Guilty As Stim: Chris Hayes Digs Up Devastating Video Of Paul Ryan Stimulus Hypocrisy

Source: Mediaite

Newly-minted vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan was already having a bad first week of running-matery when he told a reporter that he “never asked for stimulus,” only to be later confronted with letters in which he did exactly that, letters in which he extolled the job-creating virtues of stimulus funds. On Sunday morning’s Up with Chris Hayes, host Chris Hayes dug Ryan’s shovel-ready hole a little deeper with some devastating archival videos that show Ryan arguing for stimulus more forcefully than any Democrat.

With the Romney/Ryan ticket already losing the fight they knew they were going to have, they needed this stimulus story like they needed a knife in their Granny’s necks. When Ryan told an Ohio TV reporter that he “never asked for stimulus,” however, he opened a can of worms the size of Cleveland. Ryan also told that local reporter that he “opposed the stimulus because it doesn’t work.”

As it turned out, Ryan had secured tens of millions of dollars in stimulus funds by writing letters praising the program. Ryan’s office explained that he was just trying to help some of his constituents out…with something that he says “doesn’t work.”

That’s pretty bad, but “a constituent made me do it” is the kind of answer that might satisfy people, especially the Ryan-enthralled mainstream media. Enter Chris Hayes, who set the table with a 2010 clip of Ryan blasting “borrow and spend” policies as a failed experiment, followed by some Bush-era clips of Ryan forcefully advocating for those exact kinds of policies, while also acknowledging that unemployment often drags on in a recovery. The fact that Paul Ryan is making arguments in these clips that could serve as campaign ads for President Obama isn’t the most surprising thing about these clips, though:

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Read more: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/guilty-as-stim-chris-hayes-digs-up-devastating-video-of-paul-ryan-stimulus-hypocrisy/

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Video at the link.

The 2002 video of Ryan also shows Ryan arguing for an extension of unemployment benefits and health insurance.

Ryan said then that even those concerned about the deficit should support the stimulus because the stimulus bill consisted of "time-tested, proven, bipartisan solutions" which will help the economy.

And after that speech on the floor of the House, Ryan returned to Wisconsin for a town hall where he told his constituents, "You have to spend a little to grow a little. What we're trying to do is stimulate that part of the economy that's on its back."