John Nichols: Paul Ryan's Rapid Rewrite of Election History

from The Nation:



Paul Ryan's Rapid Rewrite of Election History
John Nichols on November 14, 2012 - 9:38 AM ET


Paul Ryan, who famously suggested that the General Motors plant in his hometown closed because of Obama administration policies when it actually closed under President Bush, is now going for an even bigger rewrite of history.

He is claiming that his austerity agenda -- at least the part that makes tax cuts for the rich the supreme imperative -- remains popular. Indeed, to hear Ryan tell it, those ideas almost prevailed.

In an ABC News interview a week after the election, Ryan was asked whether President Obama has a mandate to call for raising taxes on the rich. "I don't think so," said Ryan, who argued that, "This is a very close election."

Ryan rejects the notion that his ideas lost. Indeed, he says of the Republican ticket: "It was a well-run campaign. We made this campaign about big ideas and big issues, which is the kind of campaign we wanted to run, so we ran the kind of campaign we wanted to run." ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/blog/171238/paul-ryans-rapid-rewrite-election-history