# Paul Ryan- compulsive liar? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 2, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401 "2012-09-02T00:00:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401/81 "2012-09-04T02:10:48Z")
Another lie: During his convention speech, Ryan claimed that that President Obama was specifically responsible for a downgrade of the U.S. government’s credit rating by Standard and Poor during the budget and debt ceiling debate last summer. CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley confronted Ryan on that point, reading from the S&P’s own report saying that it was Republicans’ refusal to accept any revenue-raising measures that prompted the credit downgrade. [Cite](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57503914/paul-ryan-stands-by-remark-blaming-obama-for-u.s-credit-downgrade/?tag=showDoorFlexGridLeft;flexGridModule). Even when directly confronted with this lie (claiming the report said something that it did not), Ryan has refused to back down. I guess he thinks that if he repeats the lie enough, it will become the truth. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401/82 "2012-09-04T06:30:32Z")
> [@robby](#): > > I guess he thinks that if he repeats the lie enough, it will become the truth. :rolleyes: That is standard M.O. for conservatives. Take the whole “the stimulus was a complete failure” line; completely not-true yet taken as gospel-truth by many (even non-conservatives) due to nothing more than the untruth being repeated ad-nauseum. It’s unfortunately an effective strategy for disinforming the masses. ---
**Author:** ![JLRogers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@JLRogers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JLRogers)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401/83 "2012-09-04T06:49:52Z")
It has been made clear that their campaign will not be dictated by fact checkers. There is nothing secretive about their strategy. How does any of this surprise anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401/84 "2012-09-04T07:30:31Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Do you have any extremely religious friends, and no matter what problem you have they think the solution is to convert you to their religion? Paul Ryan is no different. His medicare plan will make medicare more expensive and less reliable. But it converts it to his ‘religion’ (which is an anti-statist Ayn Rand philosophy). The fact that it makes the problem worse is irrelevant. > > Or take communists. Give them a problem and the solution is always to weaken the private sector and give the state control. Do communists care if their solutions make everything worse? Nope. Their only goal is to force the world to fit their ideology, even if it screws everything up. Paul Ryan is no different, just on the different side of the spectrum. I get where you are coming from but I think the subjective experience of such people is not what you say. It’s not that they don’t care about making problems worse, or that making problems worse is irrelevant. It’s that they truly believe their idealistic philosophy will make things better either straight away or in the long term. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401/85 "2012-09-04T15:22:27Z")
[http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/03/paul-adds-some-loaded-figures-to-question-of-better-off/](http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/03/paul-adds-some-loaded-figures-to-question-of-better-off/) If he’s Ryan, he’s lyin’. Ryan told a crowd in NC that there were 1.4 million businesses that filed for bankruotcy last year, instead of 47,806. He may have confused personal versus business bankruptcy, but he was clear that he was talking about fewer businesses meaning fewer jobs. He’s also being deceptive in the implications of this figure, since the number of bankruptcies is falling, not increasing. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401/86 "2012-09-04T15:37:49Z")
> **[New Adventures of Queen Victoria by Pab Sungenis for September 04, 2012 |...](https://www.gocomics.com/thenewadventuresofqueenvictoria/2012/09/04)** > > September 04, 2012 ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401/87 "2012-09-04T16:07:48Z")
Good news, everyone! Ryan has clarified that he didn’t blame Obama for the plant closing in 2008! Instead, he was trying to blame Obama for breaking his promise to keep the plant open. Of course, Obama never promised to keep the plant open, in the first place. Instead, Obama engaged in a little subjunctive mood, saying that, if the plant would accept the government’s help in refitting it for clean energy, there was no reason the plant couldn’t stay open for a hundred years. But hey, that uses some of the same words as Ryan’s new claim that Obama broke a promise to keep the plant open, so it’s easy to see that Ryan’s totally right, this time, and not at all a pathologically broken specimen of Randian self-aggrandizement. > **[Paul Ryan: I Wasn't Blaming Obama](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/paul-ryan-today_n_1853759)** > > Paul Ryan: I Wasn't Blaming Obama ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401/88 "2012-09-04T17:15:46Z")
