Ari Melber

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Paul Ryan’s Debt Talk Contradicts His Entire Government Career

Facts to remember during Paul Ryan’s RNC keynote on Wednesday night:

  • During 14 years in Congress, Ryan consistently and loyally voted to increase the debt, rather than taking any political risks to oppose it.

  • He voted for 65 different bills to hike the debt.

  • He backed 90 percent of the deficit hikes during the Bush era, which turned a surplus into more than $6 trillion in debt.

  • He also supported each of largest specific drivers of today’s debt: defense spending, tax cuts and Medicare Part D.

This is not just “history” - it is a record of creating the current problem that Ryan now touts as his guiding purpose to solve. That’s because the majority of today’s deficit iscomprised of congressional spending decisions made during the last administration.

So Ryan literally spent his government career increasing the budget deficit. In a twist on the old Gandhi maxim, he is the problem that he pledges to solve.

And it’s all part of a cyclical deficit outrage game in Washington, which I explore in this column today.

  1. 71stbaron reblogged this from arimelber and added:
    Wait wait wait wait wait. Are you kidding me right now? No “political risk to oppose [the national debt]”? What about...
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