Mitt Romney's allergy to honesty has come into sharper focus this week, but even by his standards, the comments Romney made on a Wisconsin radio show this morning were astounding.
Romney said the plan introduced by House Budget Committee chairman Ryan (R-Janesville) "does not balance the budget on the backs of the poor and the elderly ... It instead preserves Medicare and preserves Social Security."
Look, this really isn't complicated. Paul Ryan's budget plan is simply brutal towards the poor and working families. Romney doesn't have to like it, but he really shouldn't lie about it.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's budget plan would get at least 62 percent of its $5.3 trillion in nondefense budget cuts over ten years (relative to a continuation of current policies) from programs that serve people of limited means. This stands a core principle of President Obama's fiscal commission on its head and violates basic principles of fairness.
While giving a massive tax break to the wealthy, the Ryan budget plan Romney is so fond of slashes funding for Medicaid, food stamps, and other for low-income programs, nearly all of which Ryan's plan would eliminate over the next couple of decades.
As the CBPP's Robert Greenstein put it, "[T]he Ryan budget would impose extraordinary cuts in programs that serve as a lifeline for our nation's poorest and most vulnerable citizens, and over time would cause tens of millions of Americans to lose their health insurance or become underinsured." He added that Ryan's plan "would cast tens of millions of less fortunate Americans into the ranks of the uninsured, take food from poor children, make it harder for low-income students to get a college degree, and squeeze funding for research, education, and infrastructure."
If this doesn't "balance the budget on the backs of the poor," for crying out loud, what exactly would such a budget plan look like?
As for "preserving" Medicare, the Ryan plan that Romney supports would turn Medicare into a voucher program, scrapping the guaranteed benefit altogether; weaken Medicare solvency; and bring back the Medicare Part D prescription drug "donut-hole."
So, what are we to make of Romney's comments this morning? He's either lying or he hasn't read the budget plan he's endorsed. It's one or the other.
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It doesn't matter whether Mr Romney is lying or hasn't read the Ryan budget; he'll just Etch-A-Sketch his comment tomorrow and start over.
LOL, very true! This man has a serious habitual lying problem. It is pathological, when someone uses an etch-a-sketch as a way to adjust his believes from day to day, or minute to minute mind set. This whole campaign has the same scary mentality.
I'm pretty used to Romney lying through his teeth about really obvious stuff at this point but even this... wow. Just wow!
Remember what Willard said the next day after the Florida primary election, "I'm not worried about the very poor, they have a safety net"
Steve, you're being unfair. Ryan's plan doesn't balance the budget on the backs of the poor and the elderly.
In fact, it doesn't actually balance the budget at all. It just shoves money hand-over-fist to the very tippy-top of the economic pyramid.
A golden parachute for the rich and a golden shower for the rest of us. At last, the trickle down has started.
"We survived the 1980's. Back then, the economic program was called "trickle down." That actually meant they were p***ing on you. How the whole theory goes was this: "We have all the money. If we drop some, it's yours. Go for it.""
- Bill Maher
OR he's absolutely CLUELESS.
The tealiban has women and dog lovers pissed at them so they can't afford to get the their friends in the 1% mad or there will be no one left to vote for them even as they are putting in the "fix" with voter suppression.
The unions fought for the 8 hour day, 40 hour week, health care, pensions.
And Big Biz discovered the Independent Contractor- no benefits, pay for your own FICA and health insurance.
At least you still have the government looking out for you, with its various "safety nets". (chuckle, chuckle. . .)
Romney and the Republicans can try to spin the Ryan budget, but when it comes down to specifics, they cannot avoid talking about the actual details. Coupon care and eliminating SS while cutting taxes for the rich are undeniable. The devil is always in the details and someone is going to ask about the details. Voters can figure it out when Republicans don't want to discuss the details.
Mike, they don't want to eliminate Social Security -- there are parts that they really like. In particular, the payroll tax on the first $100K (but not on capital gains) is really good for funding the military.
It's the payments to the lazy worthless bums collecting it that they can't stand.
The Republicans want to eliminate SS even if it is over a period of time. Remember that SS is partially funded by employers. When SS is totally gone, consider how much extra money employers have in their budgets. We are talking over a trillion dollars for business.
They want the banksters to make money on all of people's retirement money -- via privatizing SS. Just imagine how much they could make...
