While trying to blame President Obama for the sequester, Rep. Paul Ryan referenced the smart cuts that the House passed. Those ‘smarter cuts’ would take away food and healthcare for hundreds of thousands of kids.
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Transcript from ABC News:
KARL: Well, let’s get to the biggest other issue out there right now which is these automatic spending cuts. You’ve been pretty clear. You’ve predicted for some time that you think that this so-called sequester is going to happen.
Let me ask you this, congress is now on recess for ten days, the president is playing golf in Florida this weekend. Is there really any everyday underway to try to avert these cuts right now? Are you even trying.
RYAN: Well, there have been from the House Republicans.
Let’s take a step back. Don’t forget it’s the president that proposed the sequester and designed sequester and House Republicans who twice passed legislation replacing the sequester with smarter cuts in other areas of government.
Rep. Ryan proposed (R-P90X), and the House passed, the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012 last summer. After it died in the Senate, the Sequester Replacement Act was slightly tweaked and brought back by House Republicans during John Boehner’s fiscal cliff Plan B fiasco.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) noted during the Plan B debate on the House floor that the Ryan/GOP cuts would throw a combined 600,000 poor children off of food stamps and Medicaid. Literally, Paul Ryan is trying to protect the defense industry by starving hundreds of thousands of economically disadvantaged children.
The “smarter cuts” that Rep. Ryan is touting would slash food stamps, and throw 300,000 children off the program. The cuts are so extensive that they would eliminate food assistance for 1.8 million adults and children. Ryan’s cuts would also eliminate Meals on Wheels, federal funding for child protective services, and healthcare for disabled adults and children.
Children may have a “right to life” in the Republican Party, but the conservative culture of life doesn’t include food. If kids want to eat, they’re on their own.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
