Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
Dick Cheney “worships” Paul Ryan
The man who famously said that deficits don't matter fawns over the GOP's new face of harsh budget cuts
Cong. Paul Ryan (R-Janesville) arrives for his town hall meeting about his Federal budget plan,Thursday April 28, 2011 at the Waterford Village Hall. in "Waterford, Wis. (AP Photo/The Journal Times, Mark Hertzberg)(Credit: AP) During a rare public appearance in Houston Wednesday, Dick Cheney expressed his feelings about Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman whose budget blueprint — which calls for turning Medicare into a voucher program — has become a lightning rod for controversy.
“I worship the ground the Paul Ryan walks on,” said the former vice president, Politico noted via the Houston Chronicle.
Cheney made the comment while proclaiming the need to combat the national debt. That may seem an odd sentiment to those who remember that in 2002 he reportedly told then-Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, “deficits don’t matter.“
Meanwhile, the object of Cheney’s affection is, of course, the current of face of the GOP’s version of deficit hawkishness — one that Democrats hope to make a liability for Republicans in 2012. Despite a united effort by Republicans in the Senate Wednesday to rally around Ryan’s proposal, a number of party members have called the proposal too extreme, perhaps fearing that backing it could carry serious electoral consequences.
Natasha Lennard covers the Occupy movement for Salon. A British-born, Brooklyn-based journalist, she has been covering Occupy Wall Street since before the first sleeping bag was unrolled in Zuccotti Park. One of the first journalists arrested at an Occupy action, she has managed to enrage Andrew Breitbart, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. You can follow her on Twitter (@natashalennard), and email her any Occupy updates/videos/ideas to natasha.lennard@gmail.com More Natasha Lennard.
