it closes tax loopholes. it raises the estate tax on the super rich it ends the bush tax cuts look at driving a stake through the heart of a vampire and adding a surtax on millionaires in america and without actually your money progress is will invest one point four five trillion dollars into job creation green energy and education as well as create public health insurance option unlike the republican budget proposal the congressional budget propo

in paul ryan's world, to heck with that. in fact, the congressional budget office, which some days he likes when they give him answers he likes. but it's an impartial group, bipartisan group and at this point controlled by the rpts, has said under paul ryan -- republicans, has said under paul ryan's world, seniors instead of paying 25% of their income will pay 68% of the cost of their health care. now, how many people -- how many seniors in this country other than the people he walks around with on wall street and at the country club, but other than them, how many of them can afford 68% of their health care costs? what middle-class american can afford that in retirement no matter how prudent they've been in their whole life, no matter how much money they saved in their whole life? very, very, very few. we have a plan to enrich the private health insurance industry, allow them to return to all their ways, recisions, pre-existing conclusions -- inclusions, all that so the government can give them money and he says this will sa

meet him and town hall that you just showed the lou barletta one the paul ryan incident just a few weeks ago all of these events were actually organic i was in south carolina last week attending several town halls and we didn't see that same type of contentious debate but i didn't see any liberal organizers i didn't see any strategy pamphlets handed out telling people to spread out and yell at the member and stand up and sit down to get him off his bearings incidents imitate him as happened during the health as happened in two thousand and ten when you had freedom works americans for prosperity actively paying for dozens of organizers to go out and literally bring birth or it's out all of them just to throw through the whole debate of course by having these kind of fifty second you tube sensational videos some of these are policy questions being asked at these town halls today republican is it is it conceivable the democrats have never done this and haven't even thought about it because they're just you know they just figure hate will just tell the truth and everything will be fine and t

frightened at paul ryan's for example law that makes me laugh valise. that there is actually a phone for money it will not be to medicare we know i'm going to be pushed into rehab and i was like yes if you think that's all you can work on the fanatic then calmly playing back to the people who are in there that you are an adult for they probably have not been that here but i have said nothing in the campaign that i'm going to change that now you're here. for my ass that will destroy. through here and here is going to destroy your right place for you i was. afraid. to take the sax tests that were given says a wealthy two first. like a carrier for you. but have no fear walls three will save the day a far right wing front group created by wall street banks toure's known as the american action network is reportedly helping shills to attend town hall meetings and feed republicans their talking points in the audience in the form of super softball questions i guess republicans are trying to avoid the same fate as democrats during the two thousand and nine fiasc

republicans pass what had they call the paul ryan but jet that calls for $600 billion savings over the next ten years. democrats say it will end medicare as we know it by turn it into a voucher-like program. >> the republicans are making some bad choice decisions in that they end medicare while giving away tens of billions of dollars to big oil. >> today, we will pass paul ryan's budget. i want to say congratulations to paul. this budget will bring more certainty to the american people, show the american people that we are serious about cutting spending. >> the so-called ryan budget is competing with a $4 trillion deficit reduction plan by president obama. the republican version is not expected to survive a vote in the senate. >>> ahead, changes at a b.a.r.t. station help passengers feel more safe. students at a bay area school had their mouths covered with tape. ironically, that's a way of speaking out about a problem >>> the weekend is almost here. you may like weather that comes with it. matt has the final changes to the forecast. >>> latching on and grabbing and not letting loose.

