Do you remember the 2012 election?
When Mitt Romney picked Paul Ryan as his running mate it all but cemented the growing media narrative that 2012 would be a choice between two competing visions for America: “we’re in this thing together” vs. “you’re on your own.”
It was all pretty simple. Less government is good, more government is bad. Paul Ryan had a very serious budget that convinced most of the political pundits that he was a very serious person. His very serious budget counted Medicare savings that were part of the Affordable Care Act and counted “savings” from repealing the Affordable Care Act.
Republicans touted this budget as the solution to America’s woes while damning Democrats for so much as touching Medicare, even though their own budget included those same cuts.
Then the GOP and the policies they championed were soundly defeated. They lost up and down the ballot, on issues and in terms of real votes, only holding onto a majority in the House and state House because of heavily gerrymandered districts.
So the other day, when the very serious Paul Ryan unveiled his very serious budget that, again, includes the same Medicare cuts they hit Democrats over the head with during the 2012 cycle and assumes savings from repealing the ACA (an assumption that even Fox News host George Wallace said is “not going to happen”), it reminded us just how shameless the GOP has become.
They were for it before they were against it and then against it before they were for it. Apparently, Republicans are betting that you’ll forget, so remember this: Republicans raised your taxes, but will run as if they lowered them.