Krauthammer and Thomas Agree: Clinton and Obama are Hypocrites on Medicare Reform

On Friday, Newsweek's Evan Thomas said the recent special election in New York's 26th Congressional district proves "demagoguing works" and that former President Bill Clinton is a hypocrite when it comes to Medicare reform.

"Inside Washington" co-panelist Charles Krauthammer agreed saying that President Obama is also a hypocrite on this issue, and that "between now and at least until Election Day, Democrats will do absolutely nothing on entitlements except demagogue it" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

GORDON PETERSON, HOST: Evan, I believe you predicted here that the Democrats would demagogue the Medicare issue, did you not?

EVAN THOMAS, NEWSWEEK: Demagoguing works. That’s, the headline here is “Demagoguing Works.” It’s really a serious thing. It may just be New York 26, but it’s a huge, I mean, to be apocalyptic about this: if the Democratic system cannot figure out what to do about this problem, it’s big trouble for the whole country for a very long time.

PETERSON: Charles, what’s the lesson from this election?

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: Evan's wisdom. Demagoguery works, especially on Medicare, and for Republicans the message is this: you are linked to this Medicare proposal, there is no escaping it. All but four Republican House members supported it, all but five in the Senate. You can’t run away. Either you know how to defend it and you do it, or you are dead.

PETERSON: Okay, as Charles said, less than 24 hours after a Democrat won that election, Senate Democrats forced a symbolic roll call vote of the Medicare plan that had passed the House. It failed in the Senate, five Republicans joining the Democratic majority. And when Paul Ryan and Bill Clinton bumped into each other at the Reagan building, listen to what the former President said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: I told, before you got here probably, I said, I am glad we won this race in New York, but I hope the Democrats don't use it as an excuse to do nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PETERSON: “I hope the Democrats don’t use it as an excuse to do nothing.” Will the Democrats use that as an excuse to do nothing?

THOMAS: I love this coming from Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton in 1995 -- let's roll the tape here -- in 1995, Newt Gingrich actually succeeded in reducing Medicare. What does Bill Clinton do whose political fortunes were really low then? He demagogued Medicare. You go back and look at the ads that they ran. It was all about throwing granny in the snow. It worked, he got reelected President in 1996, and then what did he do? Nothing. He did not lift a finger to do anything about entitlements.

KRAUTHAMMER: Look, Obama has clearly made exactly the same decision that Clinton did in 1995. He did not speak about entitlements in the budget, which, incidentally, went to a vote in the Senate and was defeated 97 to zero this week, to say what contempt even Democrats had for it. He is completely running on the following bet: Americans are against the debt in the abstract but if you touch anything of the entitlements, you’re going to lose. And thus between now and at least until Election Day, Democrats will do absolutely nothing on entitlements except demagogue it.

Imagine that - a Fox News contributor and a Newsweek editor agree that Bill Clinton and Barack Obama are hypocrites.

Maybe the world did come to an end last Saturday.

Of course, the larger issue is that for the most part, with the exception of Thomas, the entire mainstream media are aiding and abetting Democrat lies about Medicare and Ryan's plan to reform it.

As Thomas was 100 percent correct when he spoke about this being almost apocalyptic for our nation, exactly how do his colleagues in the press sleep knowing that they are leading us to financial ruin in order to support a President and a Party that are doing nothing to solve our greatest long-term problem?

More importantly, what will it take for more of Thomas's comrades to see the error in the way in time to actually do something before Medicare goes completely bankrupt in 2024?