I don't think Romney is either lying or hasn't read the budget. I think this is exactly what he believe it should be.
Isn't this just the way he would solve every company problem with Bain Capital? When he thinks a company is no longer profitable, then he will simply declare bankruptcy...take your chunk of money and let the worker do the "share sacrifice" by slashing their pension fund, reduce their benefits and stop paying them their over time.
The Ryan bill essentially is the US declaring bankruptcy on its people, isn't it?
Maddow, Benen- the lying theme is lame, lame lame. Please stop. Instead incorporate into a larger theme.
Of course it is true Romney is lying, but you are throwing marshmallows. A voter is willing to look the other way if a politician lies to achieve something the voter believes in.
The effective theme is that Romney is a spineless bully, who like all cowards will always lie when confronted. He stands for the bullies of Wall Street who depend on cops who look the other way. He stands for Zimmermans who depend on cops to look the other way.
The culture of bullies use a variety of weapons: Guns, Vaginal probes, AM talk radio, SuperPacs to go after whomever they regard as easy marks. Whenever they are confronted they attempt to hit the reset button, flip the etch-a-sketch and lie their way out of it.
Bullying is a a more comprehensive theme tying together many more stories than the lying theme. The reason why it is more convincing is that Americans believe deep down in fair play. Even supporters of Romney are not proud of wins produced by bludgeoning the opponent with SuperPac outspending the victim 7 to one. It is a comprehensive theme too. Romney bullies workers in companies with the threat of sending their work overseas. Superpacs bully the anti-Romneys into submission, and congresspeople unwilling to vote for the interests of wall street or big oil. People who believe in law and order believe the legitimate referees are the cops, and that self policing is a fantasy that produces clowns like Zimmerman.
This redirects the law and order theme towards re-introduction of FDR's economic reforms, and a regulatory regime that is an effective adversary of business when their interests do not coincide with those of society. This is not just a formula against Romney but against the entire culture of tolerance and advocacy for bullying to keep people in line.
America doesn't like bullies, and we don't like referees that turn the other way.
Wow honey, look at all the savings we can get out of the poor!
J F-ing C..
Republican arguments
A- Food stamps work so efficiently that we have barely anyone starving in this country, therefore we don't actually have 'poverty' in America
B- Food stamps work so efficiently that people become dependent upon them and become too lazy to work on their own. After all why work when you can get everything you ever need for free?
So it looks like Romney is going w/ argument B in this case. Which means if he ever says that poverty doesn't exist in America or that the poor really have it far better off than we're thinking, you should call him out on his hypocrisy
Romney is like a 3 year old throwing a glass of milk at his mom, to see how she will react. If she lets him get away with it, the sky's the limit. Unfortunately mom is coddling him, when she should be reprimanding.
Lying or ignorant? As in the case with Evil or Stupid, why can't it be both? Romney likely hasn't read the budget plan, but knows it screws the poor, so he lies about it anyway. It's what he does best.
I don't think it matters if he reads it. Romney is a habitual lyer it doesn't matter what he says from one min to the next, he is incapable of telling the truth.
I don't think this guy reads ANYTHING! He's too busy shooting off his mouth to take time to READ.
Republicans tell me that the poor get dependent upon government assistance and become lazy. I ask what is the alternative,let them starve? They tell me that conservatives give more to charity than Liberals according to a study. But why don't the poor get dependent upon charity? Why is it better to make them beg for food- (food is their human right)- than for them to receive food stamps? Food Banks run out of food, and people may not have a food bank within walking distance and they have no car. Also the money taxpayers would spend on food charities to prevent hunger would not be nearly as much as paying taxes for food stamps for the poor. Not everyone donates to food banks whereas everyone pays taxes.Therefore each would pay a smaller tax amount than charity. Why do I hear "I don't want my hard earned tax money going to some lazy poor person. If the answer to preventing starvation is for everyone to donate to charities. Tax money, charity money for the poor comes from our same hard earned income. If one will cause dependence then the other one will also. Being against food stamps does not make sense. No American should be required to beg for food from a government subsidized religious food bank. Obama continued Bush's support for giving faith based charities tax money. Look at the thanks he gets , accused of waging a war against religion.
whatever happened to give me your tired - poor - huddled masses....
now its poor and tired huddled masses give me your money or else
http://redd.it/r7yke