Ryan Confronts Obama on Medicare

Politico reports:

Rep. Paul Ryan directly confronted President Barack Obama over Democratic ridicule of Ryan’s controversial Medicare overhaul plan – while other GOP leaders accused the president for “demagoguery” during a chilly bipartisan White House meeting.

Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican who chairs the House Budget Committee, pressed the president to stop describing his 2012 budget plan, which would replace the government-run system for senior health care with a privately administered program as a “voucher,” according to several Republicans in attendance.

Obama immediately pushed back by accusing the GOP of mischaracterizing his own plans, suggesting they had intentionally distorted his health care reforms, including a gradual $500 billion reduction in Medicare advantage plans, extra insurance often purchased by middle-income seniors.

“We pressed him repeatedly to stop the demagoguery,” House GOP Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told POLITICO after the meeting which lasted over an hour. GOP leaders also asked Obama, who was flanked by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, to “stop saying that we don’t have the best interests of the country at heart,” Cantor added.

“The demagoguery,” Obama pointedly reminded his guests, “comes from both sides.”