He haz a big sad.
Paul Ryan was booed (again) at a town hall meeting in Kenosha, Wisconsin last week, after one of his constituents pressed him about the GOP budget. As you may recall, Paul Ryan’s Very Serious Budget would turn Medicare into a voucher program, and amounts to little more than a decimation of the programs (Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security) on which the elderly and poor rely on to… you know… not die.
One audience member, David Drath, argued that he couldn’t survive on the proposals in Ryan’s policy, and that if those policy were enacted, “you might as well put a gun to my head.”
From Think Progress:
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) received a chilly reaction from audience members at a listening session in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Friday, as multiple constituents challenged the House Budget Chairman on the specifics of his budget and how it would affect current and future retirees. One audience member argued that Ryan’s proposal to push seniors out of traditional Medicare and into more-expensive private coverage is tantamount to murder:
Kenosha resident David Drath, 53, told Ryan he is a kidney transplant patient who relies on support from Medicare and Social Security. “I could not survive on the proposals in your policy,” Drath said. “If they’re put in place, you might as well put a gun to my head.”
Drath, Ryan countered, would remain remain covered by traditional Medicare in spite of his age, as those already enrolled in the program would be exempt from the new system. Furthermore, Ryan said his proposal would prohibit private insurers from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions.
Watch some of the audience reaction:
Ryan is correct in arguing that private insurers would be prohibited from denying coverage to sicker beneficiaries, but his answer carefully sidesteps the question of cost, which would increase under his proposal. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis of Ryan’s proposal found that a “typical” 65-year old would be paying more under Ryan’s plan, regardless of income.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Paul Ryan and the GOP don’t give a fuck.
In May, Paul Ryan flat-out said that some seniors would pay more under his plan:
Yet here he is — five months later — trying to feed America the same old shit sandwich.
As I explained last week, Paul Ryan is delusional. I doubt being booed by his own constituents even fazes him. I guess it’s easy to remain unfazed when you just don’t give a fuck.
[via Think Progress]
[cross-posted at Angry Black Lady Chronicles]
Villago Delenda Est
The sad thing is, a reaction like this by his own constituents probably does not faze him.
In the least.
After all, they’re all just “moochers” to Galtian ubermenschen like Paul Fucking Ryan.
He does not get it, because he cannot get it. There’s just no way. He’s too far into Ayncrazyspace…he can’t find his way out, even if he wants to, which I seriously doubt.
Svensker
See, the guy who complained would be covered anyway because he’s already in the system, so no problemo! The guy who comes after him who’s not in the system yet is totally fucked, but let’s not mention that, okey dokey?
Idiots.
Calouste
He gets booed by voters, not by his constituents. I’m sure his real constituents, like the Koch brothers, are cheering, not booing.
geg6
This guy and his ilk are just takers and so do not count as anything but vermin according to Ryan’s philosophy. He. Does. Not. Care.
celtidragonchick
@Villago Delenda Est:
Ex-fucking-actly
BGinCHI
This is terrific. Now, let’s see if the good people of southern WI will come out and vote for his opponent next time around.
Then we would only have to hear him talk ten times as much on Fox. Losing would also, like with Santorum, give him the cred to run for the GOP Presidential slot.
Let the failing upwards begin.
Thoughtcrime
@geg6:
Gin & Tonic
Damn, there’s a lot of threads today.
J. Michael Neal
@Villago Delenda Est:
There are two possibilities here:
1) His district will elect his opponent next November, in which case he can be unfazed doing something else for a living, probably on fox;
2) His district re-elects him, in which case he was right not to be fazed by David Drath. Like it or not, that’s not only how a representative democracy works, it’s exactly how a representative democracy is supposed to work.
J. Michael Neal
@Gin & Tonic: No kidding. I wish the front pagers would recognize that so many threads completely wrecks the ability to have conversations, as it’s impossible to know which ones are still live and which ones will still be live in fifteen minutes after four more posts are up.
There comes a point where too many cooks really do spoil the broth, even if they’re all fucking good cooks.
Mike G
They are ‘takers’ because they do not contribute substantially to Ryan’s election campaigns. Ryan’s Awesomeness provides an invaluable service to the nation, and you ungrateful moochers don’t send him money unlike those righteous ‘givers’, the Koch brothers.
At this point Ryan’s ‘constituency’ is the Koch Brothers and the Wingnutosphere that will provide him a lucrative living when he loses office. Voters are a minor nuisance.
kth
Making insurers take sick people without making healthy people buy coverage does. not. work.
jl
No arrests for such impertinence?
None of these unGodly Revolutionists dragged away in chains?
Let’s not be too hard on Ryan, for he is merciful.
jl
@kth: True. But the pitch only needs to make sense long enough to sell the mark on the deal and sign.
freddie
Meh, nothing NEW, move along. Its lost its shock value….they know the asshole they got. Will it change is the burning question, I suspect not.
