Ryan voted for debt-reduction ‘process,’ not for defense cuts, campaign says

Source: WaPo

By Felicia Sonmez, Tuesday, August 21, 5:23 PM

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Paul Ryan was among the 269 House members – including 174 Republicans and 95 Democrats – who voted for last August’s debt ceiling deal, a sweeping compromise that set into motion the $500 billion in automatic defense spending cuts set to take effect beginning in January 2013.

Ryan also declined an invitation from House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) last year to serve on the debt “supercommittee,” the bipartisan 12-member panel tasked with devising a far-reaching debt-reduction deal to avert the defense cuts.

So how does the GOP vice presidential nominee reconcile his support for the debt-ceiling plan with his argument that President Obama is the one to blame for the looming defense cuts, a claim Ryan reiterated Tuesday afternoon at a helicopter museum in this Philadelphia suburb?

Ryan supported the “process” put in place by the debt deal, but not necessarily the substance, a spokesman said Tuesday.

“Chairman Ryan voted for a process for bipartisan deficit reduction,” Ryan spokesman Michael Steel said. “President Obama insisted on these crippling defense cuts and then went AWOL, campaigning full time. He now bears responsibility.”

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ryan-voted-for-debt-reduction-process-not-for-defense-cuts-campaign-says/2012/08/21/75acb176-ebd7-11e1-aca7-272630dfd152_story.html