Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss
Ryan, Ryan, Pants on Fire
4 views
Skip to first unread message
X ` Man
Aug 30, 2012, 3:46:25 PM8/30/12
to
WASHINGTON (AP) - GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan took some
factual shortcuts during the Republican convention when he attacked
President Barack Obama's policies on Medicare, the economic stimulus and
the budget deficit. His running mate, Mitt Romney, was expected to speak
later Thursday in the convention's culmination.
A closer look at some of Ryan's remarks Wednesday at the GOP convention
in Tampa, Fla.:
---
RYAN: "And the biggest, coldest power play of all in Obamacare came at
the expense of the elderly. ... So they just took it all away from
Medicare. Seven hundred and sixteen billion dollars, funneled out of
Medicare by President Obama."
THE FACTS: Ryan's claim ignores the fact that Ryan himself incorporated
the same cuts into budgets he steered through the House in the past two
years as chairman of its Budget Committee, using the money for deficit
reduction. And the cuts do not affect Medicare recipients directly, but
rather reduce payments to hospitals, health insurance plans and other
service providers.
In addition, Ryan's own plan to remake Medicare would squeeze the
program's spending even more than the changes Obama made, shifting
future retirees into a system in which they would get a fixed payment to
shop for coverage among private insurance plans. Critics charge that
would expose the elderly to more out-of-pocket costs.
---
RYAN: "The stimulus was a case of political patronage, corporate welfare
and cronyism at their worst. You, the working men and women of this
country, were cut out of the deal."
THE FACTS: Ryan himself asked for stimulus funds shortly after Congress
approved the $800 billion plan, known as the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act. Ryan's pleas to federal agencies included letters to
Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis seeking
stimulus grant money for two Wisconsin energy conservation companies.
One of them, the nonprofit Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corp., received
$20.3 million from the Energy Department to help homes and businesses
improve energy efficiency, according to federal records. That company,
he said in his letter, would build "sustainable demand for green jobs."
Another eventual recipient, the Energy Center of Wisconsin, received
about $365,000.
---
RYAN: Said Obama misled people in Ryan's hometown of Janesville, Wis.,
by making them think a General Motors plant there threatened with
closure could be saved. "A lot of guys I went to high school with worked
at that GM plant. Right there at that plant, candidate Obama said: 'I
believe that if our government is there to support you ... this plant
will be here for another hundred years.' That's what he said in 2008.
Well, as it turned out, that plant didn't last another year."
THE FACTS: The plant halted production in December 2008, weeks before
Obama took office and well before he enacted a more robust auto industry
bailout that rescued GM and Chrysler and allowed the majority of their
plants - though not the Janesville facility - to stay in operation. Ryan
himself voted for an auto bailout under President George W. Bush that
was designed to help GM, but he was a vocal critic of the one pushed
through by Obama that has been widely credited with revitalizing both GM
and Chrysler.
---
RYAN: Obama "created a bipartisan debt commission. They came back with
an urgent report. He thanked them, sent them on their way and then did
exactly nothing."
THE FACTS: It's true that Obama hasn't heeded his commission's
recommendations, but Ryan's not the best one to complain. He was a
member of the commission and voted against its final report.
--
What do the Republican Party of the United States and the Muslim
Brotherhood of the Arab World have in common? They're both faith-based
parties, they both deny science, and they both wage war on women.
factual shortcuts during the Republican convention when he attacked
President Barack Obama's policies on Medicare, the economic stimulus and
the budget deficit. His running mate, Mitt Romney, was expected to speak
later Thursday in the convention's culmination.
A closer look at some of Ryan's remarks Wednesday at the GOP convention
in Tampa, Fla.:
---
RYAN: "And the biggest, coldest power play of all in Obamacare came at
the expense of the elderly. ... So they just took it all away from
Medicare. Seven hundred and sixteen billion dollars, funneled out of
Medicare by President Obama."
THE FACTS: Ryan's claim ignores the fact that Ryan himself incorporated
the same cuts into budgets he steered through the House in the past two
years as chairman of its Budget Committee, using the money for deficit
reduction. And the cuts do not affect Medicare recipients directly, but
rather reduce payments to hospitals, health insurance plans and other
service providers.
In addition, Ryan's own plan to remake Medicare would squeeze the
program's spending even more than the changes Obama made, shifting
future retirees into a system in which they would get a fixed payment to
shop for coverage among private insurance plans. Critics charge that
would expose the elderly to more out-of-pocket costs.
---
RYAN: "The stimulus was a case of political patronage, corporate welfare
and cronyism at their worst. You, the working men and women of this
country, were cut out of the deal."
THE FACTS: Ryan himself asked for stimulus funds shortly after Congress
approved the $800 billion plan, known as the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act. Ryan's pleas to federal agencies included letters to
Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis seeking
stimulus grant money for two Wisconsin energy conservation companies.
One of them, the nonprofit Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corp., received
$20.3 million from the Energy Department to help homes and businesses
improve energy efficiency, according to federal records. That company,
he said in his letter, would build "sustainable demand for green jobs."
Another eventual recipient, the Energy Center of Wisconsin, received
about $365,000.
---
RYAN: Said Obama misled people in Ryan's hometown of Janesville, Wis.,
by making them think a General Motors plant there threatened with
closure could be saved. "A lot of guys I went to high school with worked
at that GM plant. Right there at that plant, candidate Obama said: 'I
believe that if our government is there to support you ... this plant
will be here for another hundred years.' That's what he said in 2008.
Well, as it turned out, that plant didn't last another year."
THE FACTS: The plant halted production in December 2008, weeks before
Obama took office and well before he enacted a more robust auto industry
bailout that rescued GM and Chrysler and allowed the majority of their
plants - though not the Janesville facility - to stay in operation. Ryan
himself voted for an auto bailout under President George W. Bush that
was designed to help GM, but he was a vocal critic of the one pushed
through by Obama that has been widely credited with revitalizing both GM
and Chrysler.
---
RYAN: Obama "created a bipartisan debt commission. They came back with
an urgent report. He thanked them, sent them on their way and then did
exactly nothing."
THE FACTS: It's true that Obama hasn't heeded his commission's
recommendations, but Ryan's not the best one to complain. He was a
member of the commission and voted against its final report.
--
What do the Republican Party of the United States and the Muslim
Brotherhood of the Arab World have in common? They're both faith-based
parties, they both deny science, and they both wage war on women.
thunder
Aug 30, 2012, 4:19:44 PM8/30/12
to
On Thu, 30 Aug 2012 15:46:25 -0400, X ` Man wrote:
> RYAN: "The stimulus was a case of political patronage, corporate welfare
> and cronyism at their worst. You, the working men and women of this
> country, were cut out of the deal."
Perhaps, he should talk to his ticket-mate. Interesting reading here:
> RYAN: "The stimulus was a case of political patronage, corporate welfare
> and cronyism at their worst. You, the working men and women of this
> country, were cut out of the deal."
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-federal-bailout-that-saved-
mitt-romney-20120829
0 new messages