WASHINGTON — Rep. Paul Ryan won't debut his new budget until Tuesday, but Democrats are already eyeing the plan as a front of attacks for political races in 2014.
Guy Cecil, the executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a conference call with reporters Monday that the proposals in Ryan's previous budget proposal "were really a disaster for Republican Senate candidates around the country" in 2012 — and Ryan's new plan, which aims to balance the federal budget in a decade, would have similar problems for Republicans.
"The fact of the matter is, they continue to support policies that are out of touch with most Americans," Cecil said.
Democrats look poised to again target cuts to Medicare in particular, for which Ryan took flack as Mitt Romney's running mate on the GOP ticket for president. Ryan defended the cuts on the campaign trail in joint events with his mother, who is enrolled in the program.
Ryan's new budget plan is expected to maintain the cuts to Medicare pitched in his previous budget, or roughly $700 billion worth of cuts.
"In strictly political terms, the Ryan budget will be a gift that continues to give throughout the 2014 cycle for Democrats," Geoff Garin, a top Democratic pollster, said on the conference call.