I wonder if Zuckerberg knew his social media site would become a platform for whiny wingnuts, he would do it all over again:
In today’s disappointing speech, the President made a series of claims that are simply false.
The President’s attacks began with an admission that his assumptions reflect White House spin, not our budget’s substance: “I want to go through what it would mean for our country if these cuts were to be spread out evenly.” Of course, the assumption that our budget makes these kinds of indiscriminate cuts is false. The House Budget Committee made dozens of specific assumptions to justify our numbers, and we made these assumptions public in the hundreds of pages of text we posted in plain view on the House Budget Committee’s website. It’s not a “secret plan” to “never tell us where the knife may fall” – it is a specific plan to cut waste, eliminate programs that don’t work, end crony politics, and carefully prioritize hardworking taxpayers’ money in precisely the way leaders of the President’s party have refused to do for over three years. In a related vein, does this new standard allow for analyses of the President’s budget to go through what it would mean for the country if the President’s $2 trillion tax increase were to be spread out evenly?
Instead of using numbers from the actual House-passed budget, the President’s claims relied on false assumptions created out of thin air by the White House.
The reason Ryan and Palin use facebook to spew their bullshit is that there is no accountability. They delete every comment that challenges them, and there are no reporters there to call them liars (like that would happen anyway- Remember when the Klondike cougar freaked out when asked which newspapers she reads? That’s as close as we get to grilling these guys).
At any rate, Ezra does the heavy lifting, and guess what- Ryan is lying.
A Farmer
Sorry if somebody has already mentioned this in other threads, but why does Sullivan fall so easily for Paul Ryan’s bullshit? Because he can’t do math. And I don’t think gastritis broke his calculator.
WJS
And that’s where the falsehoods begin.
Palin, Ryan and Romney wouldn’t know the truth if it bit them on the ass. They don’t know what the truth is anymore and if they tried to run on it, they’d have thousands of screaming jackals at their heels.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but this is a damned good time to be a Democrat. If this is their brain trust, their brain trust is flat busted broke.
General Stuck (on self glorifiication)
I even been hearing rumors that Ryan could be on the short list for VP with Romney. If true, it could revive my belief in Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny, also too. But I don’t think an ‘unzipped’ Romney could fit that big a lemon in his clown car.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Nothing says serious policy maker like posting to Face Book like you’re an emmo teen upset dad won’t let you use the family car this Friday. And you would think given the media the he posting his message to that Ryan could actually go into detail to back up his position with numbers and details like the serious policy maker he is supposed to be instead of just whining?
Really, do these professional politicians understand anything about the theater and optics of politics?
Svensker
From Ryan’s spokesperson:
Apparently their command of English syntax is as shaky as their numbers. :)
Xecky Gilchrist
The reason Ryan and Palin use facebook to spew their bullshit is that there is no accountability. They delete every comment that challenges them, and there are no reporters there to call them liars
By this description, there’s no difference between social media and traditional media except – and I think this is the real core of the matter – the social kind is free.
David Koch
Paul Ryan’s facebook posts are bold and serious.
/klein’d
Martin
@A Farmer: I think all the people that are good at math should go Galt on those that we enable who are bad at math for a week.
My prediction: at least a million dead at the end of the first week due to insurgent conflicts spontaneously breaking out over how to split the check at lunch.
dr. bloor
Wait, what? Zuckerberg? Not doing it again? HAHAHAHAHAH–Zuckerberg, only with a conscience. That’s a good one.
schrodinger's cat
@A Farmer: He has a crush on Ryan.
Steve
The reason why Sarah Palin liked Facebook is because it takes 5 seconds to write a post and the entire national media would instantly be all over it saying, “OMG Sarah Palin wrote another controversial Facebook post!!!” It’s a pretty lazy way to be a newsmaker. Even lazier than blogging!
