IPAB

Of course he does: "Obama Seeks to Win Back Wall St. Cash"

$800 billion in taxpayer cash didn't create any jobs? That's HILARIOUS: "Obama jokes about 'shovel-ready projects'"

Anthony Weiner: Car registration and fees are for the little people

Yuval Levin highlighted this yesterday, and it's one of the most revealing things I've seen recently, not just about Obamacare, but how the left generally views the exercise of power.

First, a refresher: Buried deep within the Obamacare bill is the Democrats' plan for lowering Medicare costs -- something called the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). Here's how it works:

The folks over at the Center for American Progress are up in arms over this statement by Rep. Paul Ryan, D-Wis.:

Speaking at the Economic Club of Chicago this afternoon, House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) intensified his criticism of opponents of his "Path to Prosperity" budget plan, including President Barack Obama, calling their vision for the future of America one of "shared scarcity."

That's the question Jennifer Rubin is asking about over at the Washington Post today, and it's a good one. While Democrats have been all Mediscare all the time, no one's really asking about Obamacare's Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). The president claims this will cut a trillion and a half dollars out of Medicare, but he leaves out the part where he actually explains how this will work:

Since the introduction of Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget, backed by the House GOP, Democrats have been heavily engaged in “Mediscare” tactics. “Put simply, it ends Medicare as we know it,” said President Obama, attacking Ryan’s plan. 

"But Other Than Being Shot to Death, Mr. Lincoln, How Did You Like the Play?"

In lieu of offering an actual budget to reduce deficit spending, President Obama has now given a speech saying that we should reduce deficits by raising taxes, cutting defense, and “strengthening” Obamacare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). But rather than signing on to Obama’s stated desire to give the IPAB even more power, some congressional Democrats are instead calling for that body’s outright repeal.

Talk about a successful budgetary proposal: House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan’s budget would cut 46 percent and $4.4 trillion from proposed deficit spending under President Obama’s budget, reform Medicare and Medicaid to put these programs on solid financial footing, and repeal Obamacare. And, within a fortnight, Ryan's proposal caused the sitting president of the United States to abandon any real attempt to defend his own budget, to give a major speech attacking the Republican budget, and to pick a fight that he likely cannot win.

Just prior to the President's big budget speech, the White House released a fact sheet touting the fact that they were looking to strengthen the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) in the health care -- which is the primary mechanism in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act for reducing Medicare spending.

Then Obama launched into a breathtakingly demogogic attack on Ryan's plan in the speech. "Put simply, it ends Medicare as we know it," he said.