Republican budget front-man, Paul Ryan (R-WI), apparently didn't even read the press release where in S&P spelled out their reasoning for downgrading the credit rating of the U.S. from AAA+ to AA+.
Here is Paul Ryan's response to Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday after being asked about the credit downgrade.
Ryan: I am not very surprised with the downgrade. We more or less saw it coming because we are the wrong fiscal path. We’ll find out what spike in rates we are going to get. Obviously not only does it hurt the federal government and its ability to close deficits, but it hurts people. Car loans, home loans, all these things are going to go up. And so, it is because Washington has not gotten its fiscal house in order. And to me, this is just more vindication of our actions. We passed a budget, which according to someone with S&P yesterday, would have prevented the downgrading from happening in the first place.
Wallace: Isn’t that like a doctor saying, ‘I did the operation perfectly but the patient died?’ In its announcement, S&P condemned the political dysfunction here in Washington, the grid lock here in Washington… isn’t the failure to compromise part of the problem?”
Ryan: Both political parties are responsible for the mess we have right [now]. This is not a Democrat or Republican problem only. Both parties got us to where we are. I would argue, though, in the last couple of years, we’ve gone deeply in the wrong direction. Yes, we haven’t been able to get the kind of compromise because our partners on the other side of the ailes had been unwilling to reform the [entitlement] programs that the cause of the problem.
No. Just no. This is not a vindication of the Republicans' actions. In fact that is so far from the truth I can hardly believe Ryan's nose didn't grow 10 inches immediately after saying it.
S&P made it perfectly clear that an overwhelming majority of the blame for the downgrade is owed to fanatical Republicans who refuse to, under any circumstances, raise revenue.
This isn't a vindication of the Paul Ryan Path to Poverty, which House Republicans voted in favor of, either. The Path to Poverty would add another $6 trillion dollars to the national debt over the next 10 years and wouldn't raise a single dime of additional revenue. In fact the only way you could possibly believe it would lead to more revenue is if you also believe in magic asterisks, that tax cuts create jobs, the Tooth Fairy, and Santa Claus.
Furthermore, Democrats have been perfectly willing to discuss reforms to entitlement programs that do not include cutting benefits. One could even argue that the Affordable Care Act did just that.
In short -- Paul Ryan is just making stuff up.