Ryan: Obama "A Pyromaniac In a Field of Straw Men"
So how did Rep. Paul Ryan feel about President Obama's interesting performance yesterday? On Mark Levin's show (via HotAir), he said:
Well what I got out of it was he basically said that people like myself and Jeb Hensarling, who was sitting right to my right, are unAmerican, that we're interested in pitting children with autism or Down syndrome against millionaires and billionaires. That we're ending America as we know it and if only we'd kind of get on with his program, we'd be okay.
I've never seen a president give a speech like this before. I've never seen a president stoop to this level of distortion, demagoguery, partisanship.
When he invited us to come to this speech -- myself and Hensarling and Dave Camp (the three of us who are chairman and we are on the fiscal commission) -- we were led to believe there was going to be an olive branch, that he wanted to talk about mutual agreement and respect. I was led to believe that there was going to be a social security plan he was going to offer.
And then we get this total political broadside.
It really did quite honestly kind of surprise me. I expected these kinds of comments from Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid when we put this budget out, that kind of goes without saying but to get these things from the president, just amazing to me.
And it really poisons the well. He's not talking about trying to bridge differences or find common ground on this or that area. He's basically trying to demean his political adversaries and set up a bunch of straw men and then knock them down and try and win debate by default.
I'm not sure who said it but he's basically a pyromaniac in a field of straw men.
That's my best effort at a transcription, but you can listen to the whole segment here.
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Sep '10
Re: Ryan: Obama "A Pyromaniac In a Field of Straw Men"
Business as usual in DC, has the 2010 election made any real differences? Absolutely! According to the CBO the $100B cut has now turned into a .35B cut. The GOP delivers less than ½ of 1% of what was promised and tells us how great they are. We are now treated to the GOP leadership blathering on about how partisan O. is, instead of doing something of some minor significance. They caved on the tax deal, caved on the 2010 budget and will cave on the debt ceiling. We are 14 T. in debt and all of the plans, including Ryan’s, continues adding to this debt for the next 10 years. My view is that anyone who truly favored small government would seek to balance the budget in the next 2/3 years and then seek to reduce the debt. Yet no one is coming anywhere close to this. Could it be that the leadership in DC is populated by big government yahoos, some with R’s after their names and some with D’s? All the 3rd party naysayers must be enjoying this farce.
Jan '11
Re: Ryan: Obama "A Pyromaniac In a Field of Straw Men"
It was so profoundly disappointing. It was a slap in the face.
We can usually tolerate a world of political differences, and let each go his own way. But when we're paying for the self-interested decisions of the political class, the enormous giveaways, and the Democrat Party's ransom payments to its partisans, it's galling to hear this guy tell the country that someone else's plan to cut the deficit is un-American. And then to hear him draw the false choice between higher taxes versus throwing the poor into the ditch, merely to sustain his political coffers, is way too much to take.
Jun '10
Re: Ryan: Obama "A Pyromaniac In a Field of Straw Men"
Like most leftists, Obama believes whatever story he desires to be true. The more he likes the narrative, the truer it is. That saves a lot of money on research, but not much else.
Oct '10
Re: Ryan: Obama "A Pyromaniac In a Field of Straw Men"
The Supreme Court Justices have to sit there and take it at the State of the Union address. Paul Ryan should have just stood up and left during the speech. We are beyond "disrespecting the office" when being dishonestly attacked by this demagogic occupant of the oval office.
Dec '10
Re: Ryan: Obama "A Pyromaniac In a Field of Straw Men"
I stole this analogy from NRO commenter "ACFUNK" regarding Obama:
"He is a dishwasher who promised to wash the pots and pans, then moved up to waiter. He took the customers orders and then became a bartender. Just when he was deciding between vodka or gin, he took the chef job. He put some veal in the saute pan, sliced some mushrooms, and then became the manager.
When all the customers started to complain about the lack of service, he blamed the staff!"
May '10
Re: Ryan: Obama "A Pyromaniac In a Field of Straw Men"
The country is facing an existential threat and the President kicks the can down the road in a fashion designed to insure that any cooperation can not take place. Simply breathtaking.
I am not at all convinced that we will make it to 2013 before really serious bad things happen - but it is clear to me now that we are destined to test this time limit.
May '10
Re: Ryan: Obama "A Pyromaniac In a Field of Straw Men"
Mollie -- I caught Ryan on Levin's show yesterday but what really struck me was Levin's attack of the President's suggestion that we should eliminate the mortgage interest deduction for "the rich." Aside from the class warfare aspect, I don't think this is a bad idea at all. Isn't this the classic definition of a middle-class entitlement? And I thought Levin's attack of the President's idea was hypocritical and hyper-partisan. Did you hear that part of the show and what did you think of his point?
