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Last week, after House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) blamed President Obama for automatic sequestration cuts, I reported an overlooked detail: in August 2011, Ryan told Fox News that he and congressional Republicans deserve credit for the sequester, which contradicts the new GOP line.
The good news is, someone at ABC News noticed my post. The better news is, ABC's Jonathan Karl confronted Paul Ryan with the quote and asked for an explanation. Here's what the far-right congressman said in response:
"So those are the budget caps on discretionary spending [1]. Those occurred. We want those. Everybody wants budget caps. The sequester we're talking about now was backing up the super-committee. Remember the super committee in addition to those caps was supposed to come up with $1.2 trillion in savings. The Republicans on the super-committee offered even higher revenues in exchange for spending cuts as part of that [2]. It was rejected by the president and the Democrats [3].
"So no resolution occurred and therefore the sequester is occurring. And what we've always said is let's cut spending in smarter ways to replace this sequester. We passed two bills doing that and we've heard nothing in response from the Senate Democrats or the president [4]."
This certainly won't help the "Lyin' Ryan" moniker go away anytime soon, since there's almost nothing in the response that was true. Consider: [1] when Ryan boasted about the sequester in August 2011, he wasn't talking about budget caps, he was talking about the sequester; [2] GOP members on the super-committee didn't offer "higher revenues," but rather, they offered tax breaks they said might someday lead to higher revenues; [3] President Obama and congressional Democrats were desperate to strike a super-committee compromise, but Republicans refused; and [4] the White House and Senate Democrats have proposed a sequester alternative, but the House GOP has not.
In other words, Ryan was confronted with a fact -- he took credit for the policy he now wants to blame on the president -- and he responded with a series of claims, each of which are demonstrably false. It's almost as if the House Budget Committee chairman assumes there are no consequences for saying things that aren't true.
Wait, it gets worse.
Here's Ryan explaining in the same interview why he wants a sequester deal in which Republicans get 100% of what they want.
"[T]aking tax loophole[s], what we've always advocated is necessary for tax reform, means you're going to close loopholes to fuel more spending not to reform the tax code. [...]
"[I]f you take tax loopholes to fuel more spending, which is what they're proposing, then you are preventing tax reform, which we think is necessary, to end crony capitalism and to grow the economy."
I'd like to get the DC establishment together and make them write on a blackboard 100 times, "Paul Ryan is not a deficit hawk; he just wants to cut taxes."
This quote is important because it illustrates a larger truth about the fiscal debate. Both Democrats and Republicans agree that the tax code has loopholes and unnecessary deductions that should be eliminated. Democrats and Republicans also agree that closing these loopholes and scrapping those unnecessary deductions would be worth hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade.
But Ryan's answer to ABC makes clear exactly where the two parties diverge: Democrats believe the hundreds of billions of dollars should be used to reduce the nation's long-term debt problem, while Republicans believe the hundreds of billions of dollars must be applied to more tax cuts.
I don't know how much clearer this can get for the political establishment: Paul Ryan realizes that bipartisan tax reform could produce a half-trillion dollars or more in savings, which would do wonders to resolve the "debt crisis" Republicans occasionally pretend to care about, but Ryan insists it's not actually tax reform unless all of that money is applied to giving the wealthy tax breaks they don't need.
As Jon Chait explained, "Obama is offering to cut spending on retirement programs and to cancel out cuts to defense -- two things large chunks of the GOP would like -- in return for more revenue. He's not even demanding higher rates. He's merely asking to reduce tax deductions. Ryan insists he won't take the deal, because if he uses the revenue from reducing tax deductions to close the deficit, it won't be available to reduce tax rates. Every other fiscal priority must give way for the overriding goal of reducing marginal tax rates."
If you think Paul Ryan is serious about debt reduction, it's time to accept the fact that you've been suckered.
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As we learned last night watching "Hubris", we have been suckered before.
We can't afford to be suckered again.
