In Iowa, Ryan prebuts Clinton's DNC Speech

Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. arrives at a campaign event at the Dallas County Courthouse, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012, in Adel, Iowa.

/ AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

(CBS News) ADEL, Iowa - Rep. Paul Ryan on Wednesday professed interest in former President Clinton's upcoming speech at the Democratic National Convention -- because he predicted it will merely point out flaws in President Obama's record.

"My guess is we will get a great rendition of how good things were in the 1990s, but we're not going to hear much about how things have been the last four years," Ryan said as an audience of several hundred Republicans in this town west of Des Moines chuckled appreciatively.

"And by the way, under President Clinton, we got welfare reform ... which moved people from welfare to work to get people out of poverty. President Obama is rolling back welfare reform. President Clinton worked with Republicans in Congress to have a budget agreement, to cut spending. President Obama -- a gusher of new spending and only demagoguery from those of us who have offered solutions," Ryan said, offering up a familiar Republican attack - deemed false by multiple fact-checkers -- that claims Obama gutted the work requirement from welfare reform. The new policy gives states more flexibility in meeting the requirements of the Clinton-era law.

In response, Obama campaign spokesman Danny Kanner painted the Romney-Ryan campaign as dealing in falsehoods. "In Iowa, Congressman Ryan repeated Mitt Romney's welfare lie, but couldn't say how they'd create a single job now," Kanner said. "While the congressman has proven his willingness to ignore the truth, even he should know that President Clinton has joined with every independent fact checker, news organization, and a Republican architect of welfare reform in calling the welfare attack blatantly false."

Ryan also attacked Obama for the size of the national debt, which hit the $16 trillion mark on Tuesday, and said the country is "in decline."

"We know what the last four years has brought us. We are a country in doubt. We hit 16 trillion dollars of debt." Ryan said. "That's a country in decline. We have a clear choice. Are we going to stay on the path that President Obama has placed us on or are we going to turn this around, win this election and get the country back on the right track?"

Talking up Iowa, Ryan said he was "kindred spirits" with people who also come from a state that farms corn and soybeans. During his second campaign stop since being announced as Mitt Romney's running mate, Ryan sought to build local credibility by mentioning that his mother-in-law hails from the eastern Iowa city of Clinton, and his grandfather attended Loras College in Dubuque.

He got a rousing introduction from Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, who recalled Ryan's performance at a meeting of top Republicans and the president at the White House in February 2009, at which he said Obama was belittling Republican ideas.

"When Congressman Ryan got done with telling his view of what the president wanted to do on health care reform, he shattered the president so much and shocked the president so much that the president had no comeback on Congressman Ryan," Grassley said. "So you understand, you understand we gotta fight, we got a guy that's going to take it to them."

Grassley hasn't always expressed the same fondness for Romney. After Romney voiced opposition to a wind energy production tax credit set to expire at the end of the year that enjoys broad bipartisan support throughout the country, Grassley reportedly told a town hall meeting in August: "I felt it was just like a knife in my back, as the author of the bill, without even being consulted about it."

[Maerzie]

If anybody wants to see the hypocrisy of the NEW Teapublican "Christian", just listen to the hate and evil coming out of Ryan's mouth every time he opens it! I wonder WHICH "CHRIST" he is representing?? It must be the "ANTI-Christ". NONE of Paul Ryan's words or actions come anywhere NEAR to the examples that "Jesus Christ" gave us! I'm sure that's ONE of the reasons the Catholic Bishops publicly rebuked his planned budget.

[nearl451]

Clinton is right. This fella has a "lot of brass"....accusing Obama of doing what Ryan proposes for Medicare.

[Lindaspy62]

yep,,,he is nothing but a hot dog who drove a wiener mobile! :)

[wayneonly]

Romney/Ryan/GOP have not gotten a firm grip on facts. If they had any idea about reality, they would understand that by destroying the middle class, they are destroying any chance for economic recovery. The middle class is the only marketplace for business and NO business is going to invest or hire new employees as long as there is no expansion in the marketplace. And that hasn't and will not happen by resurrecting the old tried and failed "trickle down" economic policies of the GOP. In fact, those policies have been one of the causes of this recession. "Trickle down" economics have been the cause of the demise of the middle class and the loss of the marketplace for business expansion. Tax breaks for multinational corporations and the 1%ers will only cause them to sit on their money and wait for an improving marketplace which will not happen without increased spending by an expanding and economically mobile middle class.

[AtlRenaissanceMn]

Bravo! I concur completely! Love your post! You hit the ball off the earth and parked it on MARS! - just like former President Bill Clinton. You've gotten it totally correct! I love this sort of intelligence; it's indeed rare! Thanks for all of the "factual' - substantiated information and for your sterling opinion!
You totally ROCK!

[Lindag20]

"Prebutt"?? Is that when you show your butt before someone speaks? What a pack of nonsense on Ryan's part.

[Ben37221]

With republicans, lying is a way of life for them. How convenient for the so call conservative Christians to support these jack @#$.
By far, Obama stand to protect the interest of the middle class-not Romney who hide his money overseas.
How do you vote for Romney that is hiding his money in Swizz banks and does not want to pay taxes in the US

[the_egret]

PREbuttal? What's the matter with these folks? Clearly it doesn't matter what he's actually going to say. Bumper sticker slogans is about the limit of their intelligence. No wonder they believe The Big Lies will work. They have nothing but contempt for the voter. "You people" have got all the information we choose to give you. Now trust us and vote for us and see what you get. We'd say it's like whacking at a pinata, but that wouldn't be American.

[Ben37221]

With republicans, lying is a way of life for them. How convenient for the so call conservative Christians to support these jack @#$.
By far, Obama stand to protect the interest of the middle class-not Romney who hide his money overseas.
How do you vote for Romney that is hiding his money in Swizz banks and does not want to pay taxes in the US

[audemus]

....and this is supposed to be their smart one ?

[hhandyman]

The namesake of Mr Harvey is not at all well versed in his research or believes in false statements so often that he believes the lies hes telling the public Just like he is Not even close to being Conservative check his voting records and see he is the big spender of the Bush era Congress he voted for War on the Credit card prescription drugs on the credit card and far worse he voted to take the surplus and make it a gift to the well to do that didn't need a penny as a tax rebate. that's the hole in the bucket and hes running for Vice President maybe hes dyslexic and is trying for president of vice. Ryan is a pure Wolf in sheep's Clothing.

[vengenceofgod100]

You can tell a truthful person if what that person predicts comes to pass. But anyone who has watched the Paul Ryan act over the years understands that he cannot comprehend the magnitude of his loquacious colloquialism. Every time Ryan opens his mouth out comes non-sense and he sort of is the perfect running mate for Romney, because both of these candidates seem to live in the 'Happy Celestial Kingdom' of "I really know what i'm talking about" fiction.