Question about Paul Ryan regarding spending "cuts"

[Little-Acorn]

I have often pointed out here, that what a lot of congresscritters call "spending cuts", aren't really cuts at all.

They're more along the lines of:

"We had planned to increase spending in XYZ Department by 15%. But now we've decided to increase it by "only" 13%.

"There you go - a 2% spending cut!"

My question is: Has Paul Ryan ever pointed out the same thing, and/or discussed it publicly?

Anybody got a quote from him criticizing these fake "cuts"?

[Kathianne]

Ryan'a 'plan' was a starting point for a way to address the problem. Indeed even the likes of Matt Yenglasis, no conservative, and the NY Times saw that if the conversation with the American people ever got started, there would be problems in the ongoing efforts to bankrupt the country.

Best early report I find is here:

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2010/11/03/paul-ryan%E2%80%99s-big-plans-for-a-small-budget/

I'm sure will be hearing more in the days ahead. Not today though. ;)

[Little-Acorn]

Ryan'a 'plan' was a starting point for a way to address the problem. Indeed even the likes of Matt Yenglasis, no conservative, and the NY Times saw that if the conversation with the American people ever got started, there would be problems in the ongoing efforts to bankrupt the country.

Best early report I find is here:

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2010/11/03/paul-ryan%E2%80%99s-big-plans-for-a-small-budget/

I'm sure will be hearing more in the days ahead. Not today though. ;)

Pretty good article, and well worth reading, thanks!

But it doesn't address my main question:

Has Paul Ryan ever addressed the disingenuousness of slightly reducng the rate of increase in spending, and trying to pretend it's a "cut"?

[DragonStryk72]

Pretty good article, and well worth reading, thanks!

But it doesn't address my main question:

Has Paul Ryan ever addressed the disingenuousness of slightly reducng the rate of increase in spending, and trying to pretend it's a "cut"?

Probably not. It really comes down to the point that of congress is very happy with the current state of affairs with our tax system, as well. It gives them an infinite amount of capacity to say they "cut taxes" for this group or that to gain votes, while not really having to produce anything. This is why the system is so damned complicated.

[Little-Acorn]

Probably not. It really comes down to the point that of congress is very happy with the current state of affairs

The TEA party congressmen aren't. And we are electing more of them, and kicking out more 2000-era big-spending Republicans, with every election, starting in 2010.


It gives them an infinite amount of capacity to say they "cut taxes" for this group or that to gain votes, while not really having to produce anything. This is why the system is so damned complicated.

It gives them the ability to do nothing, basically, and continue the (unsustainable) spending increases that are killing us long-term.

Hence my question.

Does anybody have any QUOTES from Paul Ryan, poining out how false these "cuts" have been?

[Kathianne]

From all I've read on Ryan including, Young Guns: A New Generation of Conservative Leaders, his focus has been on entitlement spending. That in most people's minds is where the deficit is ballooning from. Indeed, Obama's administration has expanded not only healthcare, but SNAP, disability, and now has opened the door on an expansion of welfare.

[aboutime]

From all I've read on Ryan including, Young Guns: A New Generation of Conservative Leaders, his focus has been on entitlement spending. That in most people's minds is where the deficit is ballooning from. Indeed, Obama's administration has expanded not only healthcare, but SNAP, disability, and now has opened the door on an expansion of welfare.


When Obama took away the requirement that CLINTON wanted, and worked so hard for...called Welfare to Work. He opened the door for anyone who no longer feels any personal responsibility to become successful through their own devices.
Consequently. Obama just made it a GOOD, LIBERAL, SOCIALIST thing to forever be dependent upon SOMEONE ELSE...namely the Government for your existence from Birth...or Failed Abortion, to Death.

[Kathianne]

Ryan brings some goodwill, even from the left:

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/313732/smart-democrats-should-be-worried-john-fund


...First, if Ryan is an extremist and his proposals are so unpopular, how has he won election seven times in a Democratic district? His lowest share of the vote was 57 percent — in his first race. He routinely wins over two-thirds of the vote. When Obama swept the nation in 2008, he carried Ryan’s district by four points. But at the same time, Ryan won reelection with 65 percent of the vote, meaning that a fifth of Obama voters also voted for him...

...Second, Democrats know that Ryan has Reaganesque qualities that make him appealing to independent, middle-class voters. Take the cover story on Ryan that the Isthmus, a radically left-wing Madison, Wis. newspaper, ran on him in 2009. “Ryan, with his sunny disposition and choirboy looks, projects compassion and forcefully proclaims dedication to his district,” the story reported. “And he’s proved he is not unyieldingly pro-corporate, as when he recently joined in condemnation of AIG ‘retention’ bonuses.”

Third, Ryan’s ideas aren’t that novel or scary. The idea of “premium support” for Medicare, which would change the program’s one-size-fits-all policy to a private-insurance model with public options, was endorsed by a bipartisan commission appointed by Bill Clinton back in the 1990s. Late last year, Ryan announced a new version of his proposal with a new partner signing on: Democratic senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, who first achieved political prominence as an advocate for seniors.


Four, Ryan puts Wisconsin and its ten electoral votes in play. Polls have shown that President Obama holds a five to seven point lead in Wisconsin — significant, but much less than Obama’s 14-point margin in 2008. With Ryan on the ticket, polls show the race is dead even.


Five, if Republicans were looking for a superior candidate, they’ve found it in Ryan. His maiden speech as the GOP vice-presidential candidate was perfectly pitched:

We won’t duck the tough issues . . . we will lead!
We won’t blame others…we will take responsibility!
We won’t replace our founding principles . . . we will reapply them!
Echoes of Ronald Reagan at his best.


Ryan was judged to have already had the better of President Obama in televised exchanges on Obamacare. His debate with Joe Biden this October might well be remembered as cruel and unusual punishment for dim vice presidents. Recall that Sarah Palin fought a much more engaged Joe Biden to a draw in their 2008 vice-presidential debate.


Six, as Democratic consultant Joe Trippi acknowledged today on Fox News, Ryan will bring in a flood of donations from overjoyed conservatives and tea-party members. Romney had a problem with energizing the GOP base. That problem is now solved, and that will make it easier to pump up conservative turnout...