Are we better Off? Ezra Klein explains.

Ezra Klein Romney/Ryan Economic Numbers: "Governor Romney's promises are mathematically impossible."

During the RNC convention coverage, MSNBC offered up the following analysis by Ezra Klein, on the Romney/Ryan budget plan. While Romney and Ryan have adopted a policy of offering fewer details, now that the nomination has been sewn up, the media can't afford to drop the ball again when informing the nations voters.

Klein reminds us that at the time, the senate Republicans proposed a $3 trillion tax cut stimulus, making Obama's request look completely inadequate.  Got that, $3 trillion? Good to know. This is quick and easy to understand:

Wisconsin Giddy over Paul Ryan VP Pick. Ezra Klein's Got Bad News for You.

Well, not every network is praising Paul Ryan. Believe it or not, Ryan's not really a newcomer to politics, although you wouldn't know it by all the heaping praise.

Locally, the Madison TV stations fell all over themselves basking in the national spotlight, with their glowing anchor faces and ridiculous "who is Paul Ryan" video photo albums.

Oddly, after a year of campaigning against Ryan, Rob Zerban never got a mention as the most serious challenger in decades. Even Journal Sentinel reporter Dan Bice covered Ryan's possible VP pick, mentioning the state Democratic Party's plans to go after his seat, but never brought up Zerban's name.

This Ryan love fest isn't about to end anytime soon either. Wisconsin media loves the national attention, and tearing down this right wing Ayn Randian golden idol could negatively impact their ratings.

Here's Hardball's Chris Matthews with Ezra Klein, who honestly dissects what a Romney/Ryan administration would do:



If Wisconsin is smart and familiar with Ryan's plan for corporate prosperity, the polls won't change, but who am I kidding.

Father James Martin on Ryan Budget: "You really can't say it's Catholic." Ezra Klein Breaks it down to a matchbook cover.

You know, I've got to admit, everything that's being said about how outrageous Paul Ryan's budget plan is, is not getting through to conservative voters. I'll bet most of the information in the video below has never been explained to Republican radio listeners. My gut feel is that they believe so strongly in the truth of their ideology, that if it fails, it's means they haven't gone far enough. That's just crazy...and true.

Father James Martin points out what Paul Ryan missing, and Ezra Klein sums up beautifully the Ryan plan. Great stuff, and something Democrats should memorize and repeat to death.

Republican Attacks on Obama are a repeat of their attacks on Clinton. The Whole Story

Economic columnist and wonk Ezra Klein got a chance to get the following piece out of his system, and we're all better for it. It's a great history lesson from the 90's through today.

We should have learned out lesson from recent history, but I guess not. Great worthwhile look at how the Republicans have stalled progress with fear mongering and warnings that America was on the edge of economic disaster. Funny thing, they were proven completely wrong.

Weak President and Democratic Majority End Checks and balances, Ushers in Shock Doctrine Policies.

With all the talk centered around the deficit commission, there are a few plans out there that make a lot more sense. Here, Keith Olbermann gets Ezra Klein and Heather McGhee from DEMOS to explain what's really going on.

By the way, Sundance Channel is offering up the movie Shock Doctrine, also On Demand. After watching it, you may feel as panicky as I feel right now about the reason why we're being told "everything is on the table," and the brutal similarities to the deficit commissions recommendations that favor to the wealthy and what has come before.



The state of the Democratic Party is summed up by this E.J. Dionne editorial:

The idea of freezing the pay of federal workers … an obvious element in any negotiation. But

Obama simply threw in the federal workers in exchange for -- well, as best I can tell, nothing. And in the short term, shouldn’t jobs and rising incomes be a higher priority than austerity?

Worse, every signal out of the White House is that it is prepared to cave in to Republican demands for a temporary extension of all of the Bush tax cuts … how can anyone take a deficit-reduction proposal seriously when the main order of business in Congress is to make sure we widen the deficit by keeping all of the Bush tax cuts alive?

What we are witnessing here is the political power that comes from the Republican Party’s single-minded focus on high-end tax cuts and the strategic incoherence of a Democratic Party that is confused and divided -- and not getting much help from its president.

Obama seems to have decided that showing how conciliatory he can be is more important than making clear where he stands. The administration’s strategy is rooted in a fear of what the Republicans are willing to do, which only strengthens the GOP’s bargaining position. The president figures the Republicans would be quite happy to let taxes on the middle class rise on Jan. 1 if that’s the price of continuing to fight for the tax cuts for the rich.

In a game of chicken, Republicans are willing to gamble -- even if the economy would take a hit.

Related articles

• Essay: The Reagan Doctrine (time.com)