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Categories: Economic Fairness, Jobs and Economy, Tax Fairness, One Wisconsin Now - The "tOWN Hall"
Over the last few days Republican Congressman Paul Ryan has been getting more underserved love from the media. They called him everything from a “rising star” in the Wisconsin State Journal to a “medicine man” in a Washington Post column by the infamous right winger Robert Novak. In both stories there seems to be an attempt to hold Paul Ryan up as some sort of last hope for the withering conservative movement. The big problem is that Ryan doesn’t stand for anything new at all. He has been one of the most reliable rubber stamps for the Bush Administration and most of its failed policies. Yes, many of the same policies that have brought us to a place of near economic disaster.
During his first eight years in Congress, Ryan voted in favor of every single budget – joining the then-Republican majority in increasing the federal budget by more than $1 trillion. Ryan has been a loyal foot soldier for the Bush Administration on issue after issue. He provided the deciding vote for the middle-of-the-night passage of the disastrous Medicare Part D Prescription Drug plan. This from a guy that is now calling for a leaner government?
Ryan talks ad nauseam about fiscal responsibility but this is a guy that has fully supported the Bush disaster in Iraq costing taxpayers some $1.7 trillion dollars. This is money that we simply don’t have. At the same time, he has been a big cheerleader for irresponsible tax cuts for the wealthiest, even if we have to charge it all to the taxpayer credit card. In whose world is any of this sound economic policy? How is this record any different than the Bush Administration and their failed policies? Exactly how can Paul Ryan be perceived to be above the Bush disaster when he has been shoulder to shoulder with him for the entire time?
