Ryan Conservatives Surprised by Questioning Press; Belittle it for Demanding Honesty.

CBS’s Nora O’Donnell has apparently decided enough is enough.

A pioneer of right wing lunacy, Michelle Malkin, featured on her blog this moment of conservative outrage by Doug Powers, who wrote: “Paul Ryan won’t refer to extending over ten-year-old code as ‘cutting taxes,’ CBS host scoffs.”

And well she should. Nora O’Donnell is doing what most reporters should be doing, treating Republican talking points like the ridiculous statements they usually are. Paul Ryan is a master at reframing and rewording simple truths into wonkish mumbo jumbo that the press interprets and genius. Far from it.  

Powers: Rep. Paul Ryan tried to explain to CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Norah O’Donnell why he doesn’t refer to extending the same tax rates that have been in place for over a decade as “tax cuts,” but with the election and Dem talking points in the balance, O’Donnell was having none of that:

Amazing isn't it. Temporary tax cuts that add to the deficit and should be allowed to expire, have now been extended so long now, that they're no longer tax cuts? Spin, con or just more Ryan condescension?

Paul Ryan: Fiscal Hypocrite!

H/t John Nichols and the Capital Times!

Ryan has branded himself well, so well that he has parlayed himself into contention for his party's vice presidential nomination.

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 Janesville, for all his bluster, is anything but a consistent advocate for fiscal responsibility and balanced budgets.

He is, in fact, a consistent big spender — at least when Wall Street, the insurance industry and the military-industrial complex call.

A steady vote 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.

 

The Nichols correctly points out that, this year paul ryan has a serious challenger who is not letting up in pointing out the failures of mr. ryan.  

This year, Ryan is being called out by an able challenger with actual experience in the private sector, as well as local government.

Rob Zerban, the congressman's Democratic challenger, is not fooled by Ryan's budgetary blathering.
Zerban is familiar with Ryan's record.

And he is calling the budget committee chairman out on his "faux fiscal credentials."

"Congressman Paul Ryan can grandstand about the debt all he wants, but at the end of the day, Ryan is a root cause of many of the financial issues our country faces today," says Zerban.

"From supporting two unfunded wars, to dumping millions of senior citizens into the Medicare Part D 'donut hole' while tying the hands of the government to negotiate prescription drug prices, and from fighting for subsidies for Big Oil that his family personally benefits from, to supporting the unfunded Bush tax cuts for his wealthiest campaign contributors, Paul Ryan's hypocrisy is astounding."