http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/11292#frame_top Paul Ryan has fabricated his own alternate universe, with his own rules of logic built on rhetorical legerdemain and conservative mythology.
Regarding ending Bush tax cuts for wealthy Mr. Ryan says:
"You understand, this tax increase, they say it only applies to two percent of the wealthiest of Americas. That’s of filers. It applies to 50 percent of small business income."
NOte that the clever congerer is talking about averageing the Warren Buffets in with 'Ma & Pa Grocery'. IT's very possible that OF ALL 'SMALL BUSINESS' INCOMES THE AVERAGE MAY COME OUT TO BE IN EXCESS OF $250,000. But if you check with the SBA you'll see that 88% of small businesses reported GROSS RECEIPTS (a far cry from net income) NOT in excess of $250,000 in 2004:
check:
Effective Federal Income Tax Rates Faced By Small Businesses in the United States"Almost 88 percent of all small business tax returns filed in 2004 had gross receipts of no more than $250,000."
Bush tax cuts were the major contributor to our deficit: Center for Budget and policy Priorities
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3036 Obama, the partisan, attack campaigner Then Ryan spins a fantasy that OBAMA has been the partisan, attack campaigner. He is working so hard on his alternate universe:
Ryan said about the President: "when he calls us 'enemies', when he uses demagogic political rhetoric
in the campaigns ... it gives us the impression that we’re seen as enemies. He goes to our districts and says
Republicans want the economy to fail so he fails politically.
I mean, that kind of talk, all these straw men and counterfactual arguments does not make it easy to cooperate and come together on the big issues of the day."
In other words IT'S OBAMA WHO IS ATTACKING PEOPLE. IT'S OBAMA WHO IS MAKING COOPERATION 'DIFFICULT'.
__APPARENTLY JOHN BOEHNER NEVER SAID: "WE WILL BE THE PARTY OF 'NO'!".
__THE REPUBLICANS NEVER SAID: "WE'LL MAKE HCR OBAMA'S WATERLOO.'
__THE REPUBLICANS DID NOT FILIBUSTER 80% OF MAJOR LEGISLATION IN OBAMA'S FIRST YEAR (see Joseph Beinart's article in Time magazine
.
__AND THE REPUBLICANS DID NOT FILIBUSTER THE SMALL BUSINESS AID BILL - FOR MONTHS - EVEN THOUGH IT WAS PAID FOR - IT WAS REVENUE NEUTRAL!!! NOTE THAT THE GOP USED CONCERN FOR THE DEFICIT AS AN RATIONALE FOR FIGHTING ALL ECONOMIC STIMULUS BILLS.
Ryan raises the disinformation bar by saying OBAMA IS THE ONE WHO HAS ATTACKED REPUBLICANS AND IS CAUSING REPUBLICANS TO BE UNCOOPERATIVE - RETROACTIVELY (NOTE IN RYAN'S ALTERNATE UNIVERSE CAUSATION WORKS BACKWARDS THROUGH TIME)