Thursday, December 12, 2013

Congressman Paul Ryano?

Can we call him Congressman Ryano? I feel as David Stockman does. The budget agreement is a total capitulation on the part of Republicans. No one ever expected Paul Ryan to find himself to the left of Mitch McConnell who will vote against the compromise. The congressman from Wisconsin will no longer be seen as the Republican's expert on all matters budgetary, something he has been able to do notwithstanding his vote for TARP. At the risk of appearing pollyannaish there may be a silver lining in the dark clouds if House Democrats can be tricked into blowing up the budget deal. They seem willing to do anything to distract the public from Obamacare and assume that the public will blame Republicans for any shutdown but that to me at least seems less than certain.
Suddenly it seems the extension of unemployment benefits were overlooked in the negotiations and must be included in any deal. Blowing up the deal may not necessarily redound to the good of the Democrats. The media, which always fawns over any deal as if any deal is a positive good, has trumpeted the Ryan-Murray pact as the greatest agreement for the good of the republic since Appomattox. The Democrats start from behind if they try to un sell the deal which one must assume has the blessings of Harry Reid and the White House. Doesn't Obama care about the unemployed?
If House Democrats take the bait and shutdown the government Ryan will probably be viewed as a shrewd political tactician but not much of a conservative which I suspect he has been all along.

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