DNC head: Paul Ryan would ‘shred’ safety net

The chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) charged Sunday that Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Mitt Romney’s new running mate, wants to “shred” entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), a member of the House Budget Committee that Ryan chairs, said that the Wisconsin Republican’s Medicare proposals would undo a promise that government made to seniors almost a half century ago. 

{mosads}“Paul Ryan has embraced an extremist proposal,” Wasserman Schultz said on “Fox News Sunday.”

The Florida Democrat also said that, while Ryan made changes to his Medicare proposal in his most recent budget and has teamed up with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) on the issue, Ryan could also be judged by his proposals from past years.

Democrats, who appear eager to run against the budget frameworks spearheaded by Ryan, slammed the budget the House passed in 2011 for turning Medicare into a voucher-like program. 

Under Ryan’s most recent proposal, seniors could choose to stay in traditional Medicare, but some of the program’s funding would be shifted into private insurance subsidies. 

“That’s still a proposal that Paul Ryan put on the table, that we actually voted on, that he has championed,” Wasserman Schultz said.