One useful way to measure whether you’re dealing with a compulsive liar or a guy who makes innocent mistakes is to see whether his lies makes him, or his side, or his argument, appear better than it is. I think that’s the important part of Ryan’s lies, not their subject or their theme. Once you become convinced that the guy is a compulsive liar, wouldn’t you rather have someone–anyone–without a major personality defect? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401/89 "2012-09-04T17:24:04Z")
[Apparently, Romney was warned.](http://www.capitolhillblue.com/node/44972) > [@](#): > > Campaign professionals vetting Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as a potential Republican vice presidential candidate warned Mitt Romney‘s strategists that the Congressman had a “history of exaggeration and prevarication” that could become a campaign issue and distraction but the GOP presidential nominee’s team ignored the warnings. > > Romney campaign insiders tell Capitol Hill Blue that an intense internal battle raged inside the campaign over Ryan’s history of blatant lies, factual misstatements and exaggerations. Looks like Mittens closed his eyes, rolled the dice, and is staring at snake eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401/90 "2012-09-04T18:34:10Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I think it bugs people because we all know a douchebag that lies about stuff like this. > > “Yeah, bro, I got a perfect score on the SAT. Didn’t even study for it. It was easy as shit too.” > > You just want to stab him with a fork. Actually, for me it is different. I’ve dealt with addicted people who are compulsive liars as a part of their illness. They lie about really stupid, unimportant stuff. Taking “I finished a SINGLE marathon when I was a kid in a respectable time of just over 4 hours” to “I had to quit running marathonS (multiple)” and my best time was “two and fifty something”… that sets off my compulsive liar radar. Either that or the guy is in early onset mental dementia and shouldn’t be in government. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401/91 "2012-09-04T18:42:07Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > [Paul Ryan: I Wasn't Blaming Obama For GM Plant Closure | HuffPost Latest News](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/04/paul-ryan-today_n_1853759.html) From linked article: > [@](#): > > “What I was saying is the president ought to be held to account for his broken promises. \*\*After the plant was shut down he said \*\*he would lead efforts to restore the plant. It’s still idle.” > > […] > “My home state voted for President Obama,” he said Wednesday. “When he talked about change, many people liked the sound of it, especially in Janesville, where **we were about to lose a major factory.** ” Bolding mine — oh, my editor would have a fit over this. Guess Lying Ryan operates in a non-linear time environment? Also, WTF do they want? Do they want government to but into everyone business or not? And finally, Ohio did pretty well with the GM thing… so suckit Janesville. If you had elected a better rep, you might have gotten your plant re-tooled too. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Raven\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@The\_Raven\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Raven_1)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401/92 "2012-09-04T19:09:13Z")
> [@moonshot925](#): > > Paul Ryan has seen the writing on the wall regarding unfunded liabilities - entitlement spending - and sees the ensuing trainwreck that could lead to the bankruptcy of federal, state and local governments. > > Ryan wants to slow the rate of growth of the misguided ponzi schemes (Medicare, Social Security, etc..) in an attempt to sustain their viability, not kill them. > > LBJs Great Society has been an abject failure and has only succeeded in creating class warfare guerillas with their socialist entitlement mentality. Let’s see… entitlement…ponzi scheme…LBJ…abject failure…class warfare guerrillas…socialist… Not bad, if you had included “risky”, “runaway” or “Greece” you would have gotten the deluxe toaster oven. Instead, please enjoy this copy of the home game with our compliments! ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401/93 "2012-09-05T08:34:25Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > Ryan told a crowd in NC that there were 1.4 million businesses that filed for bankruotcy last year, instead of 47,806. Great! Natural collapse of unproductive industry, Randian wet dream, right? Unless he thinks government regulations against child labour and taxes were the cause of those lost businesses, in which case, let us all weep for the job creators. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401/94 "2012-09-05T18:49:59Z")
Today, [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) has a link on its home page to an [opinion piece](http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/05/opinion/pearlman-ryan-marathon/index.html?hpt=hp_t2) by sports writer Jeff Pearlman. Pearlman calls Ryan’s marathon claim a “flat-out, straight-up, no-holds-barred lie” and notes, “when it comes to Wisconsin’s favorite son, a lie … isn’t such an isolated occurrence.” I don’t know anything about Pearlman. Maybe he’s a Democratic partisan hack on the side or something. But when a guy known mostly for sports pops up on CNN calling Ryan a liar, it suggests to me that the label is sticking pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401/95 "2012-09-05T19:12:42Z")
