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IOWA AS OF HERE, MARCH, TOUGH
YEAR FOR THE DEMOCRATS.
PAUL RYAN IS THE HOUSE COMMITTEE
BUDGET CHAIRMAN, HE WAS MITT
ROMNEY'S VICE PRESIDENTIAL
NOMINEE.
HE MIGHT RUN FOR THE REPUBLICAN
NOMINATION IN 2016.
HE WAS ON BILL BENNETT'S
CONSERVATIVE RADIO SHOW THE
OTHER MORNING TALKING ABOUT HIS
PLAN TO HELP END POVERTY IN
AMERICA.
PAUL RYAN IS A DISCIPLE OF JACK
KEMP, HAS CARED ABOUT THIS ISSUE
FOR A LONG TIME, BUT I ALWAYS
NOTE WHEN I WROTE A BOOK, IT
WOULD BE WHY SMART PEOPLE
SOMETIMES SAY STUPID THINGS.
LISTEN TO THIS.
>> WE HAVE GOT THIS TAILSPIN OF
CULTURE IN OUR INNER CITIES IN
PARTICULAR OF MEN NOT WORKING
AND JUST GENERATIONS OF MEN NOT
EVEN THINKING ABOUT WORKING.
>> NOW, HE WENT ON, RON AND NIA,
TO MAKE THE POINT -- HE QUOTED
CHARLES MARY, WHO IS AN
ACADEMIC, A SOCIAL SCIENTIST,
WHO SAYS THAT IF YOU LOOK, THAT
PEOPLE BELOW THE POVERTY LINE
ARE GENETICALLY INFERIOR.
WHY WOULD PAUL RYAN QUOTE HIM?
AND I'M GOING TO SAY THIS AS
SOMEONE WHO SPENT MUCH OF MY
CHILDHOOD AT OR BELOW THE
POVERTY LINE, FAMILY WAS ON FOOD
STAMPS.
I DON'T THINK, DOCTOR, THAT I'M
WIRED INFERIORLY.
WHY?
PAUL RYAN CARES ABOUT THIS
ISSUE.
HE'S PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS
ISSUE.
YOU CAN AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH
HIS POLICY PRESCRIPTIONS.
WHY VENTURE HERE AND NOT BE MORE
CAREFUL?
>> IT'S INEXCUSABLE.
ALL I CAN THINK IS HE'S
PREACHING TO THE CHOIR.
HE WAS SPEAKING TO A
CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST.
IF HE WAS IN AN URBAN AUDIENCE,
WHICH TO HIS CREDIT, PAUL RYAN
HAS --
>> RIGHT.
>> I THINK HE WOULD HAVE BEEN
MORE CAREFUL.
WHEN YOU COMPARE WHAT HE SAID TO
WHAT PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS SAID,
LIKE BROTHER'S KEEPERS, IT'S
INTERESTING, BECAUSE THEY'RE
BOTH BASICALLY MAKING THE SAME
POINT, BUT PRESIDENT OBAMA WILL
TALK ABOUT THE ODDS ARE STACKED
AGAINST THESE YOUNG MEN AND WE
HAVE TO HELP LIFT THEM UP.
PAUL RYAN WAS TALKING ABOUT THE
CULTURE OF NOT WORKING, WHICH
KIND OF PUTS THE ONUS NOT ON THE
INSTITUTIONS BUT ON THE PEOPLE,
AND THAT'S A MUCH DIFFERENT WAY
TO FRAME IT.
>> YEAH, AND I THINK IT IS
IMPORTANT TO TALK ABOUT CULTURE,
BUT NOT NECESSARILY INNER CITY
CULTURE OR BLACK CULTURE, BUT
AMERICAN CULTURE, RIGHT?
AND THESE HISTORICAL
INSTRUCTURAL FORCES AFFECTING
SOME OF THESE FOLKS IN THE INNER
CITIES.
AND ALSO, I THINK WE DO
OURSELVES JUST A DISSERVICE, AND
PUBLIC FIGURES DO THE DISCOURSE
OF DISSERVICE BY NOT TALKING
ABOUT POVERTY IN A BROADER WAY.
IF I WAS A POOR WHITE PERSON
LIVING IN MISSISSIPPI, I MIGHT
FEEL LEFT OUT FROM THESE
CONVERSATIONS.
>> YOU SHOULD NEVER QUOTE A
PERSON WHO SAYS
AFRICAN-AMERICANS ARE LESS
INTELLIGENT TO WHITES IF YOU'RE
A LEADER IN THIS COUNTRY.
THAT'S INEXCUSABLE.
>> IF YOU WANT TO ENGAGE A
COMMUNITY IN A CONVERSATION AND
MAYBE ASK THEM TO LOOK INWARD
AND THINK HARD ABOUT TOUGH
THINGS, IT'S HARD TO SAY THINK
ABOUT THIS, BUT FIRST, YOU ARE
GENETICALLY INFERIOR.
>> AND YOU MIGHT WANT TO GO ON
THE TOM JOYNER MORNING SHOW, AND
THAT'S A SHOW THAT A LOT OF
AFRICAN-AMERICANS LISTEN TO.
>> AND THERE IS SOMETHING IN
POLITICS CALLED DOG WHISTLING
AND THAT'S WHAT THIS IS ABOUT.
WHETHER HE MEANT IT OR NOT, HE'S
SENDING A SUBTLE SIGNAL TO WHITE
AFRICAN-AMERICANS WHO FEEL LIKE
THEY'RE BEING CLIMBED OVER ON
THE LADDER TO SUCCESS, THAT HEY,
I'M WITH YOU, I KNOW WE HAVE TO
HELP PRENGT YOU AGAINST THE