I somehow doubt Paul Ryan has quite the same ability to generate starbursts at will, sad to say.
pragmatism
Boldly serious or seriously bold? Serious?
schrodinger's cat
@Steve: He does in a certain bearded blogger, who many BJ frontpagers love, or at least love to hate.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
[cue the music]
Brave Sir Ryan ran away
Bravely, ran away, away
When danger reared its ugly head
He bravely turned his tail and fled
Yes, brave Sir Ryan turned about
And gallantly he chickened out
Bravely talking to his feet
He beat a very brave retreat
Bravest of the brave, Sir Ryan
bogdan
Ezra goes on and on about the Obama vs Ryan numbers and how they aren’t really disagreeing with each other and there by completely misses the point.
Ryans budget will eventually eliminate Medicare as we know it. Ezra completely fails to even mention that.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
Polifact rates this as “The President is mostly black”.
Steve
From what I can tell, Obama was actually fairly scrupulous in how he characterized the Ryan budget. Clearly they knew they were going to be fact-checked and they made a conscious decision that they didn’t want to be rated “pants on fire” (not that the truth ever stopped anyone).
The short version of Ryan’s whine is that his budget doesn’t actually identify any specific cuts or any specific tax increases, so how dare anyone suggest that his budget might have measurable consequences in the real world. There is nothing Republicans hate so much as when you accurately point out their policies will hurt people.
David Koch
I wish Democrats would run commercials on how Ryan worships Ayn Rand, an atheist who hated God, who said the basis of Christianity “is a monstrous idea”, and that Jesus’ teachings were “immoral”.
Can you imagine if a Democrat worshiped such a person, let alone someone in the leadership of the party. The media would never stop crucifying the Democrats.
Bruce S
“But as his press secretary, Conor Sweeney, pointed out, the Ryan team did post a longer response on its Facebook page.”
Because they are 14 years old…
Bubblegum Tate
Wingnut blogs are no different.
El Cid
@David Koch: The serial-killer loving Ayn Rand?
Bubblegum Tate
@Steve:
Man, ain’t that the truth.
Zach
WTF at “19 million is about the number of Americans forced into Medicaid by the President’s new health care law.”
Paul Ryan’s really way too deep in this Randian nonsense if he thinks that people are forced kicking and screaming into Medicaid. It’s not like someone shows up at your door and says, “Take this Medicaid now!” no matter how poor you are. In fact, 6 million children are uninsured yet eligible for Medicaid/SCHIP (as of 2007; the recession has probably pushed this number higher). We really ought to force their parents to enroll, but we don’t do it.
Zach
Note how much trouble Ryan has pushing Obamacare repeal when it comes to the specifics. Repeal means taking health insurance away from the working poor and middle class to pay for tax cuts for the rich. Good luck spinning that. Democrats need to focus on this more than the other bits of Obamacare that are already in effect (parents’ insurance till 26, preexisting conditions, etc).
rikyrah
@Zach:
Yeah, you weren’t the only one going, GTFOH with this bull.
FORCED into getting healthcare?
PULEEZE.
japa21
Of course the problem here is that Obama has been pretty specifc about who would get hit with the tax increases and Ryan has been extremely unspecific about where his cuts would be.
burnspbesq
That’s a rhetorical question, right?
Mitt Romney’s net worth is a rounding error in the determination of Zuckerberg’s net worth. Of course he’d do it again.
David Koch
@El Cid: seriously, the difference btwn the Ayn Rand cult and the Mansion family is the Rand cult is responsible for more deaths.
AA+ Bonds
How the fuck do you have to do heavy lifting, try running through the fucking bill, it is pretty goddamned easy considering the easy ass digital access all you first worlders have
If Ezra Klein can do it, you can do it, because Ezra Klein ain’t qualified for shit
Yukoner
John,
I read your blog almost every day (have done so since before you converted from R to D) and comment very rarely. But “the Klondike cougar”!!!
Sarah Palin is 100% pure American and I would thank you very much for not putting a 100% Canadian label on her!
Groucho48
“Hello”, he lied, pretty much describes Republican discourse.
burnspbesq
@AA+ Bonds:
“Ezra Klein ain’t qualified for shit”
On his worst days, Ezra contributes more to public understanding of important policy issues than you have or will in your entire worthless existence.
You’re very good at being smugly judgmental. What else you got?
Mary
Would it still have made him a bazillion dollars and gotten him laid a few times? Then I’m gonna go with yes.