he will be joining paul ryan in the rollout of the 2012 budget. tell us what is in the budget and what is not? guest: the budget is a long-term plan to bring the nation's finances back under control. to understand the situation we are in right now, just think of a family earning $50,000 a year, but it is not spending 50,000, it is spending $86,000 a year and the credit card tab is running up to $320,000. proportionately that is where the country is now. that would be a family in serious financial trouble and a family that would not get out of it overnight. this is a long-term plan to get the spending back under control and ultimately pay off the national debt. host: in a "the wall street journal" representative paul ryan had this op-ed. what is it that is in this budget that you and the chairmen believe would lead the united states on a path to prosperity? guest: it brings spending under control so we are not crowding out private capital that is desperately needed to buy business expansion for jobs, to provide credit for consumers, to make consume

that is what paul ryan has put on the table. president obama, who as you point out was in my district earlier this week, has suggested that we return to the tax levels of the clinton years, and he points out that if you want to look for correlations, the clinton years, at a higher tax rate that exist today, produced the largest expansion in american history, which 25 million new jobs created, an economy that was booming, and a balanced budget four years in a row, and projections that we would have served losses every year for the next 10 years to pay down the federal debt entirely. if you go back to the year 2000, their articles in the wall street journal with people wringing their hands about what we would do without a federal debt. of what happened to the bond market, u.s. treasuries, if we do not have a debt? the next eight years took care of that. host: t anotherweet ? guest: i believe it is an anchor in the u.s. economy that without which you will rattle the real estate markets even further. right now, they're still in reco

paul ryan's proposal will not balance the budget until 2040. there has to be another part of this. 70% of americans, in the nbc news wall street journal poll support raising taxes for people above $250,000. chris: why don't they just do it? >> the point is this -- the president can propose doing that, and it is a splitly popular move for the president to do that among independents. it would also take a big chunk of the deficit. if you let all of the bush tax cuts expire, you would wipe out our debt in less than five years. >> tom coburn, a very conservative republican favors reforming taxes and raising them. if you can bring rates down but still increase your revenues, and the republicans want to bring the rates down -- chris: he's willing to say let's bring up the overall revenues. >> i think he's a real conservative saying we've got to cut the debt. chris: i look at middle class guys like john boehner. most republicans are cloth-coat republicans, they're not rich. yet, they go out there like a religion. what's this fetish you wrote back? >> b

paul ryan is their star. they have touted him as if he is the second coming. they have to have the stage is set for him, and it cannot include the curtain coming down on the government and social security checks held up in the mail. >> he is right, but i want to correct your introduction saying that the tea party wanted big, big cuts. the big the cuts are $30 billion in addition to what democrats want. the budget for this year's 307 at -- 750,000 -- the point is, it is minuscule. isn't saying that we will shut down the government when we have a $1.60 trillion deficit -- as in say that we will shut down the government when we have a $1.60 trillion. republicans need to make a compromise and -- >> shutting down the governmentt really is no joke. it is the kind of thing that would send us right back into recession. not something to be proud of. >> somewhat failing to raise the debt limit. there is not an economist in the world -- >> let me move on to campaign finance. quick word on mitt romney, raised almost $2 million the first few months of the year as he is pre

it also lowers taxes for higher income earners. >> in a sense, the president needed paul ryan's house budget plan to use as a foil for his own argument about what government should do. what government priorities are. he will say that the ryan plan does not match up with american values. >> reporter: president obama will give congressional leaders a preview of the speech later this morning at the white house. republicans have already warned they'll block any plan that raises taxes. >> from my point of view, taxes are not on the table because we don't have a revenue problem. we have a spending problem. >> reporter: the nation is heading for a record budget deficit this year. an estimated $1.5 trillion. that's even with the $38 billion in spending cuts the congressional leaders agreed to last week. president obama could lose some critical political support because of his plan. liberal groups are threatening to sit out the 2012 campaign if the president proposes new cuts to medicare and medicaid. betty? >> joel brown in washington. thank you. >>> the next stage of this ongoing debate in w

