That plan doesn't include the money he asked for.

That plan doesn't include the money he asked for.

Remember how a couple of weeks ago Paul Ryan had egg on his face after being forced to admit that he had indeed requested funds from the stimulus bill that he so vehemently opposed and has continued to vilify? His excuse then was that, when he wrote those letters of support for all that federal funding, he didn't know it was stimulus money he was asking for.

So what's his excuse going to be this time?



On December 10, 2010, Ryan penned a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services to recommend a grant application for the Kenosha Community Health Center, Inc to develop a new facility in Racine, Wisconsin, an area within Ryan's district. "The proposed new facility, the Belle City Neighborhood Health Center, will serve both the preventative and comprehensive primary health care needs of thousands of new patients of all ages who are currently without health care," Ryan wrote. The grant Ryan requested was funded directly by the Affordable Care Act, better known simply as health care reform or Obamacare. The letter, among several obtained by The Nation and The Investigative Fund through a Freedom of Information Act request, is a stark reminder that even the most ardent opponents of Obamacare privately acknowledge many of the law’s benefits.

Let's walk through the next steps for Ryan. First we'll have "I never did that." Then we'll get "I did it but I wouldn't have done it if I'd known what I was doing" with some of "it's really my staff's fault" thrown in for good measure.

But here's the reality. The Affordable Care Act, and particularly the expansion of community health centers (the funding Ryan was requesting), was a very good thing for communities across the country that have experienced more and more people unemployed and uninsured. Just like the stimulus funding that helped create some jobs for people in Ryan's district was a very good thing.

Paul Ryan, the congressman who represents the people of Wisconsin's 1st district, seems to understand that, seems to get that actually using government to do goods things for his constituents is both his job and how he gets reelected, but he does this quietly, secretly. The public Paul Ryan, the demagogue and the vice presidential candidate, would kill that good work. He'd not only repeal Obamacare, he'd cut out the funds for all those existing and new community health centers.

This story, along with the stimulus funding requests, will add a new dimension to our understanding of Paul Ryan. It's been well established that he's a major-league liar. Now we know that he's a major-league hypocrite, too.

There's ongoing discussion of this story in teacherken's diary.