Both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich gave high marks at the Iowa debate to the bipartisan proposal to revamp Medicare released this week by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
"I endorsed the concept today. It's a big step forward," Gingrich said.
And notably, when presented with a clear opportunity to respond to criticism from Romney that he has a consistency problem when it comes to Medicare and Ryan's proposal, Gingrich decided against direct engagement with the former Bay State governor.
"I'm not in the business of blaming Governor Romney," he said.
Not only did Gingrich steer clear of attacking Romney, he even offered praise for the ex-governor. "Governor Romney deserves some of the credit to help figure out a way to make this thing workable. It's a nice thing to actually have a bipartisan plan in Washington that we could look at in a positive way. And hope would help save Medicare," Gingrich said.
For his own part, Romney stuck to praising the Wyden-Ryan proposal. "Today, Republicans and Democrats came together. With Senator Wyden and Congressman Paul Ryan to say we have a solution to remove the $62 trillion [in unfunded liability]. This is a big day for our kids and grandkids," he said.
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