Ryan: Obama on notice to 'put up or shut up' with defense cuts plan

Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., answers questions during a campaign event at Partnership for Defense Innovation in Fayetteville, N.C., Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012.

/ AP Photo/Sara D. Davis

(CBS News) FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - Vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan on Thursday condemned President Obama in his harshest terms yet for forcing mandatory defense cuts into last summer's agreement to raise the debt ceiling, saying that Congress has told the president to "put up or shut up" by disclosing how the cuts would be implemented.

Ryan was referring to the Sequestration Transparency Act, a bill that passed both the House and Senate by a bipartisan vote in late July. The president signed it earlier this month, though administration officials have said Congress should devote its energy to avoiding the so-called looming "fiscal cliff" instead of simply probing for details on the consequences.

"The president needs to show us how he plans on putting this in place if he is not going to help us pass legislation preventing it in the first place, so we're now waiting for that answer," Ryan said during a roundtable in Fayetteville, home to Fort Bragg.

The House Budget Committee chairman has made the defense cuts an increasingly frequent part of his stump speech, seeking to yoke Obama to the $550 billion in reductions that are scheduled to be implemented in January 2013 if Congress doesn't reach agreement on other spending cuts to offset the increase in the debt ceiling from last summer.

Ryan has pointed to legislation he authored, the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012, as a solution to offset the defense cuts, but his legislation received no Democratic support when it passed the House in late July. It also will not get through the Democratic-controlled Senate because it alters the food stamp program and slashes Medicaid spending, as well as funding to implement the Affordable Care Act.

"When those budget negotiations were going on it was the president and his party leaders that insisted on this makeup, this formula," Ryan said during the roundtable, which included family members of soldiers killed in action and some retired generals. "Defense spending is not half of all federal spending but its half of the cuts approximately in the sequester. We disagreed with that then, and we disagree with it now."

The Obama campaign was quick to castigate Ryan for seeking to lay all blame on the president.

"If Congressman Ryan were serious about avoiding the automatic defense cuts he decried in North Carolina today, he'd tell Mitt Romney and his fellow Republicans in Congress to work with the president to achieve balanced deficit reduction that includes asking millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share - as the plan President Obama has put forward does. But he's not," said Obama campaign spokesman Danny Kanner in a statement. "Congressman Ryan voted for the agreement he criticized today ... Congressman Ryan and Mitt Romney should show some leadership to avoid these cuts instead of using our military budget to score a political point."

Ryan voted for the Budget Control Act when it passed, calling it "a victory for those committed to controlling government spending and growing our economy." His staff insists he supported the deficit reduction in the law, not the defense cuts that are scheduled to take place because Congress has been unable to reach an agreement on further spending cuts or tax increases.

While Ryan did not express confidence that Congress would be able to pass legislation to avoid the sequester during the lame-duck session (though he said he would try), he did lay out a plan to retroactively undo the cuts to pass his legislation in January after, he hopes, Romney is elected.

Ryan also sought to personalize the issue of defense cuts for the first time, echoing the strategy he has embraced on the campaign trail to convince voters he is committed to reforming Medicare.

During the event, he spoke of carrying a card with him that bears the names of his his constituents who have lost their lives in battle, as well as the name of a childhood friend who served in Afghanistan during the surge.

"It's our duty to preserve this legacy to support our voluntary force of men and women who volunteer to serve our nation and not let them be pawns in a political game because this is messing with jobs and lives, right here in North Carolina," Ryan said.

The emotional point of his argument in particular was underscored by the military family members on the panel such as Christina Kazakavage, whose son was killed in action in Afghanistan.

"We've got to put both feet forward and stomp them in the ground as hard as we can and say, 'Absolutely, I'm an American citizen, I'm an American citizen and I want to stay that way, thank you,'" she said.

[goat5691]

I wonder how many Republican voters have read this without comment!
Oh! How we hate to be wrong! With all the damage that has been and is being done to our nation,the Republican voters that have their beliefs based on their opinions will dictate the facts they want to accept and if a truth/fact comes along and doesn't fit they will twist it so it does.

[sjc_1]

Ryan was for it before he was against it. A year ago, the Tea Party got Ryan to go for sequester, now that he is running, he wants to appeal to the GOP and say spend more on defense.

You can not have it both ways, either cut spending or don't, but don't pretend you can say one thing and then do another. You either work for the Tea Party or the GOP, we would all rather that you work for the country.

[marychgo]

What a tool Ryan is! Not only was he a major player in holding the debt ceiling vote hostage, which produced the Summer 2011 "deal" he voted for; he was ALSO on the Super-Committee, which couldn't reach agreement to prevent the "sequester" cuts because the Republicans absolutely refused to raise even a penny of taxes! Kind of like how he now talks kindly about Simpson-Bowles, but refused to vote for it because it raised taxes $1 for every $3 in spending it cut! Oh yeah, he's a "deficit hawk"! More like a CHICKEN hawk!

[nygurl1]

So we have TWO flip floppers!

