Paul Ryan: No big budget deal because Democrats won't do it GOP's way

Who knew Paul Ryan was such a
delicate flower? (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
 

Poor Paul Ryan. First he proposed to end Medicare, then he got the GOP to sign onto his plan, and then he got sad because President Obama didn't agree with him on it. And now he's not only still whining about it, he's saying it makes a long-term deal impossible:

?They are thinking about creating a narrative, which is: ?If you want security in your life, stick with us. If you don?t want Republicans, they are going to feed you to the wolves in a dog-eat-dog society?,? Ryan said.

Ryan also pushed back on the shared sacrifice rhetoric coming out of some Democrats.

?I think that is more of a caricature. I think that is totally false. It?s a narrative of shared scarcity. We want to have growth,? the Wisconsin Republican added.

And because Democrats don't agree with his plan and President Obama dared to publicly criticize it, Ryan says there won't be any long-term deal on fiscal policy:

?What I get out of that is that we aren?t going to get a grand slam agreement. We are not going to get a big comprehensive agreement just because of the political parameters that have been set now by our leader,? he said.

?So, my hope at this moment is to get a single or a double. I?m hoping the debt limit is the opportunity to get a down payment on some spending cuts, to get a down payment on some spending reform to put the crisis off,? Ryan explained.

He's even getting squishy on what he's demanding to raise the debt limit. He wants spending reform? That sure sounds like he's begging for a process-oriented fig leaf that won't actually amount to much but will give him political cover to get enough Republicans to vote for a debt limit increase. Fine, whatever, if that's what it takes, okay.

Ryan wants people to believe that the problem here is that Democratic criticism of Republican policies is making an agreement impossible, but that's absurd. For better or for worse, Democrats have always been willing to compromise. What's really going on here is that there's no way to get a real budget deal done without raising revenues, and Grover Norquist rules Paul Ryan's world. Republicans simply cannot support a reasonable budget proposal thanks to the Norquist's idiotic taxpayer pledge.

So this debate won't get resolved in 2011. Fine. In 2012, let's choose between President Obama's vision and Paul Ryan's vision. I think we all know which one will win.

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/pJT3JvSWDO4/-Paul-Ryan:-No-big-budget-deal-because-Democrats-wont-do-it-GOPs-way

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