Another Flip Flop From One Of The Most Hypocritical Of Republicans, Wisconsin's Paul Ryan

Later this month it will be one year since the House approved Wisconsin Congressman David Obey's H.R.1, a supplemental appropriations bill, usually referred to as Obama's Stimulus Package, which was meant to finance "job preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science," as well as to offer "assistance to the unemployed, and State and local fiscal stabilization." It passed 244-188 with not a single Republican vote. [Among the 11 conservative Democrats crossing the aisle to vote with the GOP that day were original Boehner Boy Blue Dogs, Parker Griffith (AL), Allen Boyd (FL), Gene Taylor (MS), Frank Kratovil (MD), Brad Ellsworth (IN), Heath Shuler (NC), Bobby Bright (AL), Jim Cooper (TN), and Colin Peterson (MN).] Democrats who expected some Republican support for the bill were shocked that the GOP House caucus had decided to oppose the bill in lockstep. They at least expected some of the several dozen Republicans who voted for Bush's bank bailouts in 2008 to vote for the Stimulus. It just didn't make sense to be bailing out the banksters but not their victims, the taxpayers.

And yet the Republican House leaders who voted for the bailouts-- both on September 29 (when it failed) and again a few days later (after hysteria from the Bush Regime) on October 3 when it passed with 91 Republican votes-- all opposed the Stimulus legislation to "bail out" ordinary working families. Leading the charge for the GOP on both days were self-professed economic conservative leaders like John Boehner (R-OH), Pete Sessions (R-TX), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Dan Lungren (R-CA), Matt Blunt (R-MO), Spencer Bachus (R-AL), Jerry Lewis (R-CA), Mike Castle (R-DE), David Dreier (R-CA), and, worst of all the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee (as well as a member of the Ways and Means Committee, Paul Ryan (R-WI).

Ryan has been one of the biggest recipients of shady bankster "political contributions," which goes a long way towards explaining why he voted for the bankster bailouts both times and why he voted against breaks for ordinary citizens again and again and again. Walking off with $1,713,095 in "contributions" from the banksters his committee is supposed to be regulating-- more cash than any two members of the Wisconsin congressional delegation in history-- Ryan always votes with the banksters and always votes against working families. Always. Shortly after voting to give hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to sleazy and incompetent baksters. Ryan was lecturing working families that the Stimulus was bad because "sustained growth comes from the work, savings and investment of American families and businesses-- not from the federal government... What we cannot do is borrow and spend our way into prosperity, building up huge federal deficits and calling it 'stimulus.' The intent of a second so-called stimulus-- as advertised by the Democratic majority and President-elect Barack Obama-- is 'to get the economy back on track.' But there is no evidence another huge infusion of federal dollars will stimulate anything more than a temporary jolt in consumer spending, after which the economy returns to its previous course. The only lasting gains of stimulus spending will likely be in higher deficits and debt-- both of which are soaring."

Forget about ganders and geese; many in Wisconsin were shocked when Ryan, who has told his reactionary financial supporters that he wants to repeal the stimulus, announced last week that he is "joining the village of Sharon to fight the loss of $547,000 in stimulus money used to build a storm-water retention system." If this sounds like hypocrisy to you... well, welcome to the world of Rep. Paul Ryan, a world where corrupt politicians make sure taxpayers keep banksters afloat while preaching small (stingy) government when it comes to ordinary working families. This guy is a one-man job destroying machine and he doesn't deserve another free ride to re-election. Wanna help stop him?


UPDATE: Ryan Endorses Rubio

How to insulate himself from his aggressive advocacy of the Bush bankster bailouts? This morning Ryan endorsed extremist and teabagger-darling Marco Rubio. That's more bad news for Wisconsin families looking for good news of the employment or housing front.