David Gregory had a bad day on Sunday’s Meet the Press. He ran into a smart, articulate buzz saw named Congressman Paul Ryan.
David Gregory had a bad day on Sunday’s Meet the Press. He ran into a smart, articulate buzz saw named Congressman Paul Ryan.
The following exchange took place:
Gregory: According to our polling, nearly eight in ten Americans do not want to cut spending for Medicare, even in the name of cutting the debt. You, I assume, are not doing all this as an intellectual exercise. You would actually like to get reform accomplished…
Gregory: But wait a second, but that really is a dodge. You are the chairman of the committee, yes, you’re serious about entitlement reform, yes. You’re also a politician. You say you want to do it on your terms. Law does not become law without building political consensus, and you don’t have that, and now you had a major figure in the Republican Party say this was right-wing social engineering. So, I’m wondering how much you do feel undercut in actually getting this passed, which I assume is your goal?
Ryan: First of all, if people are describing this accurately in polls, it’s far more popular than the poll you referenced. Second of all, leaders are elected to lead. I don’t consult polls to tell me what my principles are or what our policies should be. Leaders change the polls, and we are leading in the House. We are not seeing this kind of leadership from the President of the United States. The Senate Democrats haven’t even proposed or passed a budget for 753 days and we have a budget crisis. So, yes, we are going to lead and we are going to try and move these polls and change these polls, because that’s what the country wants.
Yes, Paul, that’s what the country wants. A leader. A real leader. Someone like Paul Ryan. But why settle for someone like Paul Ryan when we can have Paul Ryan himself?
C’mon, Paul, how ’bout you reconsider that “I’m not running for President” thing.
H/T: NewsBusters.org
