Dacia Nichol

In a pathetic attempt to paint Congressman Paul Ryan as someone who’s a hypocrite, there’s been some pretty disgraceful rhetoric and accusations swirling around the blogosphere and Twitterville regarding some dug up news about his personal history.

So here’s the deal. A Wisconsin-based think tank called The Wisconsin Interest did a very nice write up on Ryan in July of last year. I’m assuming that this has just now been dug up due to Ryan’s State of the Union Response. In it, the story of Ryan finding his father dead when Ryan was only 16 is described, an event which was followed by his family receiving social security money to aid them in their father’s absence. Ryan received money until he turned 18.

Hypocrite!

Here’s where the spin starts. Ryan put the money he received away in savings to be later used toward his college education. So in effect, a government entitlement program gave him a “hand up” to pursue a better life.

I know. The nerve! It’s like that was what entitlement programs were made for.

Why is this trumped as a big deal? Because Paul Ryan preaches about how our entitlement programs have gone beyond the “safety net” that they’re supposed to provide and turned them into a “hammock”, making people essentially lazy and complacent. Except none of the articles screaming about Ryan’s hypocrisy talk about his support for a “social safety net”, even though he mentions it every time he talks about entitlement reform. To break it down:

Entitlements (raised to the “bad” power) = Hammocks / Paul Ryan’s SS payments = Hypocrisy!

What’s happening here is that for some reason, and I really don’t get it other than it being a product of some ridiculous ideology, the mere idea of reforming social security and/or Medicare is always met by the same chorus of fear-mongering claims every time a suggestion is made. The facts are pretty clear. These programs are an impending disaster with shock effects coming that no one will like or benefit from.

Paul Ryan has put forward some serious solutions and the opposition just responds with lies. Who do they first appeal to? Seniors. They say he’s going to “pull the rug” out from people in the “twilight of their lives.” Actually, they basically tell retired folks that Paul Ryan is the boogie man and he’s going to take all their money. Why would they say that when Ryan’s plan doesn’t touch anyone over the age of 55? Your answer is as good as mine.

Then they get into the Wall Street investment thing, i.e., Ryan’s plan to allow people to invest their retirement money in the stock market rather than the government’s coffers. Insert line about instability of the market and the ups and downs over the last few years. Except they don’t mention how members of Congress are vested into a very successful system that yes, is invested in Wall Street. Why criticize something that’s obviously effective enough to use for government representatives?

Most of them lately however, don’t even bother with even those details. They just point out that Ryan received social security at one point in his life, screaming that he’s a hypocrite. The article saying so is retweeted and retweeted and retweeted until…every liberal who believes 140 characters of spin over reality thinks they know everything they need to know about this Paul Ryan character.

Nevermind that every time (and I do mean every time) he is interviewed he specifically states that he believes America should, in fact, have a social safety net. His problem with social security and Medicare? They’re insolvent. They’re going to go belly up. They’re going to become a fiscal disaster. They’re doomed. They need to be fixed.

He doesn’t have a problem with social welfare programs being used for helping people help themselves. That’s what they were always there for. A “just in case”. A protection to ensure that our citizens aren’t starving or living on the streets. Do they work that way now? No. And he wants to fix them, not eliminate them.

Maybe his opponents just don’t understand him. Too much wonk, not enough wank talk. Well, if you don’t understand Paul Ryan, stop pretending you do.

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