Ryan Skewers White House for Ducking Debt

President Barack Obama’s budget proposal does little to attack the government’s $14.3 trillion debt burden. And House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, like many other Republicans, isn’t too happy about that, The Hill reports.

“If George Bush brought us this budget, I would say the exact same thing: why did you duck?” Ryan asked White House budget director Jack Lew at a hearing. “Why did you not take this opportunity to lead? Because we face a crippling burden of debt, this year’s budget in particular presented the president with a unique opportunity to lead our country. The president has disappointed us all by declining that opportunity.”

Lew called the budget a “tough love” plan. But Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, retorted, “If that was the tough love that my father showed me when I was young, I’d still be a juvenile delinquent.”