House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) latest proposals to avert a potential debt crisis made no reference to the Affordable Care Act, an omission that left hardline conservatives miffed.
In an op-ed published Wednesday in the Wall Street Journal, Ryan called for “common-sense reforms of the country’s entitlement programs and tax code” to be included in any debt limit deal, but he never explicitly proposed reforms to the health care law. And for that, some on the right used Twitter to throw shade at the 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee.
The Senate Conservatives Fund, a group founded by former GOP Sen. Jim DeMint that aims to purge moderates from the party, got things started:
@PRyan Obamacare is the #1 job killer and it will bankrupt our country. Your plan does nothing to stop it.
— Senate Conservatives (@SCF) October 8, 2013
That received a retweet from RedState.com editor Erick Erickson, a vocal leader in the movement to defund the Obamacare:
“@SCF: @PRyan Obamacare is the #1 job killer and it will bankrupt our country. Your plan does nothing to stop it.”
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) October 9, 2013
Heritage Action spokesman Dan Holler compared Ryan’s op-ed to President Obama’s Tuesday press conference, where the health care law was not brought up:
much like White House press, Paul Ryan doesn’t mention Obamacare in WSJ oped. #shutdown http://t.co/zo5sI7yk6p
— dan holler (@danholler) October 9, 2013
National Review’s Andrew Stiles said that conservative aides were “flummoxed” by Ryan’s op-ed:
Conservative aides I talk to are flummoxed as to why Ryan, et al, want to shift focus from Obamacare (unpopular) to Medicare/SS (v. popular)
— Andrew Stiles (@AndrewStilesNRO) October 9, 2013
Amanda Carpenter, a speechwriter for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), criticized Ryan for leaving out the O-word:
There is one big word missing from this op-ed. It’s start with an O and ends with BAMACARE http://t.co/r1cYgjWEL5
— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) October 9, 2013
This post has been updated.