>> republicans are self-destructing. >> sean: i talked to paul ryan today. [ talking over each other ] >> sean: he's doing their budget. >> cantor is out there trying to promote a coup against boehner as we speak. there's chaos on the right and the democrats are laughing all the way, literally to the bank. >> sean: had isn't a time for half measures. >> i agree. we gotta do

paul ryan proposed as a national starting point, and not enough for the tea party people, a monumental armageddon you cannot cut that much. and the terms of debate has moved so far, that is now the democrats' position. talking about $30 billion or $60 billion, it is a lot of money. if we are going to have a shut down, we should have a shutdown over something big like >> unlike the c.r. when we have a certain date, the debt ceiling we know is coming but we do not know when. there is a lot of play in when we hit it and when it is. i think it is not a good metric of our obligations and needs to be fixed. this is a classic issue on a partisan vote. this is the majority's responsibility, always has been. and it dealt with splits, of but that no one wants to take, and that tax on to something else. it is an issue that the tea party has grabbed onto in an incredible way. it is about entitlement reform. those are the kinds of things that people are saying that they want. in exchange for a debt limit then there is an opening to actually make something happen. until somebody leaves, and says we

it was drafted by representative paul ryan; he chairs the house budget committee. it limits federal spending, with dramatic cuts in programs like medicare and medicaid. it also slashes nearly $5 trillion from the budget over the next ten years. >> tom: ryan's proposal is stirring up debate not just in washington, but across the country. darren gersh reports. >> reporter: farmers will feel the cuts. so will students and businesses building roads. the house republican budget touches almost everyone in the country. house budget committee chairman paul ryan, the plan's author, says there is no other choice. >> our budget is our plan to tackle this country's greatest problems. if we don't take on these fiscal challenges head on, we will not be able to do this under our own terms. >> reporter: to head off a debt- driven economic crisis, house republicans propose what they call a "path to prosperity." there are no tax increases; instead, deductions and loopholes are cut, bringing the top individual and corporate tax rate down to 25%. there are no new reductions in defense

separately, republican representative paul ryan will release the g.o.p.'s 2012 proposed budget resolution tomorrow. >> susie: that proposal is expected to slash more than $4 trillion over 10 years, including cuts to medicare and medicaid. congressman ryan also says his budget plan will get the economy growing right now. and key to that is generating jobs, especially at small businesses. those firms employ half of all workers in the private sector. they've created 65% of new jobs in the past 15 years. as erika miller reports, that trend looks good again, especially if you talk with one new york company mopping up new business. >> reporter: deluxe bathmats might seem like a hard sell in a soft economy. but minds-in-sync, the company that makes them, has hired 20 new workers this year thanks to strong demand for its products. c.e.o. iain scorgie says for many frugal americans his merchandise is an affordable indulgence. >> they still need to have some pleasures in life, and maybe they couldn't do things that were costing hundreds or thousands that they were d

from the weekly standard paul ryan's america. a look at the proposal put forth by the republican and voted on by the house of representatives. mark joins us from michigan. what do you think, donald trump for president? caller: i don't think so, c-span. here is a little more about money in the white house. the global elite bankers have hijacked the global elite banking system and also hijacked the united states federal government. and they are using the power and technology of that government to benefit themselves. the last thing we need is someone like trump in control of this. host: thanks for the call. next is a caller from modesto, california, democrats line. caller: good morning. the birth certificate is old. he's already president. i have been married to a white guy 29 years. this is ridiculous. another thing. all he does is talk about his money. how is he going to make a good role model, all the times he has been married and all this to be a good role model for this country? these people need to get a life, get off the birt

ryan in next year's election that's right paul ryan is from was. and his challenger is personal where is launching a web site and saw my grandma dot com it's actually granted well with the site is in response to ryan's budget plan privatizers medicare as the site says ryan's plan will end medicare as we know it raising premiums and cutting benefits for more than twenty million seniors across the country ryan is wrong and we cannot improve our seems well done. so it seems it sees traffic the bad house republicans as though their budget isn't bad enough they're breaking their own rules to pass it in the majority republicans constantly criticize democrats for not posting legislation online for seventy two hours for lawmakers to read it so now they're on speaker john boehner pledge that all legislation would meet that seventy two hour requirement at process that promise lasted all of two months publicans passed a bill to defund n.p.r. without proper notice and they did it again two weeks later with another bill and tomorrow they're going to bow to the

