Are the fissures within the GOP on Medicare reform real or a media fabrication?

Ryan Streeter
Follow Ryan on Twitter

The Hill is reporting, through unnamed GOP aides, that apparent cracks among the former Republican resolve on the Ryan budget are media fabrications, not reality.

Aides told The Hill Friday that the media has created a “false narrative” of retreat and said the GOP is standing up for the 2012 budget resolution authored by Budget Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.)

“The Ryan budget is the overall Republican policy and that has not changed,” one aide said.

The speculation has been driven by comments, most recently, from Dave Camp, who said he's  "not really interested in just laying down more markers," an apparent reference to the reforms. This followed comments by John Boehner last week that he wasn't "wedded" to the Ryan idea on Medicare.

I'm not so sure I buy the idea that this is all a "false narrative." Officially, of course all GOPers are going to say they endorse the budget. But then there are the unofficial statements as part of the push-and-pull of negotiations, strategy, and tactics. Given how weak-kneed so many members were up through early spring, it's hard to believe their resolve is unshaken by all the town halls and the polls.