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The Spectacle Blog

Paul Ryan on the Obama Housing Plan

By Philip Klein on 2.19.09 @ 5:02PM

I just got off the phone with Rep. Paul Ryan for another story I was working on, but also asked for his initial take on President Obama's housing proposal.

"It's a moral hazard," Ryan said. "It's going to viewed as unfair, which is, people who did everything right are bailing out people who spent beyond their means, and cram-down is going to result in higher mortgage rates and refinancing rates for all Americans who want to buy a house. So at the end of the day, I think this may end up doing more harm then good, and it may put a new moral hazard in place that's bad for society. It's going to put more of the kind of moral hazards in place that got us into this in the first place, is what my concern is."

I also asked Ryan about the "fiscal responsibility summit" President Obama called for Monday, which Ryan will be attending. The summit, among other items, is expected to focus on entitlement spending.

"I'm going to take them at their face that their intentions are noble and they want to move the ball forward on this, until I see otherwise," Ryan said. "I'm glad they're doing it."

View all comments (2) | Leave a comment

Gene| 2.19.09 @ 6:22PM

MY BIG GUMIT TAKE CARE OF ME , CRADLE TO GRAVE !!!

JG| 2.20.09 @ 12:33PM

""It's going to viewed as unfair, which is, people who did everything right are bailing out people who spent beyond their mean...""

Good quote by Ryan, but the same could've been said for using TARP money for the auto-bailout in December, which Ryan voted for in an act of political coward.

I understand we can't hold the GOP leaders to the strictest of litmus tests, believing EVERY TENET of the conservative platform. But the TARP and the auto bailouts are milestones in what we can only hope to be only the beginning of a conservative revival. And Paul Ryan supported BOTH of these. Like I said in the comments of the Jack Kemp article earlier today, Ryan is hardly anything to look forward to for the conservative movement.