Political Hotsheet
By

Rebecca Kaplan /

CBS News/ August 15, 2012, 6:22 PM

Ryan: Biden comments are 'desperate'

AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

(CBS News) DAYTON, Ohio -- Rep. Paul Ryan said on Wednesday that Vice President Joe Biden's remark that Republicans were trying to "unchain" Wall Street and put Americans back in "chains" is a sign of a desperation from the Obama campaign.

"These are the kinds of things you say when you are desperate in a campaign ... I think you're going to hear more of these things as we go on, because they have a terrible record and can't run on it, so they're going to kind of sink this campaign to these low levels to distract people," Ryan said in a radio interview with conservative Fox News host Sean Hannity.

"We've gone from hope and change to anger and division and blame and attack, and I think people are going to see right through this," he said.

Biden's remarks, delivered at a campaign rally in Virginia on Tuesday, have incurred outrage from the Romney campaign, though Biden said he stands by them.

Ryan also defended the controversial changes to Medicare in the budget he offered and suggested that critics were misrepresenting his views. The Romney campaign also has been rebuked for its recent statements on Medicare.

"It's a classic straw-man argument, which is affix views to your opponent that they don't have, in order to defeat the argument, defeat those views, and win the argument by default," he said. "It won't work, and I think people are going to see through it."

© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
26 Comments Add a Comment
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GreedyOldPartee says:
Desperate, like repubs changing the early voting times in Ohio and voter ID in Pennsylvania. That kind of desperate.
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AOCGUY says:
While I firmly believe that Biden is a good man and that he is correct in his comments (if not a bit harsh), he is also not in the same league as Ryan and Obama (Romney trails a bit behind those two but can probably hold his own) Personally I would love to see a debate between Ryan and Obama. Both have exceptional minds, are accomplished debaters and clearly are on completely opposite sides on almost every issue.
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AOCGUY replies:
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I wasn't addressing Ryan's motivations just his ability to communicate. It's an ill prepared soldier that underestimates his enemy's strengths.
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chevyhotrod says:
by BenJordon August 16, 2012 10:24 AM EDT
I see chevy is going to pee on everyone's post today just to mark them up.

No Ben, just reporting the truth here. My links speak from themselves. Hope you have a nice day...:)
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chevyhotrod replies:
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I know, your post are just so full of data and links, it is taking me so long to draw conclusions from where these ideas came from.

Try doing some research yourself and come back with some evidence to back up your wacky claims instead of regurgitating Democrat talking points.
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chevyhotrod says:
by venusvegasvada August 16, 2012 3:33 AM EDT
No need for Biden to apologize, he was spot on.

There are a bunch of people out there that made a lot of money during the economic boom-bust-meltdown from 2000-2008.

____________________________________

Oh, you are so spot on. Now lets look and see who that was, shall we?

ROBERT B. REICH was Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997.
Washington and Wall Street: The Revolving Door
By ROBERT B. REICH
Published: May 27, 2011

It's hardly news that the near meltdown of America's financial system enriched a few at the expense of the rest of us. Who's responsible? The recent report of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission blamed all the usual suspects Wall Street banks, financial regulators, the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and subprime lenders which is tantamount to blaming no one. "Reckless Endangerment" concentrates on particular individuals who played key roles.

The authors, Gretchen Morgenson, a Pulitzer Prize winning business reporter and columnist at The New York Times, and Joshua Rosner, an expert on housing finance, deftly trace the beginnings of the collapse to the mid-1990s, when the Clinton administration called for a partnership between the private sector and Fannie and Freddie to encourage home buying. The mortgage agencies' government backing was, in effect, a valuable subsidy, which was used by Fannie's C.E.O., James A. Johnson, to increase home ownership while enriching himself and other executives.

A 1996 study by the Congressional Budget Office found that Fannie pocketed about a third of the subsidy rather than passing it on to homeowners. Over his nine years heading Fannie, Johnson personally took home roughly $100 million. His successor, Franklin D. Raines, was treated no less lavishly.

To entrench Fannie's privileged position, Morgenson and Rosner write, Johnson and Raines channeled some of the profits to members of Congress contributing to campaigns and handing out patronage positions to relatives and former staff members.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/books/review/book-review-reckless-endangerment-by-gretchen-morgenson-and-joshua-rosner.html?pagewanted=all


Update: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Invest in Lawmakers
By Lindsay Renick Mayer on September 11, 2008 11:26 AM

All Recipients of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Campaign Contributions, 1989-2008

Name Office State Party Grand Total Total from PACs Total from Individuals
#1 Dodd, Christopher J S CT D $165,400 $48,500 $116,900
#2 Obama, Barack S IL D $126,349 $6,000 $120,349
#3 Kerry, John S MA D $111,000 $2,000 $109,000

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/09/update-fannie-mae-and-freddie.html

New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae
By STEPHEN LABATON
Published: September 11, 2003

The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.

Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry.

The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios.

The plan is an acknowledgment by the administration that oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which together have issued more than $1.5 trillion in outstanding debt is broken. A report by outside investigators in July concluded that Freddie Mac manipulated its accounting to mislead investors, and critics have said Fannie Mae does not adequately hedge against rising interest rates.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/11/business/new-agency-proposed-to-oversee-freddie-mac-and-fannie-mae.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm


Might also look into campaign contribution for Lehman Brothers, Bern Stern, CountryWide, AIG, Goldman Sachs, Frannie & Freddie and many others for the past 20 years. The truth shall set you free.

Might also look at the tax return for John Kerry and his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry, but you might have a hard time finding them, along with President Obama college transcripts or any papers he wrote while in school. But he did write his life's memoir at age 43. Who does that?
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chevyhotrod replies:
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Don't like the truth do you Ben?

Just more mindless attacks, I show proof and evidence of what really went on and you don't like what you see.

The links speak for themselves.
WHAT-IS-HE-SMOKING replies:
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Bennett, Robert F S UT R $107,999 $71,499 $36,500
Bachus, Spencer H AL R $103,300 $70,500 $32,800
Blunt, Roy H MO R $96,950 $78,500 $18,

And this was the next three.
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obwon2008 says:
Funny how Biden acts like an outsider when talking about how the general USA public was (and still is being) totally screwed over by the mortgage & student loan lenders and Wall Street (ie.Goldman Sachs etc.). These greedy lenders caused the economy to crash, the job and income losses and subsequent loan defaults and foreclosures. President Obama, Joe Biden and the entire Democrat controlled congress shot themselves in the foot by not forcing the banks and Wall Street partnerships to stop foreclosures, harassing student loan defautees and cosigners. Debt reduction, loan forgiveness, partial low rate refinancing and no payment balloon mortgages should have been forced upon these greedy goons. Where was Joe B and Barack Obama when they had the power to help? They were busy helping criminal economist Larry Summers to dole out nearly $1 Trillion dollars to the same banks who caused the problem. Obama and Biden are all talk but in reality are paid servants of the banks and Wall Street (check out the 2008 donation list). I say give the Republicans a chance to put their money where their mouth is and if the conservatives make things worse for us over the next four years, then we will show them the meaning of a mass voter REVOLUTION in 2016 and kick them out harder than we now can kick Obama out of office. God Bless Us All!
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yougogirl60 says:
Ryan AND the Republicans are feigning false outrage over Vice President Biden's remark because they know he is telling the truth. If Willard. Ryan and more teabagging Congresspeople prevail in November, the American middle class will cease to exist. The process may take a few more years, but it will happen.

For an example, think about what might have happened if we had followed Willard's plan to LET DETROIT GO BANKTUPT. It has been estimated by some economists that at one MILLION jobs would have been lost. Willard and his financial henchmen would have done a BAIN on what was left of GM and Chryler by selling the remains to China and raiding the employees' pension funds. Willard and his type are truly what Newt Gingrich(I can't believe I am agreeing with Newt!) says they are, VULTURE capitaists.

WAKE UP, people before it is too late!
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chevyhotrod replies:
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Detroit did have to file for Bankruptcy, just like Mitt Romney said to do.

It was the only way to redo union contracts, just like he said needed to be done.

You only agree with Newt to not focus on the issues and you are the one with selective outrage, so your projection is obvious for all to see.
WHAT-IS-HE-SMOKING replies:
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So the republican way of doing business is to enforce contracts that make them money but claim bankruptcy when they don't.
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WHAT-IS-HE-SMOKING says:
The Institute for Policy Studies, a self-described "progressive multi-issue think tank," analyzed the link between tax loopholes and excessive executive compensation and concluded that the loopholes created an "uneven playing field" between large companies and small businesses and led to lost tax revenue.

The latest edition of the institute's annual Executive Excess compensation study found that in 2011, 26 CEOs received more in compensation than their companies paid in taxes, and that the four major tax loopholes contributing to excessive executive pay cost taxpayers about $14.4 billion a year.

