One week ago, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan was one of the most visible Republicans in Congress, engaging in a series of back-and-forths with President Barack Obama and drawing compliments from the commander-in-chief during his visit to a GOP caucus meeting in Baltimore.

But this week, the Janesville Republican's allies see the Baltimore episodes as a set-up. House Democrats and the White House have slammed Ryan's proposed "Roadmap for America's Future 2.0" all week, and U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., told Politico the plan was obvious. He says the president highlighted Ryan's ideas last week so that his allies could tee off on them this week.

Ryan -- who engaged in heated exchanges with White House Budget Director Peter Orszag and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in House Budget Committee hearings this week -- drew Orszag's attention at a briefing Monday, in which the budget director said the Roadmap plan "provides a contrast."

"There are many aspects of that that are worthy of further discussion and debate, but it is a dramatically different approach in which much more risk is loaded onto individuals and in which the Medicare program in particular is dramatically changed from its current structure," Orszag said.

Politico reports House Dems hammered the plan in a Thursday conference call, with U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., calling it an "excise tax on steroids." And the article notes even Republican leadership treaded cautiously on the Roadmap plan. House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio reiterated the plan was Ryan's, and said many of his caucus members are "creatively looking at how (we) solve the nation's problems."