Seems Ryan learned from the immediate past president on how to deal with critical questions. From Moe Lane at RedState, we get this anecdote from the Republican leader‘s listening tour in his Wisconsin district:
At the last of four events on Rep. Paul Ryan’s “listening tour” of his district Thursday, he called on a man in the front row of a high school auditorium, then instantly recognized him.
“You changed clothes!” Ryan told Steve Jozefczyk. The 54-year old salesman from Franklin, Wis., had asked Ryan several critical questions from the front row of an event six hours earlier in Waterford, when he wore a shirt and tie. In Greenfield, it was a black “Faux News” parody T-shirt.
Josefczyk admitted trying to trick Ryan into calling on him again. But Ryan listened anyway.
I join Moe Lane is emphasizing that last sentence. So, the Republican Congressman calls on a guy whom he knows to be a traveling critic.
Contrast his attitude to this particular critic to that of the incumbent president toward critics in general.
Another angry crowd of voters protests Ryan townhall meeting.
What I would like to see him and the Repub leaders do is spell out the exact shape of the off-setting tax increases (closing off tax deductions) to pay off the 25% tax rate that he says will make his tax proposal “revenue neutral.” At the moment, in the absence of any clarity on that issue, I fear that he will rely on “dynamic” supply side arguments. Ho-hum.