You got that so right maphi, especially when this very thing about Hubris could lead you to wonder why did Bush and Chenney ignored the warnings about being attacked on 911. There was plenty of warnings and investigations going on at the time in 2000 about America being attacked very soon. One guy in a presidential meeting was even banging his fist on the table trying to emphasize that attack. Bush, Chenney, and their cronies have outright murdered too many people already and all for the sake of their power craving, corruption, arrogance, being hypocrites, greed, and deceiving. These people deserve no respect for what they have done. We need an impeachment of Bush, Chenney and their cronies as any rights or privileges should be stripped away from them and an example be set so this does not happen again or someone will think twice before even thinking about doing it. There is always better solutions than to what these bums have done.
It's not clear that "heeding" the warnings could have stopped the attacks. On the other hand, the CIA KNEW that a KNOWN member of Al-Qaeda who had a connection to the Cole bombing had a multiple-entry visa to the US and didn't notify the FBI for nearly two years - August, 2011. So the CIA COULD have prevented the 9/11 attacks. AND the CIA knew that the intelligence on Iraq was bogus - so they could have stopped that stampede to war.
Too late to 'impeach' Bush & Cheney. However, they should be charged with Crimes Against Humanity and put on trial at the Hague.
They have already been tried for war crimes (though not at the Hague) and convicted. I've never been able to understand why they are still at large. I don't think they can't travel outside the U.S. lest they be arrested.
Well, there is that old saying in Tennessee... or maybe Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, sucker me once, shame on — shame on you. sucker me — you can't get suckered again... lol.
Dick Data, you are very wrong, since law enforcement was handed the very terrorists who would fly planes into buildings and with a picture perfect identity. The ignorance of this that they have shoved down peoples throats is outright appalling. Too many lies have been spread about 911 in order to cover up Bush's, Chenney's, and their cronies crimes.
deb - seriously? bush is over. it's obama's second term. its up to him to get in gear, and not by cutting social security. time for the man who has chosen to be the figurehead to take the heat. it is people like you, who still think bush has anything to do with anything, who refuse to hold obama accountable, that permit him to keep doing things like offering away our social security. live for today, and hold obama to the same standards as you would have held bush (imagine bush using drones in pakistan?? you'd be FREAKING OUT, but obama gets a free ride!), we'd all be in much better shape now.
Then there is the reality that you can only speak about what you have done in the past and project your behaviors onto others. What is rather telling is how you give the president the powers of a King, one man does not run the whole country, so your insistence that Obama should fix things by himself just shows what you are. A republican concern troll that could care less but gosh darn it you want to prove your a reasonable chap, you failed.
You CAN blame Bush when Bush's policies are still on the books. It wasn't until THIS year that we finally changed Bush's tax policy. The wartime spending is still going. The Medicare D is still going.
People like to blame Obama for his "massive spending"... but they're too stubborn to look and see what that spending is for, and where that spending originated. Very little of our "massive spending" is on anything Obama originated.. but why keep things in context when you can make talking points instead?
And as far as drone strikes... we don't need to have a "what if Bush did it?" debate... Bush DID use drones... nobody was "Freaking out".. or at least nobody but those on the fringe.
Deb: your fellow Stepford wives want you back home.
Nothing changes until we finally get down to the true facts of what corrupt Presidents do like Bush. Are we forever to keep putting up with this deceptive crap they pull that is not a Democracy, remember it is for We the People, not some corrupt individuals.
Why is no one talking about trying Bush, Cheney and Rice for treason?
The same reason Reagan and his buddies weren't tried for treason, IOKIYAR. They always fall back on that good old lame talking point, "they did what they thought was best for the US", nice thing about talking points like religion you hide behind them and get a free pass for your wrong doings.
You got that right Michelle Parish Zuniga, it is time to get some justice. Or ship Bush, Chenney, and their cronies out of the US for war crimes so they can serve their sentence.
