{"id":14859,"date":"2012-08-13T17:17:36","date_gmt":"2012-08-13T17:17:36","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2012-08-13T17:17:36","modified_gmt":"2012-08-13T17:17:36","slug":"rich_lowry_demolishes_rachel_maddow_on_obama_s_700_billion_in_medicare_cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2012\/08\/13\/rich_lowry_demolishes_rachel_maddow_on_obama_s_700_billion_in_medicare_cuts\/","title":{"rendered":"Rich Lowry Demolishes Rachel Maddow on Obama\u2019s $700 Billion in Medicare Cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"

RUSH: Now, let\u2019s go to Meet the Press yesterday. Rachel Maddow, the left trumpets her as the smartest, the most able, the most articulate, the most brilliant, shining star pundit on the left. Rachel Maddow was on Meet the Press with Rich Lowry, who is the editor of National Review. And Dan Balz, who\u2019s a Washington Post columnist or reporter, you\u2019ll hear him in the two sound bites coming up. They were talking about Medicare and Medicare cuts, and Lowery starts it all off.<\/p>\n

LOWRY: This whole idea the Obama campaign and the Democrats have been pushing that Romney, because he hasn\u2019t said what deductions and loopholes specifically he\u2019s gonna close — which no presidential campaign ever does — therefore he\u2019s gonna raise taxes on the middle class to pay for lowering rates, is an utterly … a fantasy made out of utter whole cloth.<\/p>\n

MADDOW: (stammering) Paul Ryan was on the Simpson-Bowles Commission and dissented from it because it did raise revenue [taxes]. He dropped out. He blew that up. He blew up the Gang of Six. He got zero Democratic votes for any of his budgets.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

BALZ: Not only because he did not think it went far enough on health care.<\/p>\n

MADDOW: Right. In terms of the cuts.<\/p>\n

LOWRY: And that\u2019s the key thing. Even President Obama, who\u2019s cut $700 billion from Medicare — which I guess you support —<\/p>\n

MADDOW: Which Paul Ryan<\/a> —<\/p>\n

LOWRY: Do you support $700 billion in cuts in Medicare over the next ten years?<\/p>\n

MADDOW: I\u2019m not running for president.<\/p>\n

LOWRY: Do you?<\/p>\n

MADDOW: Paul Ryan\u2019s running for —<\/p>\n

LOWRY: Do you?<\/p>\n

MADDOW: I\u2019m not running for anything.<\/p>\n

LOWRY: Do you? Why can\u2019t you answer?<\/p>\n

MADDOW: Paul Ryan is running —<\/p>\n

LOWRY: Why can\u2019t you answer?<\/p>\n

MADDOW: — for vice president!<\/p>\n

LOWRY: See? You can\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n

RUSH: That\u2019s right. She couldn\u2019t answer. She\u2019s paid for her opinion. She\u2019s paid to have an opinion on this stuff. She\u2019s paid to have a far left-wing, extreme, socialist opinion on it. She says, “I\u2019m not running! I\u2019m not running! Paul Ryan, it\u2019s up to him to explain himself.” No, I\u2019m asking you: Do you support Obama\u2019s $700 billion cuts in Medicare? Not Ryan\u2019s. Not Romney\u2019s. Obama\u2019s! Obama cuts $700 billion from Medicare. Do you support them? “I\u2019m not running, Paul Ryan is! I\u2019m not running, Paul Ryan is!” No, no, no, What do you think? “I\u2019m not running. Paul Ryan\u2019s running.”<\/p>\n

“See? You can\u2019t answer.”<\/p>\n

And it continued. Lowry kept going…<\/p>\n

MADDOW: I\u2019m not running for anything, okay?<\/p>\n

LOWRY: This goes to the key vulnerability.<\/p>\n

MADDOW: Hold on…<\/p>\n

LOWRY: Democrats have cut $700 billion out of Medicare —<\/p>\n

MADDOW: Which the — the Republicans would cut, too.<\/p>\n

LOWRY: — and you won\u2019t, or can\u2019t, defend it.<\/p>\n