Obama Destroys Paul Ryan’s Claim that America is Facing an Immediate Debt Crisis

Last updated on March 18th, 2013 at 01:03 am

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President Obama has thrown cold water all over Paul Ryan’s claim that America is facing a debt crisis by sternly stating that, “We don’t have an immediate debt crisis.”

Video from ABC News:

The president said,

Well- I understand. Which is why, at some point, I think I take myself out of this. Right now, what I’m trying to do is create an atmosphere where Democrats and Republicans can go ahead, get together, and try to get something done. And, y- you know- I think what’s important to recognize is that- we’ve already cut- $2.5- $2.7 trillion out of the deficit. If the sequester stays in, you’ve got over $3.5 trillion of deficit reduction already.

And, so, we don’t have an immediate crisis in terms of debt. In fact, for the next ten years, it’s gonna be in a sustainable place. The question is, can we do it smarter, can we do it better? And- you know, what I’m saying to them is I am prepared to do some tough stuff. Neither side’s gonna get 100%. That’s what the American people are lookin’ for. That’s what’s gonna be good for jobs. That’s what’s gonna be good for growth.

But ultimately, it may be that- the differences are just- too wide. It may be that ideologically, if their position is, “We can’t do any revenue,” or, “We can only do revenue if we gut Medicare or gut Social Security or gut Medicaid,” if that’s the position, then we’re probably not gonna be able to get a deal.

This was a direct jab at Paul Ryan, and the Republican idea that all social programs must be cut immediately because the nation can’t afford them. After the president’s inaugrual address, Ryan said, “What I was really hoping was he would say, ‘I want to deal with this debt crisis before it takes our economy off the rails, before it guarantees our children and our grand children are sated with our debts.’ That’s really what I was aching to hear.”

Paul Krugman has been saying for years that we have a political crisis, not a debt crisis. The president’s statements in the ABC interview should ease some minds on the left who have gotten uneasy with the president’s focus on deficits and debt.

Obama made it very clear that he isn’t going to do any kind of budget deal that doesn’t contain revenue. The problem for Ryan and the Republicans is that if Obama isn’t buying their debt hysteria, they have virtually no chance of getting the deal that they wanted. Republicans have been counting on the president to get a case of debt crisis fever, but that’s not going to happen.

The only way that Paul Ryan’s cuts like 47% in education, and 32% in infrastructure make sense is to portray them as necessary in the face of an urgent crisis.

What Republicans won’t admit is that President Obama’s policies are the reason why we don’t have an immediate debt crisis.

Here is what Obama has done to the budget deficit:

It is ironic that Paul Ryan is screaming debt crisis when his votes during the Bush years added $3.4 trillion to the deficit.

The immediate debt crisis that Paul Ryan is screaming about isn’t real, and President Obama knows it.

Jason Easley

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