Rep. Paul Ryan sat down Tuesday with ABC News' senior political correspondent Jonathan Karl for his first interview since his devastating defeat on election day and once again showed he is out of touch with the mainstream of even his own party.
The biggest news and most startling news to come out of this interview is Paul Ryan's statement that "I'm not for raising tax rates." Paul Ryan is still appealing to his base, a quickly dwindling base.
The reality is that President Obama is willing to take the tax debate to the wall and allow the Bush-era tax cuts to expire and force the Republicans to then vote on tax cuts for those earning less than $250,000 a year. The "I'm not for raising tax rates" is a clear statement of Paul Ryan's political tone-deafness, knowing that the President's position will prevail.
Paul Ryan, who is trying to become a national leader of the Republican Party, is anxious to paint his devastating defeat in a good light.
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Video: Paul Ryan is politically tone-deaf as he says 'I'm not for raising tax rates'
Paul Ryan did not say he opposes raising of revenues and favors closing loopholes and deductions in order to enhance revenues. Ryan also commented on House Speaker John Boehner derisive remarks that "Paul Ryan is a policy wonk," to which Ryan said took it "as a great compliment" Nevertheless, the tension between Speaker Boehner and Paul Ryan's Tea Party wing is real and is something that in the past handicapped Boehner in the 2011 negotiations with President Obama.
Paul Ryan is considered a sure thing to run for President in 2016, but in the House of Representatives he is just one of 435. Speaker John Boehner is reasserting his leadership and solidifying his power and a successful tax and budget bill will only strengthen Speaker Boehner.
Speaker Boehner does not need Paul Ryan undermining his efforts once again.
This, on the same day that President Barack Obama set the bar very high for the upcoming negotiations, by saying to labor leaders and progressive leaders that he is calling for $1.6 trillion in additional tax revenue over the next decade. $1.6 trillion is far more than Republicans are likely to accept and double the $800 billion discussed in talks with GOP leaders during the summer of 2011.
President Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden met in the West Wing of the White House with AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, Executive Director of the Center for Community Change Deepak Bhargaua, Executive Director of MoveOn.org Justin Ruben and International President of the Service Employee International Union Mary Kay Henry. The meeting also included AFSCME, the woman's group AAUW and the liberal think-tank Center for American Progress. All were active in Obama's re-election effort, and Obama could call on them for help as he makes his case to the American people for his "balanced" approach to cutting the country's yawning deficit problem.
"We are very, very committed so that the middle class and workers don't end up paying the tab for a party we didn't get to go to, and the president is committed to that as well," said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in front of the White House's West Wing following the meeting.
The participants in the meeting voiced their opposition to changes in Medicare and Social Security, including opposing changes in the eligibility ages of those programs.
President Obama will meet with chief executives of a dozen companies today and on Friday will meet with congressional leaders from the Democratic and Republican parties.
http://www.examiner.com/article/paul...sing-tax-rates