An Ode to Paul Ryan
Why a balanced budget amendment is a backdoor attack on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid; “Medicaid work requirements would have killed me”; goodbye and good riddance to Paul Ryan; and more. Subscribe to Off-Kilter on iTunes.
This week on Off-Kilter, what’s at stake as Congress considers a so-called balanced budget amendment to the Constitution? Rebecca gets the scoop from the Center for American Progress’s budget and tax guru Seth Hanlon.
Next, with April as Second Chance Month, Rebecca talks with Kristen Arant, a single mom from Kentucky and Ohio who was able to turn her life around after spending time behind bars due to struggles with substance abuse — thanks to Medicaid. As Kristen writes in TalkPoverty.org, adding work requirements to Medicaid, as both of the states she hails from are seeking to do, could be nothing short of a death sentence for people like her.
But first, with the news of Paul Ryan’s retirement and another nasty executive order released by the Trump administration targeting low-income families, Rebecca brings back The Slevinator for another edition of In Case You Missed It — and a surprise sneak peak at his band’s new single (yes, really!)
This week’s guests:
- Seth Hanlon, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress
- Kristen Arant, mom and social work student
- Jeremy Slevin, director of antipoverty advocacy at the Center for American Progress (and faithful sidekick)
For more on this week’s topics:
- See how the Balanced Budget Amendment will threaten Americans’ healthcare, social security, and jobs
- Read more about Kristen Arant’s powerful story and how her success would be jeopardized by Medicaid work requirements
- Rebecca breaks down Trump’s ignorant and dangerous executive order in this twitter thread
- We have a few favorite eulogies for Paul Ryan’s career: Paul Ryan’s bargain with the devil in The Atlantic; Good riddance to the biggest fraud in American politics by Matthew Yglesias for Vox; The Onion’s sublime headline; andthis lovely limerick by Melissa Boteach (which kicked off one helluva limerick battle…)
- And while you’re basking in all the Paul Ryan eulogies, stream the new single, “By Design” from Jeremy Slevin’s band Yesferatu
This program aired on April 12th, 2018
