DCCC chairman: Dems will take back House over Ryan budget

The campaign chief for House Democrats vowed Friday that his party would take back the lower chamber over Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) budget proposal. 

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chairman Steve Israel (N.Y.) said his party would flip the script on Republicans, who attacked Democrats for going after Medicare in the 2010 healthcare reform law.

"All we have to do is tell the truth about them. And the truth is in today's vote to terminate the Medicare guaranteed benefit. All we have to do is tell the truth and we'll win the House back," he said on ABC's "Top Line" webcast. 

The comment indicates the budget proposal will serve as a defining issue on the campaign trail in 2012. 

The House passed Ryan's budget on Friday 235-193, with only four Republicans voting against the plan, but the plan is unlikely to advance past the Democratic-controlled Senate. 

Democrats, who are hungry to win back the House after losing their majority in 2010, have railed against the Ryan budget for making major changes to Medicare and Medicaid, calling it an effort to privatize the popular programs.

Republicans have said that their plan is not a privatization effort and is necessary to keep the programs solvent. The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) called Israel's claim "shameless."

"Israel may be very confident of his goal to make Nancy Pelosi the Speaker again, but the nightmare of her job-destroying reign in Washington is still haunting middle-class families who are determined to never see her in power again," NRCC spokesman Paul Lindsey said.

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