A Democrat won a special election in New York, in which her opponents were a Republican and a Democrat-turned-Tea Party candidate, and all of a sudden America opposes changing Medicare? That’s the spin peddled by the Democratic Party and much of the mainstream media this week.

It is true that Medicare was a big issue in the race for New York’s 26th District seat. It is true that many voters who went Democrat in that majority-Republican district appeared to do so largely because of Medicare. It is also true that the Democratic Party lied incessantly about Medicare during the election.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) spent months scaring seniors about Republican House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s Medicare proposal. Ryan’s plan would affect no one age 55 or older. For those younger, it would change the way Medicare is funded. Recipients would get guaranteed health insurance subsidies, which they could use to purchase health plans they like.

Democrats, though, claimed that the plan “ends Medicare.” Democratic candidate Kathy Hochul’s campaign also claimed Republicans would “end Medicare.”

The non-partisan Politifact.com site rated that claim a “pants on fire” lie. It noted that Medicare continues under the Ryan plan, and funding for it increases. But being caught in a lie hasn’t dampened the Democrats’ enthusiasm for it. Yesterday, Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., head of the DCCC, said the DCCC will continue to use that attack. Shameless.