Paul Ryan is dead serious: No way we are going back on our pledge to America

I wasn’t going to post more Paul Ryan until I saw this interview with Cavuto. To start off Ryan explained with more precision than I’ve heard on why they can’t get to 100 Billion in this fiscal year. This is really important to understand as the current narrative going around this news cycle is that Republicans are already abandoning their pledge to America. Here’s his take:

There’s a misunderstanding that’s been taking place here. When we put out our pledge that said we want to return domestic discretionary spending back to 2008 levels, in October when we put that out there, the score of that was 100 billion at that time. So it would’ve at that time saved 100 billion dollars.

What’s happened since then? We’re halfway through the fiscal year right now. Half that money is thrown out the door so now the cost estimate of the savings of that is about 60 billion dollars. So it’s not that we want to cut less than we said. …

Let me say this. We are going to cut way more than 100 billion when this is all said and done. When the fiscal 2012 budget comes up we’re going to be cutting. We’re going to be going to the floor this summer and cutting more than that.

Cavuto then asked Ryan “what if you don’t cut?” I don’t know that I’ve ever seen Paul Ryan get this passionate, this serious, this quick:

We just finished an election which was the biggest repudiation of the direction of this country in a generation. And the repudiation was this city is spending far too much money. If you think we’re going to go back on what this election said or did in six months, in two years, you don’t know us.

It’s evident to me that he’s probably a bit frustrated a the current narrative and wants everyone to understand that they really are dead serious about cutting and to not count them before they’ve even gotten a chance to govern.

It’s really a great interview. Enjoy.


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