When Paul Ryan leaves government, the fed deficit will be $1.2 trillion higher than when he arrived

[DonViejo]

When Paul Ryan leaves government, the federal deficit will be $1.2 trillion higher than when he arrived

By Philip Bump
July 25 at 5:52 PM

One fun thing about the Nexis online news archive at Nexis is that you can search for how many times certain people have been described in certain ways in news reports. For example, one can learn that, since June 2008, Paul Ryan has been called a “deficit hawk” more than 400 times in English-language news reports. The first included in the index is an article from Roll Call titled, “Ryan Campaigns for Fiscal Fitness” — sadly written before Time magazine snapped some of the most iconic images of any legislator in history.

The House speaker is a deficit hawk, you see, because of his long-standing crusade for lower federal budget deficits. It has been the cause with which the Wisconsin Republican has been associated for most of his career since getting to Capitol Hill in 1999 — cutting spending and bringing the budget under control.

However, Bloomberg’s Steven Dennis made an interesting observation about Ryan’s tenure on Twitter.

Link to tweet

Those figures are accurate. Under Ryan’s tenure as speaker, the deficit will have more than doubled. If we extend that idea backward, though, it’s worse: Since he joined Congress in 1999, the budget will have gone from a $125 billion surplus to a $1.1 trillion deficit — a swing of $1.2 trillion to the red.





It’s certainly not fair to hold Ryan accountable for the federal budget when he was one of 435 members of the House. But over time he assumed more and more significant roles, culminating in his current position. And while the deficit has grown over the past several years (after spiking in the wake of the recession), there’s one significant reason that next year’s deficit is expected to be so large — the tax cuts passed by Congress in December, tax cuts that Ryan not only supported but championed. Those cuts slashed personal and corporate taxes, the latter permanently. Less money coming in and little change in spending means bigger deficits.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/07/25/when-paul-ryan-leaves-government-the-federal-deficit-will-be-1-2-trillion-higher-than-when-he-arrived/

[PJMcK]

1. But isn't Ryan the smart one?

(snark)

[Wounded Bear]

5. Yep, he is...just ask him...

[dalton99a]

2. Ryan is a liar and a thief

just like the piece of shit in the White House

[DFW]

3. Well, of course

The definition of "fiscal responsibility" in Republicanese is not the same as in English. In fact, it is almost the opposite.

[Golden Raisin]

4. And he'll soon be making big bucks serving

on corporate boards, or lobbying and consulting on K Street.

[MurrayDelph]

6. He wants to lay low

while a Democratic president fixes the problems he helped create.

And then he'll run for the Presidency by railing against the "tax and spend Democrats."

[mitch96]

8. "while a Democratic president fixes the problems he helped create. "

It seems that's what has been happening over the years...
Clinton fixed Bush 1's expenses...
Bush 2 came in with a surplus and he pissed that away real fast...
Obama fixed Bush 2's deficit and now yellow turd bomb just jacked it up again...
At least they can use the deficit spending as a talking point for the 18 & 20 election...
aka the borrow and spend conservatives....
m

[Blecht]

7. Republicans do not now give (nor have they ever given) a single shit

about the deficit.

They are repugnant hypocrites who create the deficit by giving all our money to the super wealthy and then screaming about how we need to cut social safety nets because of the deficit.

It's infuriating that they are not shouted down every time they mention the word "deficit".