Mitt Romney:

I guess you think I made the right decision, the right choice?

 

Frederica Freyberg:

A big, friendly crowd affirmed Mitt Romney's VP pick in Paul Ryan's backyard, the Republican stronghold of Waukesha, Wisconsin.

 

Paul Ryan:

It is good to be home.

 

Frederica Freyberg:

Ryan quickly moved from basking in a moving welcome, to presidential campaign comparisons.  

Paul Ryan:

We can put ourselves on the path toward a welfare state with a debt crisis, where we now see the government's role as not promoting equal opportunity and protecting our natural rights, but giving us new government-granted rights; putting the government in charge, running our society, driving our economy, picking winners and losers, equalizing the outcomes.

 

Frederica Freyberg:

Or alternatively, his own path to prosperity, the title of Ryan's budget plan.

 

Mitt Romney:

We're going to do something that Paul has been fight to go do for years now. When we have Republicans in the house and senate, when we have the White House, we're going to finally cut federal spending, stop the borrowing and get America on track to a balanced budget.

 

Gwen Moore:

They gut every single thing in the social contract so that they can give corporate tax-cuts, tax-cuts to the wealthy–

 

Frederica Freyberg:

Wisconsin Democrats, like Milwaukee congresswoman Gwen Moore, are lashing out at the so-called comeback team of Romney and Ryan, because the path to posterity budget includes changes to Medicare that would turn it from a defined benefit plan to a premium support plan, meaning seniors would get a voucher to purchase insurance. What the voucher amount doesn't cover, the Medicare patient must pay. And the out-of-pocket costs could go up.

 

Gwen Moore:

You can't just cut, cut, cut from the middle class, cut from seniors, cut from the infirm. It cuts, it cuts, drives us into austerity. We've seen that played out in Europe. What it means is that you all will have no money to shop at Target.

 

Frederica Freyberg:

But Medicare is serious stuff in presidential politics, and with Paul Ryan on the ticket, it's now sharpened into the focal point.

 

Reince Priebus:

The only person in this country that has blood on his hands in regard to Medicare is Barack Obama. He's the one that took $700 billion out of Medicare to fund Obamacare for European health care. The only guy that's gutting Medicare and is going to cause Medicare to go broke is Barack Obama.

 

Frederica Freyberg:

The Affordable Care Act does slow the growth of spending in Medicare, but ironically, in addition to his other changes,  Paul Ryan's budget includes President Obama's $700 million cut to the projected growth of the program. Given the politics of Medicare, newly named Paul Ryan's controversial plans for the program make for a delicate dance at the very top of the ticket.