Obama's Fiscal Responsibility Co-Chairs Love Ryan

The other half of the Simpson-Bowles commission gave an interview Friday in which he praised Paul Ryan as “a spokesman of hard truth against fakery.” Alan Simpson, the former Senator from Wyoming who co-chaired the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform with Democrat Erskine Bowles, is a fan of the new Republican vice presidential nominee.

The quote about “hard truth” came in the context of Ryan’s selection as candidate for Vice President. Simpson said, “I don’t think he was seeking it, but let me tell you, he becomes a spokesman of hard truth against fakery.” Simpson also predicted that the Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction plan would be brought back to life at some point in the future: “Dr. Frankenstein is about to come by and inject some electrodes into the corpse and it’s going to rise from the shelf.”

With Simpson’s positive comments Friday, both co-chairs of the commission on which Ryan served have now praised his efforts. In 2011, Erskine Bowles said of Ryan, “He is honest. He is straightforward. He is sincere.And, the budget that he came forward with is just like Paul Ryan. It is a sensible, straightforward, serious budget.” Bowles went on to say he didn’t agree with all of Ryan’s policy proposals — but he certainly never labeled Ryan extreme. 

The commission was created by President Obama in 2010. Despite this, President Obama did not embrace the recommendations. In fact, when asked why the commission’s report was not adopted, Bowles blamed President Obama’s disinterest in the proposals.