From this Friday evening's Real Time with Bill Maher's online Overtime segment, The Daily Caller's S.E. Cupp is asked from one of the viewers who wrote into the show if she believes Paul Ryan's budget "meets moral criteria." Color me not shocked that Cupp skated around the question and didn't really answer it, just as Ryan did in his response to the publication she was citing.
Apparently Cupp was also unaware that Paul Ryan had just thrown his hero, Ayn Rand under the bus, but Paul Begala did a nice job of summing up just what part of her philosophy he was no longer enamored with.
Rough transcript of the clip above below the fold.
MAHER: S.E. Cupp, do you believe the Republican budget meets moral criteria? Ooh, there's a broad question.
CUPP: I think it attempts to and actually Paul Ryan talks about this a lot, just in little known circles. He wrote a great essay for a publication called Our Sunday Visitor, a Catholic publication, in which he talks about economic decisions having moral consequences and then moral decisions having economic consequences. And I think that's something that Republicans especially need to point out, more than they do.
The rhetoric goes that you're either a fiscal conservative or a social conservative and the two don't often meet. And I think conservatives need to point out that you can exist as both and in fact, we have to exist as both. You can't eliminate one or ignore one or the other.
MAHER: Why did he throw Ayn Rand under the bus?
CUPP: Who?
MAHER: Paul Ryan.
CUPP: What do you mean?
MAHER: Today. Threw her... you know, he used to say, look, this is why I'm in politics. I hand out the book to everyone who worked for me. Ayn Rand, you know, now he's throwing her under the bus.
CUPP: I don't know why. She's an atheist... because she's an atheist? Or what?
MAHER: No, I just think the winds are shifting.
BEGALA: He was getting, he went to Georgetown, a Catholic school and a lot of Catholics were protesting.
CUPP: I saw that.
BEGALA: And so as part of what they were protesting is that he does, he says that he's basing a lot of his philosophy on Rand, and so today he disavowed her and said no. He'd her ideas in particular.
CUPP: Yeah, that's what I would imagine.
MAHER: But it didn't bother him all the years before.
BEGALA: Because he liked the part...
CUPP: He liked the policies. I'm sure he liked the policies.
BEGALA: He likes her f**k everybody policy. Just not her atheism.
MAHER: Right.
I think it's about time we're seeing more people call out Ryan and the Republicans for just how cruel his budget is and who it harms. It's just a shame we haven't seen more honesty on the subject from our corporate media and the pundits on cable television who are enamored with Ryan, and who keep portraying him as some sort of brave truth teller, rather than someone who looks like they're ready to step on the backs of the poor and working class if it advances his political career.
Just as a reminder, for anyone that would like to see Paul Ryan out of the House of Representatives all together, you can donate help his challenger at our Act Blue page here -- Stop Paul Ryan.
