In a world of 24 hours news, this story s a little old. (A whole week! *gasp*) I found it on NPR, but it originated on The Nation. John Nichols wrote this before Congressman Ryan was nominated as Mitt Romney’s VP. Regardless of the timing, it highlights a string of serious flaws with Paul and his 10 year career of, well frankly, not getting much done. If you were a serious candidate for president and you wanted someone who was famous for reining in budgets and fiscal conservatism, Paul Ryan should be at the bottom of your list. This is a man who had ten years in Congress (almost all in a House Republican majority) to reduce the deficit. And he has nothing to show for it.
The House Budget Committee chairman imagines himself as a high priest speaking unfortunate truths about debts and deficits, the unforgiving foe of social spending who would gladly sacrifice Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid on the altar of debt reduction. Ryan has branded himself well within Republican circles, so well that he has parlayed himself into contention for the vice presidential nod. To get that nomination, however, Ryan must count on the prospect that the party that takes as its symbol the memory-rich elephant will suddenly suffer a spell of forgetfulness. That’s because the Republican congressman from Wisconsin, for all his bluster, is anything but a consistent advocate for fiscal responsibility and balanced budgets. He is, in fact, a hypocrite,
Or, to be more precise, a hypocritical big spender — at least when Wall Street, the insurance industry and the military-industrial complex call.
Ryan has been a steady voter for unwise bailouts of big banks, unfunded mandates and unnecessary wars. Few members of Congress have run up such very big tabs while doing so little to figure out how to pay the piper.