Shlaes: Ryan Was Strongest Portion of 2012 Republican Ticket

In a recent interview with Newsmax TV, the author of a new book on former President Calvin Coolidge highlighted some interesting similarities between Coolidge and former Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan.

Amity Shlaes, senior fellow and director of the Four Percent Project at the George W. Bush Institute and author of the new book Coolidge, said that many people thought Coolidge was the stronger portion of the Harding-Coolidge ticket, just as many felt the same way about Ryan in 2012.

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“The Harding and Coolidge ticket was called a kangaroo ticket, meaning the vice presidential candidate might be stronger than the front. With Romney-Ryan, it was also a kangaroo ticket, at least in terms of budgeting,” she said. “Ryan is a true budgeter and he was a strong hind legs.”

Speaking on the role both political parties are playing in regard to the sequester, Shlaes believes Coolidge would have believed the scare mongering is exaggerated.

“The essential fallacy he would identify in the current policy is the assumption that if the government doesn’t spend, the economy will die. Coolidge would say ‘I don’t see much loss in the government stopping. Don’t cry wolf,’” Shlaes said.

She accused Washington of creating its own drama by staging a debate with very narrow parameters.

“(It’s either) we spend or we spend a little bit less, but we must spend or the economy will die. That’s a fallacy and Coolidge was clear about that.”