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Friday, October 5, 2012

Paul Ryan: 60% of US is moochers who aren’t “American”

In a story reminiscent of Mitt Romney’s attack on the 47% of Americans who he says think of themselves as “victims,” Ben Craw and Zach Carter of the Huffington Post report today that Paul Ryan has repeatedly criticized 60% of Americans, who he calls “takers,” for getting more money from the federal government than they put in.  (People who put in more than they take are called “makers” by Ryan.)Not mentioned in the HuffPost story, and buried at the end of their video showing Ryan repeatedly mentioning “takers” and “makers,” is Ryan accusing “takers” – 60% of the country – of not being “American,” not “want[ing] the American dream,” and not “believ[ing] in the American idea.”
This comes on the heels of Mitt Romney’s retraction today of his 47% comments, after a month of defending them.
Here’s Ryan’s standard talking point, per HuffPo:
“Right now about 60 percent of the American people get more benefits in dollar value from the federal government than they pay back in taxes,” Ryan said. “So we’re going to a majority of takers versus makers in America and that will be tough to come back from that. They’ll be dependent on the government for their livelihoods [rather] than themselves.”
HuffPost has video showing appearance after appearance in which Ryan repeatedly criticizes the “60%” of Americans that he says take more than they give to America. So clearly Ryan didn’t mis-speak. This is a core tenet of the man’s beliefs, that 60% of our country is made up of people who aren’t “American”:
Particularly troubling is what Ryan says at the end of the Huffington Post video:
“The good news is, most people in America don’t want to be a ‘taker,’ they want to be American, they want to be a ‘maker’.”
So “takers” aren’t “American.”
In a different speech, Ryan explains that only makers “want the American dream… believe in the American idea.”  So 60% of Americans don’t believe in the American dream, and don’t believe in the American idea, according to the Republican vice presidential candidate.
The Romney/Ryan campaign has yet to explain how they plan on winning the election with only 40% of the vote.

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