Romneycare and Medicare cuts

Mitt Romney tried to differentiate his health care plan from President Obama’s during tonight’s debate by noting that his plan, unlike Obama’s, didn’t cut Medicare. This was problematic on several levels.

To start with, it’s pretty disingenuous. As governor, Romney didn’t have the option of cutting Medicare, which is a federal program. He did, however, work to expand Medicaid eligibility as part of the health care law. And the cost of that expansion was shared with federal taxpayers, something that undermines his argument that his plan was a purely state solution.