Coburn to Gingrich: "Keep Your Mouth Shut" (May 20, 2011)
U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has harsh words for Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich regarding U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) plan for Medicare.

Speaking to ABC News as part of their "Subway Series," Coburn responded to the former House Speaker's comments earlier this week calling Ryan's plan "right-wing social engineering."

"When you have a plan, then you have the right to be critical of what Paul Ryan said," Coburn said.  "If you haven't put a plan on the table, then you need to keep your mouth shut because the problem hasn't gone away.  All you're doing is elevating yourself by being critical of what someone else."

Coburn said Gingrich's remarks are part of a pattern of "shoot-first" behavior that goes back to his time in the U.S. House of Representatives.  In that same interview, Coburn also addressed the upcoming vote to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, ad this week's decision to leave the bipartisan group of Senators known as the "Gang of Six."

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