MikeJ
Last I heard Ryan was dodging any meetings with actual people in them. How did he get cornered here?
John O
The man would be a nobody if he wasn’t a nice looking guy, not that there’s anything wrong with that.
“If we keep interrupting, that’s just going to make the PowerPoint presentation longer.”
That summarizes it for me. The man is a pretty bag of shit.
Plenty of goons around, too. God I hate the current GOP.
j
OR… He could just raise the admission price for his “talking session” (where HE does all the talking) to $1,000 and not have to deal with the rabble.
And if that doesn’t work, he can have his goons remove his employers. (Did y’all see the mafia-like thugs RUN into the crowd and oust the taxpayers?
Oops, I mean his constituents. (His employers are the Kock brothers).
comrade scott's agenda of rage
Fixed.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Ryan losing his seat and falling upwards to a Fox job is probably his plan. The demographics say the House is trending Democrat if he stays in congress he is looking forward to a carrier as an opposition nobody. This is Ryan’s one chance.
MikeBoyScout
Details, details.
The sooner the losers die, the sooner the winners like Ryan can stop worrying about how they may vote.
Dead men don’t vote. Good Luck Wisconsin!
PeakVT
Ryan has been in office almost 13 years already. Cripes. The current PVI for the district is only +1, though, so there’s an outside chance a Dem could take him down.
freddie
OT- Isn’t this Greek mandate for the people the real story today? Isn’t it basically what OWS is all about?
Odie Hugh Manatee
@comrade scott’s agenda of rage:
Fix’t moar bettah.
Judas Escargot
Has Paul Ryan ever produced anything?
Earl
THIS.
Omnes Omnibus
@Judas Escargot: Anything, sure. Anything of value, that is another question.
Omnes Omnibus
Paul Ryan is not a honey badger. I am ashamed that he could even be considered a regular badger.
andrewsomething
Are we running anyone against him? The DCCC page for his district just has lots of hits on him, but no mention of an opponent.
andrewsomething
@andrewsomething:
Hmmmm… Anyone know anything about Rob Zerban?
http://www.robzerban.com/home
Cacti
Has anyone noticed this one yet from Thinkprogress?
Mitt Romney, son Tagg, and chief fundraiser Spencer Zwick partnered with 3 fraudsters from Stanford Financial Group ($8.5 billion ponzi scheme) to run Romney’s new investment vehicle Solamere Capital.
When confronted, Tagg Romney lied shamelessly and claimed his new partners only made about $15,000 from selling fraudulent financial instruments.
Meanwhile, a court appointed audit found that Romney’s new partners actually made around $1.7 million in incentive pay for selling Stanford CDs.
Cargo
And yet he’ll probably win re-election by these very same people because they hate liberals that freaking much.
me
@andrewsomething: He’s a friend of mine and a progressive Democrat but I think Ryan will be tough to beat though because of the slightly larger number of Republicans in the deep red countryside vs the blue cites of Racine and Kenosha.
soonergrunt
@Omnes Omnibus: I, however, AM a honey badger. Sometimes I’m even like a shark.
Mike in NC
@Cacti:
Tagg? Seriously? I thought the Palin family had rights to all goofy names.
What are the names of the other strapping young bucks in the Romney clan?
me
@Cargo: Not those people. They’re former auto workers.
Turgidson
@Odie Hugh Manatee:
Seconded. I find myself wondering whether he actually believes the zombie-Rand piles of shit he proposes, or if he’s just lying his serious-looking ass off the whole time. But it is probably some of both – since he’s a full-blown Randroid nutjob, he starts with the conclusion (richer producers YAY!!! everyone else BOOO!!!!!) and works backwards to create John GaltKoch-approved policy. Having a chorus of observers point out that fucking nothing he proposes has ever added up(#) is just a minor inconvenience that he’s more than willing to lie about, while accusing his critics of demagoguery every single fucking time they dare to (accurately) criticize his bullshit “math”.
(#)of course, his policies do add up…to a giant steel-toed boot on the neck of anyone who’s not fabulously wealthy. Which, of course, is the whole point. Saint Paul of DagnyTaggert (R-WI) might not realize this (like I said, he may actually believe the trickle down bullshit helps everyone), but those who have thrust him into his public role of “conservative numbers guy” obviously do.
Litlebritdifrnt2
@j:
That to me was the most distressing point of the videos. The fucking goons went into the audience and “removed” anyone who expressed dissent. WTF is up with that?
Jenny
This is gonna kill Sully and Joe Klein
soonergrunt
@Mike in NC: Ben, Craig, Josh, Matt, and Tagg
The last time around, they had a blog called “the five brothers blog” detailing their trips around the country going to campaign events and such.
