The office of Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin is reacting to new messaging from Democrats on the Cut, Cap, and Balance (CCB) proposal that the House will soon vote on.
On Monday night the Democratic National Committee (DNC) published a blog post on its website that re-cast the CCB as “Dodge, Duck, and Dismantle.” The DNC blasted the CCB, saying it would curb investments, cut important spending, and undercut economic growth.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney furthered the talking points by saying the CCB would “Duck responsibility, dodge obligations, and dismantle, eventually … our social safety net: Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.”
In an email sent to The Daily Caller, Ryan communications director Conor Sweeney called the new message an “embarrassingly revealing talking point.” Ryan chairs the House Budget Committee.
Sweeney added that President Obama and Democrats on Capitol Hill have a dismal record on economically sound budget proposals.
A Washington Post editorial in February 2011 criticized Obama’s just-submitted fiscal-2012 budget proposal for not tackling serious budget woes, saying that he “chose instead to duck. To duck, and to mask some of the ducking with the sort of budgetary gimmicks he once derided.” (White House message on Cut, Cap, Balance Act: It’s Ryan on steroids)
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), at the time, also said the proposal was not a credible one.
Senate Democrats have also “dodged” in presenting their own budget proposal. It has been more than 800 days since the Senate Budget committee proposed a budget and moved it to the floor for a vote.
Sweeney also told TheDC that Democrats are threatening “dismantling” the economic and future security for Americans by sticking to the status quo, and proposing no sound plan to preserve programs like Medicare and Social Security.
On Monday, the Obama Administration went on record describing the CCB as Ryan’s plan “on steroids.”
“Republicans will vote on legislation that would raise the debt ceiling with impractical and irresponsible conditions,” read the DNC blog post later that evening. “ Instead of introducing a serious approach with realistic policy goals, the GOP is turning to political grandstanding.”