Paul Ryan accuses Romney of playing politics on tax cut deal

[ProSense]

Paul Ryan accuses Romney of playing politics on tax cut deal

by Jed Lewison

On paper, Mitt Romney might be the GOP's best candidate for the 2012 general election, but he's got a problem: the party's conservative base just doesn't trust him. The latest example: GOP Rep. Paul Ryan, the incoming chairman of the House Budget Committee, who yesterday accused Romney of political gamesmanship when it comes to Romney's opposition to the tax cut deal.

From The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

Soon-to-be House budget chair Paul Ryan said Tuesday that some of the shots that fellow conservatives are taking at the bipartisan tax deal are motivated by politics, not policy.

“A lot of people are making these political arguments, which are, ‘What is the proper political chess move against Obama?’ And that is not the way we should be thinking right now when it comes to jobs and economy,” Ryan said in an interview Tuesday.

Ryan, the Janesville congressman, supports the tax deal, saying that without it, the Bush tax cuts would lapse, taxes would go up, and “that’s going to harm the people I represent.”

The package has come under fire from the left for including GOP priorities such as an extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and favorable treatment of the tax on large estates.

But it has also come under fire from the right for generating more borrowing and for extending unemployment benefits without paying for them. Some Republicans have complained that the plan is a re-election aid for Obama because it borrows money to provide short-term stimulus to the economy.

Likely GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney came out against the tax deal in an op-ed for USA Today.

Asked about Romney’s opposition, Ryan said:

“I think presidential aspirants will try to out-conservative each other for their own purposes.”

You don't hear conservatives arguing that Sarah Palin or Newt Gingrich or Mike Huckabee are positioning themselves, because conservatives basically trust those candidates. But Mitt Romney they don't trust. They just don't think he's authentic. And they've got a point: Romney didn't support the Bush tax cuts to begin with.

As Republicans’ Power Grows, So Do Rifts in Party

[rurallib]

1. Why wouldn't they trust a plastic man

who changes stands on the issues with the wind?

[pansypoo53219]

2. romney knows this tax cuts for the rich is gonna look like

a fast ball over the plate for obama in 2012. and it my hurt growth in the 2 years the republikklans have to get more jobs.