Tbogg, being Tbogg, mocked them mercilessly in what became a “must see” series on his site, almost as popular as Basset blogging.
eemom
@soonergrunt:
Sunday Five Brothers Blogging, I remember it well.
You’ve probably seen it already, but today’s “The End of Sarah Palin As We Know Her” is another masterpiece.
I wonder how much of Lake Batshit’s much-vaunted traffic is driven by TBogg. I reckon it is a substantial amount, and that is why Lady Jane doesn’t dare utter a peep when he ridicules Obama-bashing on her front page. Tee hee.
SiubhanDuinne
@Omnes Omnibus:
This may be O/T, but why do I see so many references to honey badgers on Balloon Juice? I know Ryan’s from Wisconsin, and the badger is the state animal of Wisconsin, but why honey badger specifically?
Villago Delenda Est
@soonergrunt:
Yeah, while other American young men and women were fighting, bleeding, and dying in Iraq, Mitt’s spawn were campaigning for him as service to the country.
They’re all as contemptible as their asshole sire.
rikyrah
the village has told Eddie Munster Ryan that he is a ‘ serious thinker’.
those people showing up at the townhalls, getting real on his azz?
well, they’re not ‘serious thinkers’ like him
SiubhanDuinne
@Cacti:
Mittens has a son named Tagg? Have the Romneys and the Palins started intermarrying?
ETA: I see MikeinNC got there first.
soonergrunt
@SiubhanDuinne: Cause Honey Badger don’t give a shit!
@Villago Delenda Est: And his reply, when asked why none of his sons were serving their country was that they WERE serving their country–by helping him get elected President.
Nutella
@Villago Delenda Est:
And Ryan himself is a producer! Of what, you ask, since he has never held a job in the private sector in his entire miserable life.
Southern Beale
Surely it’s been mentioned before but Paul Ryan is really funny looking. Put him and Jindal on a ticket and hilarity will ensue.
SiubhanDuinne
@soonergrunt:
That’s wonderful! Thanks soonergrunt, I think I understand now. LOL regardless.
Steeplejack
@SiubhanDuinne:
Watch this viral YouTube video and all will be clear.
ETA: Damn it! Too slow again.
Nutella
@Mike in NC:
It’s short for Taggart. Seriously.
If he had a sister she’d be called Dagny.
soonergrunt
@SiubhanDuinne: I have a picture of a Honey Badger on my office door at work.
ETA: The Pistachio farmers made a commercial with the Honey Badger.
Omnes Omnibus
@SiubhanDuinne: What Steep said.
Steeplejack
@soonergrunt:
That is a funny ad.
joeyess
that’s why they’re called sociopaths.
joeyess
I also find it amusing that the Wisconsin Social Security Survivor Beneficiary Of Kenosha has the temerity to say that we can now not afford to pay on the promises that put him thru college.
Omnes Omnibus
@joeyess: That is completely different because he deserved the benefits and used them for good things like living and eating and going to school unlike the other people who totally don’t deserve the benefits and would waste them on silly things like living and and eating and going to school.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@joeyess:
It’s called “pulling up the ladder”, as when recovering people whose ship sank:
“The boat is full and there’s no room for anyone else so pull up the ladder. Good luck!”
Ok, I threw in the “Good luck!” as a gesture of kindness and it’s well known that conservatives are anything but kind. I’m sorry.
SIA
@soonergrunt: Oy that was AWESOME…My favorite:
Tehanu
@Svensker:
exactly. Since none of these winger assholes gives a damn about anybody else, they assume nobody else does either. “Hey, you’ll be all right, so what do you care if your friends or your kids get screwed?”
bob h
I’m guessing that any recommendation by the Catfood Commission to raise the Medicare eligibility age is going to be met with a holocaust of protest, even involving the geezers who already have it.
Waynski
@Judas Escargot:
Of course he has. He produces PowerPoints on the most efficient path to becoming a third-world Randian Utopia.
Waynski
@Litlebritdifrnt2: I agree. The Moose and Rocko show was disturbing, but since he’s such a serious and important person now he probably has to travel with security even though he doesn’t like it because he’s a man of the people.
Paul in KY
@J. Michael Neal: That’s why I have liked the Salon feature that cataloged all your comments. Understand they can’t do that here.
Ardeche
Rob Zerban is running against Ryan. He has the support of Feingold, Barca, PCCC, DCCC and other moderates and progressives. He is also endorsed by liberal groups. I know this as I have talked to Rob at a community event. There is more on his website.
I say — Rob Zerban for Congress!
TenguPhule
Somewhere in Romania is a large spiked pole demanding that Paul Ryan’s screaming asshole be planted on it.