Pundits and columnists continue to entertain the fantastical idea that the Republican party is going to embark on a crusade of moderation and soul-searching, but so far there have been few signs from lawmakers that they actually intend to put their money where the media's mouth is.
In his first post-election interview, former vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan said he doesn't believe they lost on the ideas they ran on and that it's up to President Obama to adopt their ideas.
Ryan, though, said that the election was not a referendum on his budget proposals and ideas on reforming entitlement programs.
“I don’t think we lost it on those budget issues, especially on Medicare — we clearly didn’t lose it on those issues,” he said. [...]
He said the pressure was on the president to offer detailed solutions to avoid the fiscal cliff of expiring lower tax rates and automatic spending cuts, which economists warn could spark a new recession.
“It’s in his interest to offer some ideas to put specific ideas on the table,” Ryan said, adding that he was open to a deal that included “higher revenues through tax reforms.”
Read another way -- Ryan is open to a deal premised on Tax Cut Magic.
It's convenient for Paul Ryan to say they didn't lose based on the ideas they ran on because they were mostly his ideas. And we wouldn't want to make this a referendum on the mythical Paul Ryan, the bold, serious, substance-bringer, would we?
If Ryan doesn't believe they lost on the issue of Medicare, does this mean the next budget that emerges from the House of Representatives will once again include the voucherization of Medicare?
I can't hear you! La La La La (AP photo)
Ryan claiming they "clearly didn't lose" on the issues of budgets and Medicare is probably the most counter-factual thing you will read today or perhaps the rest of the year.