Paul Krugman Defies the Media and Calls Out Paul Ryan’s Budget Fraud

Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 06:17 pm


In an age when the mainstream media treats fiction and fact as equal, Paul Krugman confronted the Romney campaign today and called the Ryan budget a fraud.

Video from ABC News:

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Here is the transcript from ABC News:

WILL: The president has had a lot of discretion and used it vigorously with — not just with Solyndra that Mr. Romney went out to dramatize this week,

but this week the Wall Street Journal had a long article on $1,260,000,000 invested in car batteries for electric cars. Now, there’s a big supply of the batteries; there’s a small supply of the cars. Complete mismatch and lots of money lost.

On another matter, I didn’t hear a robust answer to George’s question. Where does the governor stand, Governor Romney, on the Ryan plan? Does he endorse it?

FEHRNSTROM: Oh, he’s for — he’s for — he’s for the Ryan plan. He believes it goes in the right direction. The governor has also put forward a plan to reduce spending by $500 billion by the year 2016. In fact, he’s put details on the table about how exactly he would achieve that. So to say he doesn’t have a plan to — a plan to restrain government spending is just not true.

KRUGMAN: Can I say, the Ryan plan — and I guess this is what counts as a personal attack — but it isn’t. It’s not an attack on the person; it’s an attack on the plan. The plan’s a fraud. The plan is a big bunch of tax cuts, some specified spending cuts, basically for poor people, and then a huge magic asterisk which is supposed to turn into a deficit reduction plan, but, in fact, if you look what’s actually in it, it’s a deficit-increasing plan.

And so to say that — just tell the truth that there is really no plan there, neither from Ryan, nor from Governor Romney, is just the truth. That’s not — if that’s — if that’s being harsh and partisan, gosh, then I guess the truth is anti-bipartisanship.

FEHRNSTROM: So may I ask you, Paul, do you prefer the president’s plan?

KRUGMAN: Oh, yeah. I mean, the president — at least it’s — you know, I don’t approve of everything, but there are no gigantic mystery numbers in his stuff. We do know what he’s talking about. His numbers are — you know, all economic forecasts are wrong, but his are not — are not insane. These are — these are just imaginary.

Paul Krugman has been making his opinion of the Romney supported Ryan budget clear for a long time. What is interesting is that unlike the rest of the mainstream media, Krugman had the guts to call out the fraud that is the Ryan budget to the face of one of Romney’s top campaign advisers Eric Fehnstrom a.k.a. Mr. Etch a Sketch.

Usually, there is no one on the Sunday shows that dares to call out the flaming pile of trickle down science fiction that is the Ryan budget. The common behavior of the media when they discuss the Ryan budget is to let the lies flow and act like they have the same merit as the facts. It is refreshing that Krugman wouldn’t play the mainstream media game. He still believes in the difference between fact and fantasy, and most importantly is willing to fight for the distinction between fact and fantasy.

There are many on the left who still believe that campaigns should be contested based on facts. Their faith and conviction in facts to educate and move voters to make the best choices is noble, but it isn’t reality. Reality is that the nation has one political party that has concocted a budget based on ideological dreams, and the trickle down fairy waving her magic wand and balancing the budget.

On the other side, Democrats have facts, but the reason why our national political inertia has been stopped dead in its tracks is because there is no middle between real world fact and Republican fantasy. There can be no compromise with the Ryan budget, because Paul Ryan’s plan rejects facts in favor of fiction. Facts can’t win the day, because Republicans are disputing the existence of any and all facts.

The mainstream media have been the chief enablers and creators of the false equivalency between Republican fantasy and fact. What makes Krugman different is that he doesn’t buy into the media’s false equivalency.

Facts are facts. Fiction is fiction, and his Nobel Prize is evidence that Paul Krugman knows BS when he hears it.



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