"The report is timely at a time when the tax debate is so intense in this country," Sarah Anderson, the institute's global economy project director and the report's co-author, told ABC News. "Some leaders are saying we need to reduce the corporate tax burden even more while major companies are taking advantage of loopholes to lower their tax bill."

The report critiqued the major tax loopholes, including the preferential treatment of "carried interest" income for hedge fund managers. "Carried interest" income can be taxed as capital gains - at 15 percent tops - instead of at 35 percent, the top income tax rate. The Congressional Budget Office's projected estimate for "carried interest" income — revenue from investment income or dividends - for 2012 to 2021 was $21.4 billion
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chevyhotrod replies:
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What are they estimating the TOTAL debt to be for 2012 to 2021?

More than $10 Trillion? So, will save how much again?

What about the other $9.975 Trillion, where are we going to get that money from?
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endrepubs says:
The Romneys and Ryans Represent the worst of the rich in America. Although there are rich people who believe in doing the right thing for the country and genuinely do care about those less fortunate, the Ryan Romney duo are not in this category. They have clearly stated that they are out to help the 1 percent at the expense of everyone else. They smugly refuse to hand over more than two 'doctored up' years of tax returns. The best theory I have heard as to why the Romney's have adamantly refused to release their tax returns is Romney did in fact have a lot of money hidden in illegal tax shelter overseas and during the Bush presidency, Bush offered tax amnesty to those who had illegally hidden money from the IRS. If they made good on the back taxes, they would not be prosecuted for a felony. It seems that Romney took up the Bush offer to avoid prosecution and this would show up on his returns from the Bush era. In addition to the the felony tax avoidance committed by Romney and forgiven by Bush, Romney's tax returns would also probably show, since he was hiding his money, that he was not tithing the required 10% of his income to the Mormon Church. This would also be a source of embarrassment to Romney and he will just NOT let this cat out of the bag. We know why Ryan isn't releasing more than two years and that is to not make his big brother look bad. It is so easy to see what these two cowlicks are up to. Ryan used to love Ayn Rand and idolize her until someone pointed out to him that she was a devout atheist. Like he didn't know that? Now he is running from that one. These men are an embarrassment to the United States.
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chevyhotrod replies:
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"In addition to the the felony tax avoidance committed by Romney"

Just more lies and personal attacks without a shred of evidence to back it up.

$1.3+ Trillion annual deficits is an embarrassement to the United States

$16+ Trillion debt is an embarrassement to the United States

$100+ Trillion unfunded liability is an embarrassement to the United States.

"cowlicks"? What kind of mindless attack is that?

Time for the adults to take over and cut up the credit cards.
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omnibus66 says:
Actually, Biden did slip up by saying "back" in chains. We, the 99% are already in chains, and the Rob-Me's of the world want to keep us there. When the top 10% have 90% of the wealth, it is indeed a slave state.
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chevyhotrod replies:
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Want to enslave a nation? But them into debt that could never be paid back.

Soon the interest on the debt will be hard to pay.

You can confiscate 100% of all the wealth from the top 10% and it would not even cover 1% of the total unfunded liabilities.

Once you take all their wealth, where to you think they will turn to next?

Take a wild guess....
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venusvegasvada says:
No need for Biden to apologize, he was spot on.

There are a bunch of people out there that made a lot of money during the economic boom-bust-meltdown from 2000-2008.

Most people recognize what happened during that time as wrong. Uncontrolled greed that ran amok. There are many that are fighting to not only fix all the problems it caused but repair the systemic problems so that it can't happen again. That it even went as far as it did and that it could have been allowed to, is what amazes most people.

Then there is this other group. The GOP. That will tell you that not only was it all ok, we should be jumping right back into it again. That's their economic recovery plan.

They will tell you that unabashed greed at the expense of others and the Nation is actually ok. There are a lot of selfish, greedy people out there that want nothing more than to roll back the clock to 2006 so they can get their greed on again- regardless of what that does to everyone else.

There are your GOP supporters. The same ones that have been fighting to roll back our uncontrolled Wall Street. These selfish people WANT another boom-bust cycle! It's truly unbelievable, but only if you have any kind of moral values what so ever.

If your a greedy person, you just want to get money and stash it away and you don't care what happens to everyone else as it's not your problem is it?

If you're the GOP, you are going to deflect any discussion of it because it's the last thing in the world they want to talk about.

That's the fundamental difference in this election. Pick your side.
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