Edited on April 14, 2011 at 4:33pmMay '10
Re: Ryan: Obama "A Pyromaniac In a Field of Straw Men"
Trace, obviously I'm not Mollie, but limiting the mortgage interest deduction at any level affects all homeowners, not just "the rich". Say you impose a cutoff on homes over $1 million, for example, and the resulting economic disruption reduces the sale value of those homes by 10% to $900K. The homes originally valued at $900K will not stay there; they will probably drop to $810K; $800K homes to $720K; and so on. (h/t Hugh Hewitt)
Unfortunately, our government has decided that home ownership is a Good Thing [tm], and the policy implementing that decision is the mortgage interest deduction, which has now become a supporting leg under housing prices; kick out that leg, and watch housing prices drop a la 2008.
May '10
Re: Ryan: Obama "A Pyromaniac In a Field of Straw Men"
Well it looks to me as though housing prices are headed in that direction anyway George, interest deduction or no. But I am going to push back on a few fronts.
First, as a practical matter, any change could certainly be phased in gradually so as not to shock anything - the devil is always in the details.
Second, the President is proposing that the deduction be eliminated at upper brackets only -- among people that would buy a home without any inducement from the government to do so.
Third,why is a 10% drop in asset value for a homeowner any more painful than the elimination of foodstamps or the gradual decrease in Medicare benefits relative to inflation envisioned in the Ryan plan?
Finally, in terms of first principals, this argument has no legs. Why should the government be involved in promoting home ownership over renting?
Re: Ryan: Obama "A Pyromaniac In a Field of Straw Men"
Trace Urdan: Mollie -- I caught Ryan on Levin's show yesterday but what really struck me was Levin's attack of the President's suggestion that we should eliminate the mortgage interest deduction for "the rich." Aside from the class warfare aspect, I don't think this is a bad idea at all. Isn't this the classic definition of a middle-class entitlement? And I thought Levin's attack of the President's idea was hypocritical and hyper-partisan. Did you hear that part of the show and what did you think of his point? · Apr 14 at 7:29am
Edited on Apr 14 at 07:33 am
I didn't hear the rest of the show, and I should disclose that my husband and I aren't even in a position to buy a house right now, but I generally think the federal government has artificially propped up housing prices in a manner that has many negative consequences.
Mar '11
Re: Ryan: Obama "A Pyromaniac In a Field of Straw Men"
It seems to me that the straw man rhetorical device has been with Obama since the beginning. His speech writing staff keeps employing it because, somehow, he gains traction in the polls when he uses this sophistry.
What is the tactic and why is it effective? The straw man construct relies on a deliberate mischaracterization of a counter-argument to one's own position--namely, a caricature which cheapens that counter-argument by removing it from any wider context, disregarding any supporting evidence from it, and presenting it in its most shallow, underdeveloped form.
Despite being on for 24 hours a day, the media largely is still driven by 10-20 second sound bites on which talking-heads can riff. The distortion of argument to soundbite is little else than a flattening caricature--which is to say, not different in its essence then the creation of straw men. Since many Americans have begun to think about politics in soundbites, the straw man is no longer merely useful polemic, it is the only form of argument some of our fellow citizens seem to be able to engage it. Thus its efficacy.
May '10
Re: Ryan: Obama "A Pyromaniac In a Field of Straw Men"
Hugh Hewitt's analysis/rant of the speech was true, informative, and very funny.
The tragedy is, will Rep. Ryan's truthful take on the speech ever reach the viewership of American Idol--thats most of the electorate.
May '10
Re: Ryan: Obama "A Pyromaniac In a Field of Straw Men"
Mark Levin's outrage in this case is over the total drift of the President's speech its catastrophic policy implications. Paul Ryan strikes me as the unObama. He's sincere, honest, transparent, competent, dedicated to doing good, and firmly grounded in reality rather than a false ideology. Almost a throw-back to Norman Rockwell's America.
Mark Levin is just as dedicated to doing good for America. But, being older and more battle-scarred, he's less sunny and optimistic, more caustic and world-weary.
Both are national treasures, imho.
Edited on April 14, 2011 at 8:16pmDec '10
Re: Ryan: Obama "A Pyromaniac In a Field of Straw Men"
For an example of moral equivalency, that is it. Why not expand inducements for dependency and deter self-sufficiency? Welfare reform in the 1990s were credited as a success. But that was then. Collectivization is more alluring, now that our government’s liabilities have broken the barrier of the hundreds of billions and split into the tens of trillions.
A merit of the flat-tax—one rate, no exemptions—consists of eliminating the temptation for career politicians to take credit for the use of our tax-money as a bribe for votes.
But to the point of social engineering and moral equivalency, there is a difference between consumption elasticity relative to sin taxes as a means to influence behavior or taxes on cell phones and gasoline as an easy source of government revenue—because we are more willing to pay them—and the expectation that tax-funded welfare programs only produce a positive outcome.
As long as the government of a billion Chinese peasants uses its resources to fund our good intentions in providing comfort to our own, what’s wrong with that?
Re: Ryan: Obama "A Pyromaniac In a Field of Straw Men"
Ryan should not have been surprised. Think about what Obama did to the Supreme Court at the State of the Union Address in 2010. The man ain't got no class!