Ezra Klein STILL Doesn't Know Why Paul Ryan Conned Him Hard

Ezra Klein is finally admitting that his love affair with Paul Ryan may have been really, really silly. Sam Seder and the Majority Report crew discuss this.

[darksaint]

I've never understood the idea that seniors could buy into health insurance. The entire reason we have Medicare is because the health insurance companies didn't want to cover seniors.

[nohbuddy]

When a man shows you who they are, believe him

[thechairman]

'Fair & Balanced' is a phlogiston. All it really means is enforced naivete, and that naivete will naturally favor the right in the service of protecting capital.

[philipgardner]

Sam nailed it. So boring I didn’t even bother reading the article. “Paul Ryan played the long con” yeah obviously.

[zayhertz-deeprest]

My Dad always told me, "Never trust a man with two first names"

[jrundin]

It's always fun when rich, privileged people like Ezra complain about non-rich people for acting up: in this case, struggling rural French people who are genuinely suffering in a rich country that showers comforts on its most prosperous people in Paris, who live in an impenetrably exclusive bubble of privilege: they come from the right families; they go to the right schools; and they have the right friends. These Parisian elites actually sound a bit like Ezra. Ezra may be smart, but he's not wise. He's remarkably insulated from the real life experiences of most people in the U.S. And his wonkish technocratic rationalizations for the suffering of others beg for the throwing of molotov cocktails here in the states, and he's too blinded by his own privilege to see it.

[ld]

Klein of all people should have known Ryan is as elite as they come and had reduced the deficit it would have come at the expense of the lowly 80% of us who don't have money to burn. I don't get it.

[subroy]

"I don't know if he's aware of it."
Oh, he's aware.
Edit: Also, when Paul Krugman, the neoliberal ""stalwart"" is telling you not to trust a right-winger, maybe don't think yourself so smart that you start believing whatever falls out of Paul Ryan's wordhole, Ezra.

[spiritualanarchist]

Sam Seder often sounds like someone who think he went to the movies to watch a serious political docu, but accidently walked into a silly parody . So he keeps scratching his head, trying to make sense of what the hell is going on., , ,

[Will-vjbc]

He knew all along that Ryan was full of shit. How could he not? Now he's trying to play the victim? Not buying it.

[aaronsande]

Despite how we've been explaining this game for YEARS on end now? So sad. I used to think Ezra was intelligent.

[Achrononmaster]

Ezra Klein is smart??? He needs to be schooled about MMT. Government surpluses are in general not good, unless there is over-production and full employment.

[Mutex]

Ezra Klein was on Cenk's show when he was on MSNBC. He said something ridiculously stupid about how money doesn't corrupt politicians.

[weston.weston]

Wow, wow, and wow! A lot of Sam's content is humorous and I enjoy it very much. However, he demonstrated his chops and made it clear that he is thoughtful and well read when it comes to these topics. I am a MAJOR Ezra Klein fan but must admit that Sam was accurate in analysis of EK in his segment.

Well done, Sam.

[Majesties]

Ezra fell in the beltway careerism trap. He wanted and still wants to be liked by the powers that be.

[Dradeeus]

"I mean, just because Paul Krugman was 100% correct that Paul Ryan was full of shit didn't mean it was the RIGHT way to report on him. If you're a good journalist, you take what they say at face value and then write about how disappointed you are when they're retired."

[t_ylr]

I don't know what's wrong with Ezra. He does a podcast with Matt Iglesias who seems to think that Paul Ryan is Satan incarnate lol. So not sure where the disconnect is.

[tnewanz]

Sam Seder is consistently the best analyst on YouTube.

[KailashSabhnani]

If you listen to Vox's The Weeds podcast over the past 2-3 years, you can hear Matt Yglesias straight-up call Ryan a liar time and again while Ezra squirms in discomfort and continues to grant Ryan leeway through it all. Perfect illustration of Beltway insider thinking! The only reason I still read/listen to Vox is because of Yglesias, Sarah Kliff & Dara Lind.

[concernedspectator]

"deep down [Paul Ryan] was a Never Trumper but he put the party over personal preference"

That is so perfect it's depressing.