The GOP has had two terms of Bush and Obama's first term to sharpen their lying skills. They learned in the Bush era that they could tell the American people anything they want and they would believe it. They are so deluded with their power they believe they can do anything. Case in point (aside from the Iraq War ) the corruption of the elections for Bush in the Florida polls. GB should be brought on Charges by the International Court and should be investigated for lying to Congress. He should be stripped of all benefits from retirement. How does a man who is dishonest and deceitful become the Chairman of the House Budget Committee. These republicans could careless about America all they want to do is keep President Obama from leading the Country. These WASP cant handle the idea that an African America can do a better job of running the Country than their hero George Bush. They believe that President Obama is inferior to them. Is there some way to get these GOP cronies out of office so we can have Congressmen that have good character.
We never did think Paul Ryan was serious about debt reduction. The only people falling for that chestnut work for the mainstream media.
Speaking of "chestnuts", Paul Ryan can always fall back on Ron Ziegler's comment to get himself out of trouble.
("that statement is no longer operable")
or Mr Kyl's "It wasn't intended to be a factual statement" line.
DING! DING! DING! Guy wins the response of the day! LOL
M. Albreit says we should help countries, when they are in trouble. I would agree, but why are we not helping Mexico than with those Drug Lord wars where innocent people are being murdered every day. Or is it because too many politicians are paid off from rich bastard Drug Lords. There is where our government the way it is looking is doing very little about the drug problem, especially when you notice that Bush, Chenney, and their cronies did everything possible to establish a Drug Lord position in Afghanistan. And still our current government does very little, when it comes to the problems with these drugs, except to help Drug Lords. What it is the billions of dollars taken in from these drugs too much temptation that people harmed by these corrupt people does not matter? Every day of a person’s life keeps proving why Jesus was so against rich bastards and why these rich bastards definitely do deserve hell and right a long with those deceiving Pharisees.
Actually the US is financing the Mexican drug war. The US indeed is "helping Mexico." Plus there is good evidence that the US has boots on the ground in Mexico, but if it became common knowledge, there would be an explosive outrage.
There is answer available IF the United States wanted:
- to eliminate the Mexican drug wars
- to eliminate the financial reason for ameriKan gangs existing
- to drastically reduce ameriKan prison populations
- to increase federal and state tax revenues
That answer is to decriminalize virtually all drugs. Strong taxation would still keep the drug lords and gangs from being price competitive and their main reason to exist ($$$ from the drug business) would disappear.
You are absolutely correct SOV, but I am afraid that it is still too politically toxic for this rational and necessary step to take place yet. We will probably get there eventually, but too many additional people will die or have their lives ruined NOT by drugs, but by the war on drugs until full legalization happens. If the "war on drugs" were ended, we could spend a fraction of what we spend on interdiction and incarceration on treatment and have significantly fewer addicts.
Not only that, but as you point out it would eliminate much of the violent crime associated with the drug trade. It's not like there isn't a precedent to compare this with. Just look at the gangsters that existed during prohibition and what happened to them afterwards.
It's difficult to imagine the carnage that accompanies what is easily the worst weed grown on the planet. And that crappy weed accounts for 70% of the drug trade from Mexico. I am an un-apologetic, lifelong pot smoker and in order to not contribute to the violence your government won't address I grow my own. And it is very,very good.And this way I am the only one on the hook when or if trouble comes to my door. If your government won't decriminalize pot then start growing it yourselves. Take Mexico out of the equation. We did. We also removed the US from the equation. Canada is riding high and safe.
Decriminalize "virtually all drugs"? That might be a bit extreme. Look I understand that a large portion of drug abuse right now happens on substances that are legal in one way or another (alcohol and Rx drugs) but I'm not sure opening the gates on everything else would be the way to go. Sure if you legalize heroin people won't smuggle it in, but if you tax bejesus out of the "legal" sources then there will still be criminal trade to undercut those prices. OR we'd trade street violence for an even larger drug epidemic.
But on subject (well not really) as a runner it doesn't surprise me that Mr. PR-time has a problem hashing out his previous statements on the sequester.
Paul Ryan seems to be the living epitome of Harry Frankfurt's insightful essay regarding something along the lines of bovine excrement!
