Democratic senator says new Ryan Medicare plan is 'lipstick on the pig'

Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) new Medicare plan is “lipstick on the pig,” says Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

Brown is the latest Democrat to pile on with criticism of the Medicare reform plan Ryan introduced Thursday with Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). Americans United for Change has also used the “lipstick on a pig” line.

Brown said the new plan is basically the same as a proposal Ryan previously rolled out that Democrats argue would essentially turn Medicare into a voucher system.

“This is dressed up and looks a little pretty — a little lipstick on the pig here, but it really is not much different than Ryan No. 1,” Brown said Friday on the Bill Press radio show. “Ryan gets this reputation as being this thinker that's got new ideas. It's just the same recycled privatization stuff that Gingrich did in 1995 with Medicare.”

The Ryan-Wyden proposal would let older Americans pick between Medicare as it is now or a private insurance subsidy.

Democrats and the White House have fiercely criticized the plan since its release. They previously had targeted Ryan’s earlier Medicare plan included in the House GOP’s budget proposal.

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