i want to take a look at the comments congressman paul ryan made on "face the nation" yesterday. >> in addition to raising the debt limit we want and need to controls. we want cuts in spending accompanying the raising of the debt ceiling and that is what i believe they told of the president. >> the way the treasury secretary of telling it this morning, they just a short of the president they would not play around with the countries credit rating. >> nobody wants to play every a deeply around with a credit rating, no one wants to see defaults happening but we also think it is important to get a handle on the future borrowing as we deal with raising the debt limit. nobody is saying we want to see default. we just one cut and control its spending go forward and that is what we call the white house. >> committee chairman paul ryan speaking yesterday. making the rounds on the sunday talk shows were members of congress, administration officials, talking about things like the debt limit, what is to come with negotiations, the paul ryan plan versus president obama's plan in spending. let's go

and one of the things that happened this week because of the proposals laid down by paul ryan -- gwen: the house budget commilt chairman. >> yes, who's providing much broader changes, is that he is forcing the president's hand, perhaps, to get back involved in a dramatic way and be very specific. don't forget, we're in chapter two of the obama presidency. the first chapter was when he was very much involved in health care reform and so he pulled back. and now he's going into i'm going to lead from the back stuff, whether it's overseas or at home on this. >> one of the things that the republicans are pressing on not just in terms of timetable but in terms of the demand that we do something about the structural deficit long term is they're saying you better get back in the game. and it will be really interesting to see if he does. >> it's interesting how the white house reacted to paul ryan's recommended budget, because they were very careful in what they said. they didn't necessarily attack him in the way that congressional democrats did attack his budget document. and part of that, i

that's a two to one margin against paul ryan's republican budget cuts in the tea party so the question has to be asked right now as the average tea partiers are waking up and realizing their organization is just pushing the agenda billionaires in the cocoa oil business that spawned it when will the republicans wake up. or are they already so corrupted that they'll just drive their party and our nation with it over the cliff into ruin frankly i've been saying the tea party people who are calling my radio program for a long long time you guys really should be with us because we're all looking out for the interests of working americans and saying to my progressive colleagues and friends and listeners viewers would not show up at the next tea party meeting hopeful sign says get us out of nafta get out of it stop the corporate welfare you know cut off the c.e.o. one hundred million dollars a year paychecks things like that and what you're going to find is that a whole lot of these quote tea partiers are basically good working people who just showed up because they know something is fundamen

he wanted the republicans to go first and they did last week, when influential congressman paul ryan released his controversial plan. >> in a sense, the president needed paul ryan's house budget plan to use as a foil for his own argument about what government should do, what government priorities are. he will say that the ryan plan does not match up with american values. >> reporter: over time, the ryan plan would convert medicare from an insurance program for seniors into a less generous subsidy and would put a cap on medicaid-- which serves the poor-- saving about $750 billion over ten years. to the white house, it's an irresistible opportunity: to portray republicans as callous and extreme. >> it places all the burden on the middle-class, on seniors, on the disabled, on people in nursing homes. >> reporter: while giving few details, the white house says the president's plan will trim medicare and medicaid with a scalpel not a machete. and while the ryan plan cuts tax rates for the top bracket from 35% to 25%, the president is expected to repeat his call for the wealthy pay more. b

