"In politics, the side with a fixed notion of ends and an unscrupulous approach to means always has the advantage"

George Packer brings clarity to the essential nature of today's GOP - their goals and their means - as "The Budget War" is being waged in Washington:

Rep. Ryan: "This is not a budget. It's a cause."

The Republicans now hold just one house of Congress, yet they have controlled the terms of the debate, because they understand that budget battles are about far more than numbers, and they’ve made the ideology behind their various bargaining positions startlingly clear: government should be reduced to gasping for air. What’s more, they’re willing to deploy legislative terrorism—threatening to shut down the government and to allow the United States to default on its debt—to get their way. In politics, the side with a fixed notion of ends and an unscrupulous approach to means always has the advantage.

No joy in Medicareville: more on the funny numbers and dishonest packaging of "Ryancare"

GOP Congressional Budget Czar Paul Ryan in the Wall Street Journal:

“Starting in 2022, new Medicare beneficiaries will be enrolled in the same kind of health-care program that members of Congress enjoy.”

Princeton economics professor Uwe Reinhardt begs to differ with Ryan's (false) claim that he's giving Grandma the same health insurance that he and John Boehner "enjoy:"