Although the the new Medicare reform unveiled Thursday by Paul Ryan and Democratic senator Ron Wyden has received some criticism from conservatives in the press, Ryan says he hasn’t heard any objections from his Republican colleagues–quite the opposite, in fact. “I’ve briefed many members on this, and all, to a person, are very excited about it,” Ryan told THE WEEKLY STANDARD Thursday afternoon. “I got so many compliments from members just yesterday on the [House] floor for advancing this dialogue, not running away from this issue, grabbing this issue, and showing that this issue is moving into the mainstream,” Ryan said. “I was encouraged to do this in the beginning of the budget [discussions] by conservatives.”
According to Ryan, conservative stalwart Jeb Hensarling of Texas and other Republicans on the supercommittee supported the exact same framework proposed in Wyden-Ryan plan, but Democrats on the panel wouldn’t go along with it. “Most of our [Republican presidential] candidates are already running on this framework,” Ryan pointed out. GOP frontrunners Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney effusively praised the plan during Thursday night’s debate.
