Cravaack thinks ending Medicare is a moderate position

Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN/NH) wants voters living in Minnesota's Eighth District to believe that he is a moderate. I'm not sure how this is going over with the Tea Party. In 2010 he ran as a Tea Party Republican. Cravaack points to all his votes where he broke with the Republican's in the House.

But would a moderate support Paul Ryan's plan to end Medicare?

Democrats have promised to tie Cravaack to the most controversial votes he's taken during his year and a half in Congress, especially those in favor of the Paul Ryan-proposed budget plan that would change Medicare to, in part, a voucher program.

But Cravaack is ready to make a case for the Ryan plan. Unprompted, he launched into a full-throated defense of the Ryan bill and the failures of Democrats to work on the issue in the past.

"The only plan that has been presented before Congress is the U.S. House plan. And that is going to preserve Medicare," he said. "Medicare is bankrupt. It is bankrupt. What will happen then is we'll have to go to austerity measures, just like you're seeing in Europe. To do nothing is a dereliction of duty."

(Since we're talking about Paul Ryan, Cravaack said he was "truly impressed" with Mitt Romney's choice of running mates. "There's a few members of Congress that are truly the go-to guys, whether you're Republican or Democrat, and Paul Ryan is one of those go-to guys," Cravaack said.)

Furthermore, Cravaack is lying that Medicare is bankrupt. Medicare is solvent until 2024, possibly longer now that the Bush/GOP gift to Big Pharma (Medicare Part D) was eliminated as part of Obamacare.