Now it’s the Democrats’ turn to throw political punches, and what better place to begin than with Paul Ryan’s incredible claim that “Mitt Romney and I know the difference between protecting a program and raiding it?”

He was talking about Medicare, trying to make seniors forget all about his proposal to cut their health insurance. But there’s a whole added layer of hypocrisy here. Because the focus on Medicare misses the larger point about Ryan’s budget, which Romney said he’d sign: It hits Medicaid and other non-entitlement programs much harder.

Medicare’s in the spotlight because so many votes are at stake — which is also why it’s not cut as deeply. Yet Medicaid, the insurance program for low-income people, is just as vital to seniors. Two-thirds of Medicaid money goes to the elderly and people with disabilities (the rest goes mostly to children). Medicaid accounts for more than 40 percent of long-term care spending, filling in the gaps that Medicare won’t cover.

So when Ryan slashes the federal share of Medicaid by a third and dumps the problem on the states, he’s making an even bigger raid on seniors. By 2022, his budget would drop a minimum of 14 million people from Medicaid, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Another 11 million would be dropped if the Romney-Ryan plan to repeal health care reform is implemented.

The choice is stark: Under Obama’s plan, about 17 million people gain coverage. Under Ryan’s, a total of about 25 million lose it.

Imagine the consequences. People dropped from Medicaid won’t be able to afford private insurance, so most would go without coverage and get little preventative care. The rest of us will have to pick up the higher cost of their emergency room visits. And it will place a huge strain on public hospitals, required to treat people even if they can’t pay.

Ryan’s raids on non-entitlement programs are greater still. These are basic public services we rely on: food inspection, funding for highways, air and rail travel, border security and the FBI, just to name a few.

He claims it's all necessary to reduce the deficit. Yet his plan to give big breaks to the rich would likely add to it, as would other measures he's voted for: the Bush tax cuts, war in Iraq and a plan to privatize Social Security that comes with a 10-year price tag of $2.4 trillion.

So really, it's just a matter of priorities. And Ryan has made his clear.

Related editorial: A moral choice on the Ryan budget