Updated at 6:03 p.m. ET  Republican Newt Gingrich said today he and House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan are on the same side about Medicare, as the GOP presidential hopeful denounced Democratic "scare tactics" on the health insurance program for seniors.  Gingrich, appearing on CBS' Face the Nation, sought again to distance himself from a comment made on a Sunday morning show last week that the plan by Ryan, R-Wis., to convert the popular Medicare program for seniors into a voucher system amounted to "right-wing social engineering." Gingrich apologized to Ryan last week.  "I probably used unfortunate language," Gingrich said about his May 15 comments on NBC's Meet the Press. Today, he repeated that he supports Ryan's attempts to rein in spending on entitlements such as Medicare, which are among the biggest drivers of the nation's debt.  "Paul Ryan has begun a process," Gingrich said. "... It's not a question about good social engineering. ...We Republicans have to go to the country, we have to explain what we're trying to accomplish to save Medicare. We should listen to the American people and, where necessary, modify it."  Asked today about Gingrich's "right-wing social engineering" comment, Ryan said on NBC that it was "deeply inaccurate" and a "gross mischaracterization" of his budget plan. In his proposal, which the GOP-led House has adopted, Ryan's Medicare plan would affect those people who are now 55 and under.  When they become eligible for Medicare, seniors would then be able to choose from a menu of privately run health insurance programs instead of ones run by the government. The plan has been widely called a voucher system, but Ryan prefers to call it a "premium support" program.  "This is as sensible and gradual as it gets," Ryan said today on Meet the Press. "...We're saving this program. And you cannot deal with this debt crisis ... unless you're serious about entitlement reform."  Gingrich said Democrats tried to scare the American people about Ronald Reagan and did the same thing to him when he was speaker of the House in the 1990s. He said the opposition now being heard to Ryan's plan is, by his count, the third "Medi-scare" campaign.  "It's shameful for Democrats to lie about it," Gingrich said. "We will in fact win that debate for the third time in my lifetime."  Also on CBS, Gingrich sought to make clear that he is opposed to a mandate that all people obtain health insurance, which is at the heart of the health care law signed by President Obama that he and other Republicans want to repeal.  "I do not believe in mandates," Gingrich said, saying he would prefer to give states more power on health care.
Gingrich: Paul Ryan and I are on the same side on Medicare - On Politics: Covering the US Congress, Governors, and the 2010 Election - USATODAY.com