> [@Enkel](#): > > Bolding mine — oh, my editor would have a fit over this. Guess Lying Ryan operates in a non-linear time environment? Romney/Ryan – the Flippy-Floppy and Wibbly-Wobbly ticket. > [@Bayard](#): > > Today, [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) has a link on its home page to an [opinion piece](http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/05/opinion/pearlman-ryan-marathon/index.html?hpt=hp_t2) by sports writer Jeff Pearlman. Pearlman calls Ryan’s marathon claim a “flat-out, straight-up, no-holds-barred lie” and notes, “when it comes to Wisconsin’s favorite son, a lie … isn’t such an isolated occurrence.” > > I don’t know anything about Pearlman. Maybe he’s a Democratic partisan hack on the side or something. But when a guy known mostly for sports pops up on CNN calling Ryan a liar, it suggests to me that the label is sticking pretty good. The marathon lie is particularly troublesome because it falls so far outside the usual range of just-the-business-of-politics prevaications. It suggests that Ryan is either: 1. So stupid that he was unware that the facts could be checked, or 2. So arrogant that he assumed his lie would trump the truth in the public consciousness, or 3. Pathologically unable to stop himself from lying even when he knew it was a bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401/96 "2012-09-05T19:59:36Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > [Apparently, Romney was warned.](http://www.capitolhillblue.com/node/44972) > > > [@](#): > > > > Campaign professionals vetting Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as a potential Republican vice presidential candidate warned Mitt Romney‘s strategists that the Congressman had a “history of exaggeration and prevarication” that could become a campaign issue and distraction but the GOP presidential nominee’s team ignored the warnings. > > > > Romney campaign insiders tell Capitol Hill Blue that an intense internal battle raged inside the campaign over Ryan’s history of blatant lies, factual misstatements and exaggerations. > > Looks like Mittens closed his eyes, rolled the dice, and is staring at snake eyes. Well, I guess that’s what he gets for his constant flouting of the LDS stricture against gambling. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401/97 "2012-09-05T20:00:47Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > [Apparently, Romney was warned.](http://www.capitolhillblue.com/node/44972) > > Looks like Mittens closed his eyes, rolled the dice, and is staring at snake eyes. That would be a much, much more convincing article if they’d given some examples of previous pre-nomination fabrications. But they seem to just expect us to take their word for it. ---
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401/98 "2012-09-05T20:18:09Z")
Anyone remember Biden lying about going to law school on a [full scholarship](http://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/22/us/biden-admits-errors-and-criticizes-latest-report.html) or that he was in the top half of his class? How’s about them 3 degrees he said he received? Anyone remember when he [plagiarized](http://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/12/us/biden-s-debate-finale-an-echo-from-abroad.html) a speech in his debate in 1987? How about that [plagiarism](http://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/18/us/biden-admits-plagiarism-in-school-but-says-it-was-not-malevolent.html) in law school? Oh, that’s just Joe…Let Joe be Joe! ---
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401/99 "2012-09-05T20:21:57Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > The marathon lie is particularly troublesome because it falls so far outside the usual range of just-the-business-of-politics prevaications. It suggests that Ryan is either: > > 1. So stupid that he was unware that the facts could be checked, or > 2. So arrogant that he assumed his lie would trump the truth in the public consciousness, or > 3. Pathologically unable to stop himself from lying even when he knew it was a bad idea. Man…I’d say the same about Lunchbucket Joe! You think he’d _know_ if he had a full scholarship and graduated in the top half of his class. I bet those things stick with you longer than a marathon time. Pathological! ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401/100 "2012-09-05T20:38:21Z")
In the past Ryan has lied about whether or not he requested stimulus funds. Initially he denied it, then he claimed he didn’t know what he was requesting (ugh). A new letter has turned up showing that Ryan requested grant funding for a facility in his district through Obamacare (the ACA). It will be impossible for him to deny this time, and hard for him to claim he didn’t know what he was doing. > **[Exclusive: Paul Ryan Quietly Requested Obamacare Cash](https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/exclusive-paul-ryan-quietly-requested-obamacare-cash/)** > > In a letter to the Obama administration obtained by the The Nation, Ryan asked that a clinic in his district receive a grant made possible by the Affordable Care Act. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-compulsive-liar/633401.md?page=6)