. >> reporter: but he saved his harshest comments for paul ryan, author of the republican budget bill. >> reporter: white house officials say the president has no regrets about anything he said. as for republicans, they're dismissing the comments as campaign talk. katie? >> couric: chip reid at the white house tonight. chip, thank you. and by the way, congressman ryan will be bob schieffer's guest this sunday on "face the nation." ryan's controversial budget plan passed the republican-controlled house today. congressional correspondent nancy cordes has more on that. >> reporter: the yeas are 235 and the nays are 193. >> reporter: all but four house republicans voted yes on a budget plan the g.o.p. claims will rescue medicare. >> it's time we got serious. >> reporter: and democrats say destroys it. >> ends medicare. throws seniors to the wolves. >> reporter: the plan, devised by house budget chair paul ryan, would cap medicaid, slash domestic spending and convert medicare from government insurance into subsidies seniors could use to buy private coverage. it would also cut the tax rate

they are talking about paul ryan's budget. they're talking about debt and deficit. that is what they are talking about. occasionally, there is another subject but i think the focus is on the economy. >> one of your potential candidates was in florida this past weekend said he will be competing in florida if he gets in the race regardless of what happens with the primary calendar. when you hear that kind of language, what does that say about what is going to happen with florida and the primary calendar? how can you threaten to strip away their delegates if they are saying they don't care? >> you have to understand that i inherit rules as chairman. it is my obligation to enforce the rules of the committee. it would seem any ceo or have any organization, one of their top obligations is to enforce their articles of incorporation. my articles and might bylaws say there are four states that go into the primary window. any other state outside of that can compete after the first tuesday in march. the rules also say that any state that violates those rules of loses half thei

that's a number paul ryan initially suggested for his budget cuts. that's a pretty big chunk of cuts. can your caucus stomach it? >> there are two issues. one is the overall number and then the issue of what is being cut. what the house republicans and paul ryan's budget included was did things like cut education, cut cancer research at nih, they cut food safety inspectors. instead of saying, okay, let's cut some of the big subsidies, tax subsidies for the oil industry or other pork that's in the tax code. i mean, there's all sorts of special interest pork there. so, the question now will be if there's agreement on the number and i'm not saying there is, then how do you go about it? and republicans are going to have to be willing to take on what has been some of their sacred cow, all these special interest tax provisions that help very few people. only the folks at the very top, at the expense of everybody else like education and research and investment in the economy. >> congressman, what incentive have you given speaker boehner to cut a deal with y

ryan's budget plans will dig the country out of its debt there's another budget plan that eliminates our deficit and actually creates a surplus in just an year break down the numbers of the people plus plus if you ever wonder who's behind the wheel of the plan to run over unionized workers here's a hint it's the same group that gave michigan governor rick snyder the idea to fire his state's alike this visuals and his city staff and our union workers to blame for america's debt i'll talk to the author who wrote it in higher books backing that up and. there's a lot of talk about budget plans around capitol hill these days most of that talk is focus on two budget plans in particular president obama's was trimming down the deficit by repealing the bush tax cuts cutting and also tragically cutting spending on critical government services that help the poor and the republicans budget written by paul ryan that cuts down the deficit sora by privatizing medicare cutting even more government programs that help the poor and somehow includes another massive tax cut for millionaires and billionai

. >> reporter: lester, paul ryan and republicans in the house would get there in their debt reduction plan by making what are already controversial changes to medicare. democrats are calling it a privatization scheme. one thing everyone can agree on, unless fundamental changes are made to those entitlement programs, medicare and medicaid, that reduction will not happen. lester? >> mike, thanks. for more we're joined by david gregory, moderator of "meet the press." david, good evening to you. seeing the president celebrating the deal by greeting tourists today makes you wonder if you weren't watching the first campaign stop of his re-election campaign. does the white house see the president as the ultimate winner in this showdown? >> well, they may, but i think it's a little early to start crowning any winners out of a situation that leaves a lot of americans disgusted with washington. and that's on all sides of this. the president was at the lincoln memorial talking about cooperation between republicans and democrats in congress. i don't think this is really a great model of cooperati