And, perhaps, Ryan stands in front of his residential hallway mirror and self-praises his talent in person before he glibly spews such fetid rhetoric upon the rest of us! -Kevo
Paul Ryan closes his eyes and tenderly kisses the mirror before he leaves the house. And then he looks back longingly before he turns out the light and whispers that he'll be back soon.
Yes indeed: the liar knows the truth and chooses to tell a lie. the bullshhitter doesn't care what the truth is.
None of this is or has ever been about spending money...it is about what we spend money on.
Ask yourself which do we need more: 22 Aircraft Carriers or Universal Pre-K, More Nuclear Weapons or Solar Power
and the funniest part is that if you throw in things like birth control, abortion, the debate over the reasons for fighting an unpopular war and crazy gas prices and we are back in 1974
I have alwats said the differnce between the two parties is how they spend money. Dragoon21b you are spot on!
There is absolutely positively no way the President proposed the sequester. If he had proposed it the republicans would have opposed it and there would be no sequester period.
Paul Ryan is not an honorable man. It's really that simple.
Someday his children will realize that. The poor guy... I don't envy him those regrets.
Then again, look what Liz Cheney has turned into. Her father likely shoulders the blame for that dysfunction, as will Ryan if his kids turn into horrible people based the the lies of their father.
I think you assume too much about the families of these men. At the very least, Stockholm syndrome tells us that the regrets you speak of are unlikely.
RM,
I agree.
You're both right, it's unlikely.
I was going to say, unless they discover religion, but in this case it would be unless they turn away from the religion that teaches you how to look down on your brother.
Is it judgmental to be judgmental of people who are judgmental?
The mind reels sometimes at the paradox.
@ 7.3
No, it is not.
Should we tolerate intolerance(?) until it rises to power and .....
Mitt Romney's sons did not fall very far from the tree.
Jonathan Karl should have responded with Stephen Colbert's questions: "What does any of that mean? Is there a bull@!$%# meter in here?"
Kindly stated, word salad. Realistically stated, lyin ryan exposed once again as the smarmy , snake oil salesman that he truly is. He has NEVER really had a plan other than to balance the budget on the backs of the middle class , elderly and poor. The real truth of lyin ryan, is Ann Rand ( a fiction writer I might add) , and slashing all the social safety nets of the last 40 years. This is the TRUE FACE of the GOP.
For far too long, there have not been.
Paul Ryan is smarmy.
Paul Ryan is the Liar In Chief!
If They REALLY want to Help with The Budget They Would CUT There PAY in HALF,, And PAY There OWN Medical !!!!!!!! ,, How About Min, Wages For them ALL !!!!We The People Have to live with it !!!
The Republicans LIED to us to go to war in Iraq.
The Republicans are LYING to us again in order to become rich and powerful.
When will Americans finally get their fill of REPUBLICAN LIES?
Thank GOD he and Romney didnt get elected or we would be deep deep fecal material
These guys must be scared to death of the tea-baggers... As Bill Clinton noted, "The problem with ideology is that you know the answer before you see the evidence."
Has anyone thought about the fact that since President Obama has been in office, (1) Our economy has improved, (2) the unemployment rate has decreased, (3) The Stock Market has improved because there is better confidence in the economy, (4) The housing market has improved (foreclosure rates have decreased while housing prices have increased), and (5) We are pulling out of 2 long and crippling wars after accomplishing our original objective of dismantling terrorist organizations by eliminating UBL? This administration must be doing something right to be where we are now compared to where we were as a country 5–7 years ago.
I think you are so right Brendano617 its the truth but you will never here any conservatives or a republicans say this because it make's them look bad, as if they care because then we would see what a @!$%# up job they and Bush did when they had the whitehouseit makes Obama looke good and them look like the liear's that they really are.
Sane people know all that. The Repubicans however, are foaming at the mouth over it...
this man is one of the bigest liear's (and they all are) the republicans have but he is the bigest one of them all.this is why they did not get the whitehouse because we all knew he was a liar him and the nitt-witt. I think they think we are so stupid (like they are) that we can't see this @!$%#.what a bunch of losers they all are.
