Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin said Sunday that President Barack Obama is playing politics on the issue of immigration reform by reportedly proposing a plan that gives illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.
USA Today on Saturday revealed details of the president's planned program for undocumented residents to become legal U.S. residents within eight years.
“By leaking this out does set things in the wrong direction,” Ryan said on ABC’s “This Week.” “Is the president looking for a partisan advantage, or is he looking for a bipartisan law?”
Ryan called the proposal “very counterproductive.”
“We don’t want to give them [illegal immigrants] an advantage over those who came here legally, and we think there’s a way to do this,” he said. “The president, on most of these issues and this one now, like the others, seems to be looking for a partisan advantage and not bringing the parties together.”
On the topic of sequestration, Ryan conceded that the automatic spending cuts will take place and blamed Obama and fellow Democrats for a lack of leadership.
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“I believe it’s going to take place,” Ryan said. “There’s no leadership on the other side of the aisle.”
He said any budget must include economic growth, job creation and a goal of ushering Americans back to work.
“If you take tax loopholes to fuel more spending, which is what they’re proposing, then you are preventing tax reform,” he said.
The budget he is working on, as chairman of the House Budget Committee, will pass, he predicted.
“We’re producing a budget,” he said. “We’re going to be passing a budget. The Senate hasn’t passed a budget for four years. The president has never proposed, ever, to ever balance the budget. That’s wrong.”
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