Paul Ryan recently criticized President Barack Obama for spending cuts to the defense department even though he supported those cuts at one time. For those criticisms, Norah O’Donnell from CBS News, decided to attack Ryan. On Sunday, Mitt Romney made an appearance on ‘Meet the Press,’ saying that Republicans were wrong for agreeing to a debt ceiling deal that decreases defense spending by $500 billion over a period of ten years.
O’Donnell asked Ryan, “He’s talking about you because you voted for those cuts, correct?” Ryan made it known that he voted for those cuts in spending because he was working towards a ‘common ground’ with the Democratic Party in order to decrease the deficit in the budget. Ryan then said that he created a bill that decreased spending in other areas in order to prevent “the president’s irresponsible, devastating defense cuts.”
Ryan was attacked again by O’Donnell when she said that the defense cuts were in the Budget Control Act and that Ryan was a supporter of the act. She even quoted Ryan describing the legislation as a ‘victory’ and a ‘positive step forward.’
“So, you voted for defense cuts, and now you’re criticizing the president for those same defense cuts that you voted for and called a victory,” O’Donnell said.
“The goal was never that these defense cuts actually occur,” Ryan said. Ryan also said to O’Donnell that he was supportive of a sequestration measure. That measure would have created automatic cuts if the supercommittee had not reached a deal. She also noted that the act had $1 trillion in immediate cuts, which included the cuts to defense.
“And you also voted for those, and now you’re saying you didn’t vote for them?” she asked. Ryan then said that the current administration created defense cuts of $478 billion along with cutting $500 billion in defense from the sequestration.
“Right. A trillion dollars in defense spending, and you voted for it!” O’Donnell said.
“No, Norah. I voted for the Budget Control Act.”
“That included defense spending!”