Yet another in a very long series where Republicans know what the truth is in spite of actual facts and data. They continue to believe that reducing taxes stimulates the economy and that that all pays for itself. Despite the fact that so much of the current debt crisis is the result of the Bush tax cuts not paying for themselves they continue to double (triple?) down on that bet. There's also the side bet that continued deficit spending is currently the primary thing holding back the economy and so if that is "fixed" then the economy magically gets better. They are 100% certain of those beliefs and are unwilling to actually consider any other viewpoints no matter how well supported by actual facts they might be. And I have absolutely no suggestions on how to move past that - how do you talk to someone who already knows the answer?
oh my god Bob-553811 i could not have said it better.very well said.
The repukes also 'know' that federal spending never creates jobs; except for militarization spending.
I have been asking people this very question for a few years now, and have never received anything even resembling an answer.
But I have been having a slightly different internal debate recently, and I honestly don't know what I believe: Do these current Republicans/conservatives actually believe the things they publicly claim, or are they so corrupted by the lure of increased power and wealth that they are fully aware that these policies they espouse will almost certainly result in greater economic harm to the majority of American citizens, and just don't care? Politics inherently requires a reasonable level of intellect for someone to successfully gain entrance, so I have great difficulty believing these people are unaware of the logical outcome of the policies they support. And that really disturbs me.
I would suggest that if the sequester goes through, we'll all see just how many jobs federal spending creates. Don't see how they'll spin their way out of the many furloughs and layoffs that are going to happen.
You can't convince such people until "they hit bottom". "They" will not hit bottom until the rest of us are destitute.
The answer is to find the ones who are not paying attention now and argue with them. Ignore the Repubs and vote enough of them out of office to break the log jam.
We have to work very hard. We have to learn/remember what Repubs know. An election is a battle in an ongoing (mostly non-violent) civil war. It never ends, just as history never ends. The next battles are going to be fought at the state level, this year and next spring. Then comes the Mid-Terms. We have to get out there and fight.
While I agree about politics requiring some degree of intellect for entrance, I also tend to agree with what Abe Lincoln once said. He said " One thing I've learned in politics is that ignorance is no obstacle to advancement. In fact it in some cases, it's quite an advantage".... That helps to explain to me how people like Ryan, Palin, Bachman, Cruz, Rubio etc. are where they are.
Unfortunately Sarah, they don't care about public sector jobs, in fact, they will be glad to have made government smaller. Plus they can then point to the resulting higher unemployment numbers and say how Obama is bad for jobs (never mind the fact that the unemployment numbers have been inflated for years because of the reduction of public sector jobs due to state, local and federal budget cuts).
Happy in KC,
if the Republican leadership actually believed what they spout, their actions and efforts would reflect the Good Book they use as a shield and crutch...but they do not. Rather the opposite, I would say.
It's all about putting more money and power into their hands, and no 10 Commandments, especially "thou shalt not lie", gets in their way.
Democrats had the chance to fix a good many things with filibuster reform and Harry Reid just pissed that opportunity away. I think that both parties are working together to wreck the dream of America. Otherwise, why do the democrats always fold when they are on the verge of a win?
Paul Ryan is a danger to society.
AND people are just waking up to the fact that Paul Ryan is a sneaky, master liar. He has perfected the art of twisting the issues to make himself look good even if it not the truth. He will say or do anything to make the President look bad. I sincerely hope the elections in 2014 and 2016 gets rid of some of these yahoos.
There's no denying, that Paul Ryan is lying.
And, if he's telling the truth, we're all flying
Cause, he'd rather see the Seniors, dying
But, we are gonna stop him, from trying
So all of us Democrats, will be spying
To keep ole' Ryan, from lying & denying
That he (and the Republicans) are signifying
Paul Ryan definitely learned a lot after reading "It's OK to Be a Total Douchebag" by Ann Rand Paul.
Paul Ryan has Tax Cut Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.