Is Paul Ryan Really a Fiscal Hawk?

The GOP vice presidential nominee voted for deficit-expanding policies like Medicare Part D, the Bush tax cuts, and TARP.




Ryan has often said that he regretted the big spending during the Bush era and that he often cast votes that he regretted. But that doesn't belie the fact that Ryan, despite his reputation as a fiscal hawk, has voted for some pricey items over the years that have added to the debt burden of the United States.


Walker argues that, in fact, 2003 was a particularly bad year for America's fiscal health. First, the country passed the second round of Bush tax cuts, which, Walker notes, came after the country had already gone back to running deficits. The first round of Bush cuts in 2001 came when the country was running a surplus. Second was the enormous Medicare prescription drug benefit, and the third was the invasion of Iraq, for which no taxes were levied. "2003 was arguably our most fiscally irresponsible year," Walker told National Journal.


As Reihan Salam noted in the National Review on Tuesday afternoon, Ryan's support of the Medicare prescription-drug debate came after he argued for keeping it wed to a premium support plan, the kind of quasi-voucher plan that made it into the much-discussed "Ryan plan." That Ryan stuck with the prescription-drug benefit even after it was severed from his premium support plan, Salam argues, is proof that Ryan is either flexible or an opportunist, but not the budget-slashing ideologue that he's been portrayed as.



Erin Mershon contributed