Paul Ryan fluff watch part 2

There the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel goes again, trying to posit unimaginative ideologue Paul Ryan as some sort of deep-thinking elder statesman. This time, Paul Ryan is determined to protect the taxpayer in this whole credit crisis bailout thingamajig.

Rep. Paul Ryan, a Janesville Republican, is at the center of the alternative proposal that threatened to derail agreement on the Paulson plan. By Friday afternoon, however, a top Democratic leader said congressional negotiators working on a fix were willing to consider the conservative proposal “if this will bring the House Republicans to the table.”

Ryan, who has emerged as a key player in the negotiations, said his caucus did not like Paulson’s plan. The administration proposal would allow the government to buy bad loans from troubled firms in an effort to give sluggish credit markets a boost.

Under the House Republican proposal, the government would offer companies insurance for their mortgage-backed securities for a premium. The government would pay up only on those that default. The government already insures roughly half the nation’s mortgage-backed securities.

“Our goal is to protect the taxpayer,” Ryan said.

But will the House Republican plan (which the JS, following the Brawler's lead, finally points out was a notion considered and rejected by Treasury Secretary Paulson) actually protect the taxpayer? The Journal Sentinel doesn't tell you!

But a McCain economics adviser says it would cost the taxpayer more! From Time's Curious Capitalist, quoting Mark Zandi:

[T]his is a much less effective way of addressing the problem and would very likely cost taxpayers more than the tarp.

Achtung Journal Sentinel: If you want to educate your readers, dive into the question of how the proposal will work -- and if it would work. Offering your readers a he said-she said story doesn't enlighten. It only obfuscates and turns off readers who've already seen it before.

Comments

[Ryan]

Great blog! Keep on giving hell to the Republicans, the Journal-Sentinel, and our local right-wing know-nothings! Especially all this dimwitted blathering over Paul Ryan!