Ryan’s Charge Up Entitlement Hill
February 20 | Posted by mrossol | Liberal Press, Party Politics, Socialism, US DebtRyan’s Charge Up Entitlement Hill – WSJ.com.
I would appreciate notice if you hear Paul Ryan being challenged on the merits of his position.
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Senate Democrats like Chuck Schumer issue almost daily press releases attacking Mr. Ryan, Paul Krugman is obsessed and demeaning, and even President Obama can’t stop mentioning him. Only this week, the president justified his own failure to tackle entitlements in his dud of a 2012 budget by saying that “the chairman of the House Republican budgeteers didn’t sign on” to the final report of Mr. Obama’s deficit commission.
What are they all so afraid of?
“Did he really say that?” asks Mr. Ryan about the president, sitting in his House office this week after another day of the hearings he now runs as chairman of the House Budget Committee. “I’m actually flattered.” Perhaps they’re worried, he says, “because we put out more than just bromides and platitudes. We put out specifics.”
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Has the president ever called him to talk? “Never once,” he says, notwithstanding Mr. Obama’s many public statements that he wants “aggressive” conversations with Republicans, especially Mr. Ryan. “He keeps saying that,” says the Wisconsin native, but “they don’t talk to us. It just doesn’t really happen. I don’t know what else to say.” ….
“The way I look at things is if you want to be good at this kind of job, you have to be willing to lose it. Number two, the times require this. And number three, if you don’t believe in your principles, and applying those principles, then what’s the point?” He mentions limited government and economic freedom. “I believe these are the best solutions. I believe they will result in growth and opportunity for the country.”
But why will this attempt at reforming entitlements be different politically than the marches into fixed bayonets of 1985, 1995 or 2005?
“Politically, I also believe it’s going to be the right thing to do. People want conviction politicians. People want the problem solved. People turn on their TV, they see the European debt crisis. They see California, New York, Illinois. They understand there is a sovereign debt crisis popping all over the place,” he says. “And to see a president duck and punt, and then try to use it as a political wedge against the opposing party to manipulate his re-election is not going to fly in this kind of climate.” …
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