[lami987]

When our hi-tech weapons couldn't even fight the no-tech or low-tech weapons in Afganistan or Iraq that means we have too much hi-tech weapons already. Its time to stop spending on hi-tech weapons and start to concentrate on war avoidance. Spend money on main street Americans. Because main street Americans are the true job creators. Jobs are created when main street Americans buy. Businesses would only lay off workers when main street Americans do not buy regardless of how much money or tax breaks businesses get.

[sjc_1]

The GOP platform on military is "spend baby spend". They have been borrowing and wasting for 30 years. The U.S. spends more than the next TEN countries combined, including China, Russian, Germany, Japan, U.K., France and all the rest COMBINED.

[Eco99]

It is amazing. The GOP is against individual welfare but has no problems with corporate welfare. I view this inordinate amount of spending on defense a form of welfare but it is an untouchable aka they contribute to much to campaigns. Nope can't touch defense spending but more than willing to cut into Medicare and Social Security. Anyone who does not see the GOP has their sites set on undermining the middle class and those without money are blind.

[sjc_1]

They will cut $30 billion out of food stamps and Medicaid before they will cut back on the number of F22 fighter planes costing $300 million a piece. They want to buy at least 200 of those for $60 billion plus training, spares and maintenance for a program costing more than $100 billion, even though the F22 has NO MISSION.

[buzzm11]

Rmoney plans on increasing Defense Spending -STOP THE INSANITY

http://forumsforjustice.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1981&postcount=1

[nygurl1]

Well he, and all the other reps, during the debates, said they would attack Iran & N.Korea, so that is why they want more defense spending!

Someone said they were even considering China. ....Since that's where most of mittys off-shoring companies are, he's planning on killing his own employees!

I wonder if he realizes that China, with it'd billions of people, could just over-run our whole country? ....And they'd never hesitate to throw an h-bomb or 2. ....They just consider their people cannon fodder and are not fussy about who's cannon it might be!

[buzzm11]

Total Federal Revenues .vs Defense Spending = % of Revenues
......in trillions.....
YEAR..TREV..DEFENSE.. % of Revenues
FY1998 1.721 \ 0.256 = 14.9%
FY1999 1.827 \ 0.261 = 14.3% Glass-Steagall repealed
FY2000 2.025 \ 0.281 = 13.9%
FY2001 1.990 \ 0.291 = 14.6% Bush Tax Cuts for the wealthy
FY2002 1.853 \ 0.332 = 17.9%
FY2003 1.783 \ 0.389 = 21.8% More Bush Tax Cuts for the wealthy
FY2004 1.880 \ 0.437 = 23.2% Ninja
FY2005 2.154 \ 0.474 = 22.0% Ninja
FY2006 2.407 \ 0.499 = 20.7% Ninja
FY2007 2.568 \ 0.529 = 20.6% Ninja
FY2008 2.524 \ 0.595 = 23.6% Recession
FY2009 2.105 \ 0.637 = 30.3% Bush Final Budget
FY2010 2.162 \ 0.677 = 31.3%
FY2011 2.302 \ 0.679 = 29.5% Payroll Tax Cut
FY2012 x.xxx \ 0.662 = xx.x% Payroll Tax Cut

[sjc_1]

You can see when revenue dropped off in 2009 the percentage shot up, it is not like we spent more we took in much LESS.

This is why the Teapublicans insistence on NO revenue is SO irresponsible and reckless. We NEED revenue, we lost more than $600 billion per year in the crash.

The Republicans crash the economy with their sub prime ignorance and now they want to kill the country off completely...but oh...they are SUCH patriotic Americans.

[jimbom121]

Perhaps Rep Ryan has amnesia. Seems that it was the GOP that caused the sequester to happen and then to fail.

[GOP-R--Con-Men]

I have been analysing the GOP for years and I have deciphered their playbook. And some of the things they do will seem strange unless you know what their goals/end game actually is. Remember everything they do is toward that end.

1. Republicans love deficits when they are the party that creates them. Now you might say, why is that? Republicans hate government and it's ability to help ordinary Americans. Have any republican president EVER ran a deficit by spending money on people to benefit them? No! So what do they do? They empty the treasury wasting money on unnecessary wars and tax give a ways the corporation, big oil and the super rich and the while Americans are in dire need of help from their government. Those entities don't need the money and some never asked for it.

But republican know that they can use a empty treasury to proclaim the country is broke and we can't afford this or that program for ordinary Americans. Then they said you should pull yourself up by your boot straps. Even though republican cut the boot straps and programs that might help you. But they have NO PROBLEM giving billions to corporations, big oil and the super rich. Why would they do this? Remember republicans NEVER want government to be beneficial to Americans. So if government programs prove benefical that's a problem for republicans because it goes against their decades oud mantra that government is the problem and it must be reduced or eliminated.

There's much more to their tricks and games but you get the picture.

That's why they must be voted out of office.

[WHAT-IS-HE-SMOKING]

July 2012 "I'm for the cut"
August 2012 "I'm not for the cut"
What will he be for next month?