>> reporter: congressman paul ryan's town meetings in this mostly rural district are normally intimate affairs... >> unfortunately, they are at capacity. >> reporter: ...but this week, constituents from twin lakes to kenosha are being turned away as capacity crowds inside come to praise or condemn the plan ryan likes to call "the path to prosperity." >> your plan screws the next two generations. >> reporter: ryan, who chairs the house budget committee, is trying to convince these mostly older audiences that medicare for future generations should be replaced with subsidies that would partly pay for private insurance. >> we're going over $10 trillion deeper in the hole every year if we don't do something to fix this situation. >> reporter: and he's trying to make an even harder sell; that in an era of growing income disparity, taxes for corporations and wealthy americans should be lowered. >> we do tax the top. it's... ( audience boos ) >> reporter: it's a clash playing out in town meetings across the country this week. >> not one senior citizen is harmed by this budget. >> what? >> you'

paul ryan did include some of that in the proposal he released. giving vouchers for medicare is essentially transferring thousands of dollars from the most normal people -- that is not who we are in this country. there is enough if we take a different course and increase taxes on those that can afford to pay. host: the latest poll numbers are seven points below where they were in the most recent other poll, nearly matching the worst level of his presidency, have fisher message appeal to independents, which president obama needs to win the election? guest: they are hungry for something that speaks to the crisis they see in the country. we had the worst financial crisis in the country in 70 years. nobody went to jail. we had a regulatory reform package that was not tough enough. foreclosures and unemployment continue to increase. what is the other path? a robust alternative, investing in jobs in this country, that would be the winning recipe for independents. host: santa barbara, california. caller: jesse jackson jr. commented on the eye patch from

>> no. >> the president took some hard swipes at paul ryan's plans. you are taking swipes at him wanting to raise taxes. we talk to alan simpson briefly after the speech and he said to pray for the gang of six. [laughter] i know you had a lot of issues with balsam cent. that was the senator simpson statement. is he right? >> i pray for many of my colleagues. [laughter] -- the deficit is the symptom and spending is the disease. the president talked about shared sacrifice. the problem is on the spending side. we know that in the postwar era, revenues have averaged 18.5% of gdp. they have been temporarily down through the recession which has been exacerbated by the president's policies. in all the models, revenue comes back and marginally increases beyond that point. spending goes from its historic 20% of gdp to 40% over the next generation. you would have to double taxes on the next generation, crush the economy, crushed jobs and frankly lose the american dream if you define that as your children having greater opportunities in a higher standard of livi

congressman paul ryan, the author of that blueprint, calls it a path to prosperity. a senator: would you yield for a question? mr. schumer: i would be happy to yield? mr. inhofe: would the senator agree that at the conclusion of the senator's remarks that i be recognized as if in morning business for up to 30 minutes? mr. schumer: mr. president, i would move that immediately after i finish speaking, that senator -- we had a speaker who was going to go after you did. could you limit it to 15 minutes? mr. inhofe: no, sir, i could not. i have got to have 30 minutes. the floor has been pretty empty today. mr. schumer: okay. i ask unanimous consent that immediately after i finish, senator inhofe be recognized for up to 30 minutes, and then senator franken be recognized immediately after senator inhofe. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: so, mr. president, just resuming my remarks, paul ryan, the author of that blueprint, called it the path to prosperity. mr. president, it may be a path to austerity, but it is hardly a path to prosperity. nonetheless, w

. >> reporter: for paul ryan, this is not just about government spending. it's a life or death struggle for the u.s. economy. >> the nation's fiscal trajectory is simply not sustainable. >> reporter: ryan, who once worked as a waiter to make ends meet, is 41 and has three kids. the scope of his plan is staggering. consider that while the president and republicans are on the verge of shutting the government down over less than $61 billion in spending cuts, ryan is calling for $6.2 trillion in cuts over the next ten years. what do you say to nervous republicans who say this is a political kamikaze mission? you've just given democrats a big target that may ultimately cost republicans their majority here? >> you know, none of them say that. just kidding. this is not a budget. this is a cause. and look, we can all go do something else with our lives. we're not just here so we get this lapel pin that says we're a member of congress. we are here to try to fix this country's problems. if that means we are giving our political adversaries a political weapon to use a