During his speech accepting the GOP vice presidential nomination, Paul Ryan used strong language blaming President Obama for the unraveling of the bipartisan Bowles-Simpson Commission, created to develop a policy strategy for fiscal sustainability. Ryan remarked, “He created a bipartisan debt commission. They came back with an urgent report. He thanked them, sent them on their way, and then did exactly nothing.”
PolitiFact asked a number of experts, including UMBC political science professor Roy T. Meyers, for their take on Ryan’s remarks. “‘They?’ ‘Them?’ Why didn’t he say, ‘us?’” wrote Meyers. “It’s beyond hypocritical. It’s repeatedly and cynically dishonest.”
Experts from the American Enterprise Institute and Taxpayers for Common Sense agreed. They cited Ryan’s failure to mention that he served on the commission and personally voted against the group’s proposal, which ultimately did not receive enough “yes” votes to be sent to Congress for action.
