>>> republicans can run but they can't hide from paul ryan's plan. we've seen angry outbursts
in town hall meetings in state after state. now republicans are resorting to prescreening
questions to avoid the wrath of those who don't want to privatize medicare. the sun
sentinel reports that alan west tried to block unscripted questions last night, but it didn't
work out. [ crowd boos ]
>> did you see what happened to that last woman? she was escorted out by security. no,
no, no. democrats are actually concerned citizens don't get to ask questions in town halls,
that's only for republicans shouting about health care. here's freshman republican dan
webster of florida duking it out with constituents in orlando.
>> and the architect himself, paul ryan, the man whose budget plan set off this ager in
the first place, is getting hit yet again with tough questions.
>> we're taxing our employers, our businesses a lot more than our foreign competitors are
taxing theirs. the international average for the corporate tax rate is 25%. ours is 35%.
hey, come on, everybody, let's -- all right. if you're yelling, i just want to ask you
to leave. it's just not polite to everybody.
>> he also took extra precautions, left out from a different exit. and guess what? we've
got republican back pedals. even house speaker john boehner is walking away from ryan's plan,
saying he's not wedded to it.
>> i'm for it. i'm for it. it's our idea. it's paul's idea. other people have other
ideas. i'm not wedded to one single idea, but i think it's -- we have a plan.
>> oh, i love that. me, did i vote for it? it's paul's idea. i'm not wedded to it. but
did i lead everybody off that cliff? remember, that's the same plan that all but four house
republicans voted for just this month. and now all of a sudden, boehner is not wedded
to it. he led everybody off that cliff. now they're in mid fall and he's asking how did
we get here? that was paul's idea. ahhhh! and the democrats smell blood. that's why
harry reid said today he'll hold a vote, forcing senate republicans to go on the record. now
they've seen the blowback, i wonder whether they will stand on this. it's going to be
an interesting question. here's a guy who doesn't often back pedal. he's known for sticking
with his positions, one of the republicans who voted against paul ryan's plan, texas
republican ron paul. and this week, congressman paul announced he's setting up a presidential
exploratory committee. so congressman paul, why did you vote against the ryan plan?
>> it didn't cut anything. i mean, this noise that i just heard, it's a representation of
the bankruptcy of the country, and to blame republicans is wrong. i think you have to
blame both parties. you know, both parties have driven this country into bankruptcy.
just the noise and the screaming that you just released there is an indication of what's
coming to our streets, because we won't admit what bankruptcy is. sure, i'm concerned about
people losing their medical care and all these problems. but believe me, the further bankruptcy
of this country is going to mean the whole system is going to collapse. that's what a
dollar crisis is all about. so beware, this is only the beginning. and to say that one
side is more guilty, both sides have been spending too much. the democrats spent all
this money on the welfare programs and the republicans spent it all on warfare. the dollar
is crashing, inflation. and believe me, this is only the beginning. but if you don't understand
why, you're in trouble, we're in trouble and you're not helping us figure out how to figure
it out. the middle class gets wiped out when you destroy the dollar and that's what you're
seeing here and the corporations are ripping you off but you're misleading the people by
saying --
>> no, no, no. look, your views on the fed is very interesting. you got some great done
in auditing the fed. but look, that was not the issue here. you said people are angry
about bankruptcy. no, they were very specifically about the possibility of their medicare being
cut. when you look at the national polls --
>> well --
>> hold on now.
>> you've got 76% saying medicare cuts run acceptable. 67% saying medicaid unacceptable
to cut. social security, 77%. doesn't that show you that people are justifiably angry
about this and they don't want to cut?
>> yeah, they are. but they have to understand why. i think you're misleading them. i'm concerned
too, but it's going to get worse if we don't understand this. now, i -- my own personal
opinion is most of this stuff is all unconstitutional, but that's not going to come about because
we don't live in that age. but if we made common sense, i would cut all this militarism
and not cut people off of medicare. but what's happening now, there's an agreement in washington,
you vote for welfare, we vote for military. and it continues and we keep printing this
money. but the problem isn't somebody getting something cut short on medicare, it's the
ending of the program. you have to understand when the dollar goes, there's nothing left.
there's runaway inflation. this was the whole thing about the bernanke hearings today. he
admitted there's inflation coming and there's not a lot he can do except print more money
and the dollar is devalued.
>> i have massive issues with ben bernanke and tim geithner, who are republican leftovers.
so i agree with your points on that. but you're running for president, and you just said medicare
and medicaid and social security are all unconstitutional. if you become president, would you phase those
programs out?
>> well, you have to start where you are. i think it's all going to end, and not because
of me or anybody else, but because of the bankruptcy. but i have an idea of what we
can do. i would cut massively on this overseas spending, hundreds of billions of dollars
and work our way out of it. but no, you can do this. when i go to the college campuses
and get large crowds out, i think do you think you're going to get anything out of medicare
and social security? they say no. so just get out of the program, opt out. restore your
freedom, demand your right to take care of yourself and take care of the elderly who
are dependent and then you could do that.
>> so i just want to get clarity. if you became president, you would transition out of social
security and medicare?
>> well, you know, if i can get the people to agree and congress to agree, yeah, that
would be my program to transition out because this one has failed and you're going to have
riots in the streets, the food riots will come. they're all around the world because
this is a worldwide phenomena. that's why the governments are breaking down around the
world, because prices are going up. because we have the reserve currency. everything is
based on the dollar. other countries are already suffering, and it will come here. so you have
to make a choice. you want to continue this and argue over where the cuts are coming or
are we going to get together and make some cuts? i'm just suggesting the most popular,
political way, even though most republicans disagree, i would cut the military and overseas
spending and quit pretending we can run the world because we can't. then we could have
a transition and the young people know this. they're willing to take care of themselves
and we don't have to throw anybody out in the streets and don't have to get rid of medicare.
but medicare will be destroyed if the two sides don't get together and say, we've got
to get our house in order. you just can't spend your way out and borrow and print money.
that is total destruction to the whole system.
>> i agree with you on militarism, as well. that's why you're a very interesting person
to have in the house of representatives. thank you for your time this evening. appreciate
it.