Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Paul Ryan is a fraud -- and the GOP's "ideas" are a fraud, too. (Krugman, Lovett)
Paul Krugman
Talking about the evolution of Paul Ryan's ideas really misses the point. He wasn't interesting or original: his "Roadmap" was basically Newt Gingrich's 1995 Medicare plan and Arthur Laffer's tax plan 1/
The interesting question instead is why centrists and the news media elevated such an obvious poseur to the status of great thought leader. It's not about the man, it's about the narrative. And the next question is, who's next? 2/
The truth is that there has been a long dearth of interesting policy ideas on the right. The most recent I can think of is Stuart Butler's concept of universal health coverage via mandates and subsidies -- a Heritage idea that became Obamacare 3/
That was in the late 1980s -- and it was accepted on the left while becoming anathema on the right.I may be missing some other ideas, but I don't think any major ones. And the reigning orthodoxy on the right consists of known falsehoods 4/
The trouble is that to say this -- to have a list of major ideas and major thinkers that contains no currently active conservative ideas or Republicans -- seems "unbalanced". Ryan was credited with virtues he didn't at all possess to try and fill this gap. 5/
If experience is any guide, soon the media and the professional centrists will find another right-wing intellectual hero. And he will also be a complete, obvious fraud 6/
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/985519932665417729.html
Talking about the evolution of Paul Ryan's ideas really misses the point. He wasn't interesting or original: his "Roadmap" was basically Newt Gingrich's 1995 Medicare plan and Arthur Laffer's tax plan 1/
The interesting question instead is why centrists and the news media elevated such an obvious poseur to the status of great thought leader. It's not about the man, it's about the narrative. And the next question is, who's next? 2/
The truth is that there has been a long dearth of interesting policy ideas on the right. The most recent I can think of is Stuart Butler's concept of universal health coverage via mandates and subsidies -- a Heritage idea that became Obamacare 3/
That was in the late 1980s -- and it was accepted on the left while becoming anathema on the right.I may be missing some other ideas, but I don't think any major ones. And the reigning orthodoxy on the right consists of known falsehoods 4/
The trouble is that to say this -- to have a list of major ideas and major thinkers that contains no currently active conservative ideas or Republicans -- seems "unbalanced". Ryan was credited with virtues he didn't at all possess to try and fill this gap. 5/
If experience is any guide, soon the media and the professional centrists will find another right-wing intellectual hero. And he will also be a complete, obvious fraud 6/
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/985519932665417729.html
Good riddance, Paul Ryan
Jon Lovett
https://crooked.com/article/good-riddance-paul-ryan/
I also believe Paul Ryan is a fraud. He was a fraud when he claimed this most recent round of tax cuts would pay for themselves. He was a fraud long before Trump upended our politics, when the math of every budget and proposal he delivered didn’t add up. He was a fraud when he campaigned against deficits amid national crisis only to forget his concerns when the party of the president changed. His great skill has never been policy but rather understanding how the game is played. And he really is good at that.
Anyway, there ought to be a word for when someone you don’t trust, someone you view as a fraud, still manages to break your heart. Because I believed that Paul Ryan’s deceit was limited and ideological—I believed that he was the decent person his admirers claimed. That he was blinkered by his worldview, that he was another victim of Upton Sinclair, that he was wrong and dangerous and unexamined in the way a lot of ambitious politicians are, that he was an opponent who loved this country even though he would do great damage to it. It’s why, when I wrote in 2015 about the dreaded possibility of Trump winning, I imagined people like Paul Ryan actually showing integrity and courage. I couldn’t foresee that he’d hold his tongue, make a joke of ignoring the president, look past abuses and corruption and indignity after indignity just to pass a corporate tax cut. That he’d side with a hack undermining the rule of law. That he’d say in an interview that he’s “very happy,” because Trump—a bumbling and embarrassing racist who sows division and viciousness every single day— “is giving us the kind of leadership we need to get this country back on the right track.”
As much as I am a partisan, I thought better of Paul Ryan. I was naïve about just how far the Republican party had fallen. I expected more. I was foolish enough to expect patriotism. Yes, Ryan’s supporters and staffers will say he was in a tough spot, that the alternative would be worse, that he was balancing competing interests, that he’d face a revolt in his caucus, that he did his best. His best was not good enough. His personal decency was worthless to us. Paul Ryan’s legacy is debt and chaos. He let his country down. Good riddance.
Jon Lovett
https://crooked.com/article/good-riddance-paul-ryan/
I also believe Paul Ryan is a fraud. He was a fraud when he claimed this most recent round of tax cuts would pay for themselves. He was a fraud long before Trump upended our politics, when the math of every budget and proposal he delivered didn’t add up. He was a fraud when he campaigned against deficits amid national crisis only to forget his concerns when the party of the president changed. His great skill has never been policy but rather understanding how the game is played. And he really is good at that.
Anyway, there ought to be a word for when someone you don’t trust, someone you view as a fraud, still manages to break your heart. Because I believed that Paul Ryan’s deceit was limited and ideological—I believed that he was the decent person his admirers claimed. That he was blinkered by his worldview, that he was another victim of Upton Sinclair, that he was wrong and dangerous and unexamined in the way a lot of ambitious politicians are, that he was an opponent who loved this country even though he would do great damage to it. It’s why, when I wrote in 2015 about the dreaded possibility of Trump winning, I imagined people like Paul Ryan actually showing integrity and courage. I couldn’t foresee that he’d hold his tongue, make a joke of ignoring the president, look past abuses and corruption and indignity after indignity just to pass a corporate tax cut. That he’d side with a hack undermining the rule of law. That he’d say in an interview that he’s “very happy,” because Trump—a bumbling and embarrassing racist who sows division and viciousness every single day— “is giving us the kind of leadership we need to get this country back on the right track.”
As much as I am a partisan, I thought better of Paul Ryan. I was naïve about just how far the Republican party had fallen. I expected more. I was foolish enough to expect patriotism. Yes, Ryan’s supporters and staffers will say he was in a tough spot, that the alternative would be worse, that he was balancing competing interests, that he’d face a revolt in his caucus, that he did his best. His best was not good enough. His personal decency was worthless to us. Paul Ryan’s legacy is debt and chaos. He let his country down. Good riddance.
4 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
