Republicans who used to think of Paul Ryan as their "intellectual" savior now barely remember "Phil Who???"

by Ken

WHAT A DIFFERENCE AN HOUR AND A HALF CAN MAKE

Version 1

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Breaking News Alert: Medicare dropped from GOP budget proposal
May 4, 2011 9:11:13 PM
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Senior Republicans conceded Wednesday that a deal is unlikely on a plan to overhaul Medicare and offered to open budget talks by focusing on areas where both parties can agree, such as cutting farm subsidies.

On the eve of debt-reduction talks, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Va.) said Republicans remain convinced that reining in federal retirement programs is vital, but recognize they may need to look elsewhere to achieve consensus.

http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/U38ITL/M93VI2/A7CIZJ/OZGAFW/OZ4LS/QR/h

Version 2

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Politics News Alert: Republican leaders seeking compromise in deficit talks
May 4, 2011 10:36:30 PM
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[Note: The headline on an earlier alert incorrectly described the GOP position in deficit talks.]

Senior Republicans conceded Wednesday that a deal is unlikely on a plan to overhaul Medicare and offered to open budget talks by focusing on areas where both parties can agree, such as cutting farm subsidies.

On the eve of debt-reduction talks, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Va.) said Republicans remain convinced that reining in federal retirement programs is vital, but recognize they may need to look elsewhere to achieve consensus.

http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/O914NF/PR17W0/5CGW0I/VK2XD1/WDQ0P/D5/h

Yesterday Howie wrote ("Paul Ryan Isn't Exactly Miss Popularity Any Longer Inside The House GOP Caucus") about the sudden lack of enthusiasm for the current GOP economic golden boy Paul Ryan on the part of Republicans in the House -- and not just the House: "Last weekend when [Ryan] said he knows that many Republicans may lose at the polls because they supported his budget but that he didn't care, that was probably the last straw for many [House Republicans]. Senate Republicans are begging Harry Reid to not force them to vote on Ryan's budget."

We haven't had much lately to cheer on our side of the political spectrum, and even less to laugh about. Here it is all rolled up in one package.

The demagogues, crackpots, and thugs of the Right have been getting away with so much that I wasn't sure they couldn't get away even with the astonishing assault on Medicare. Oh, he's denying that his plan is an assault on Medicare, but that can only be because (a) he's dumber than we thought (which is difficult, because he already seemed to me to talk and write like someone with an IQ of about 50), (b) he doesn't listen to what he says (and who could blame him?), or (c) he's a pathological liar.

I wish I could say that the dismantling of Medicare (what else can you call his proposal?) is anywhere near the worst thing in the Ryan budget. But it's the one that even the least savvy political strategist should have known fell under the heading of "asking for trouble."

If, after the going-on-eight hellacious years of the Bush regime, a presidential candidate in 2008 had undertaken the job of making voters understand why Republican economics serve no one but the rich and are designed to lead to disaster for everyone else, it might now be possible to tear the Ryan budget apart and crush the lockstep Republican congressplaceholders who signed onto it, not to mention the gutless Dems who think that "austerity" is what their voters want from them and have been trying frantically to get their signatures on the dotted line.

That didn't happen, no doubt in good part because none of the "serious" candidates had enough substantive disagreement with the basic planks of Republican economics -- certainly not the future president. Ironically, when he does now want to oppose Republican budget proposals, he's in the position of playing catchup, saying, "Oh, by the way, these are bad ideas. I meant to tell you."

Rob Zerban, Ryan's Democratic challenger, is sincerely concerned that Ryan's budget or vision or "cause" is dangerous for the working families of southeast Wisconsin and the rest of the United States. The Democrats have never tried to seriously challenge Ryan in the past although they swear up and down this year will be different and that the DCCC will attempt to "really" help Zerban. We'll believe that when we see it. Meanwhile, Ron Zerban is featured on the Blue America Stop Paul Ryan page and we hope you'll lend a hand.

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