Actually, Paul Ryan says that only 30% of us are welfare queens--but that is a big bump-up from the 10% welfare queen politics of Goldwater, Nixon, and Reagan:
Paul Ryan: 30 Percent 'Want Welfare State,' 70 Percent 'Want The American Dream' (VIDEO):
WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, share a similarly dim view of a very large portion of Americans, according to previously unreported remarks by Ryan. Both believe that many of their fellow citizens are dependent on government and have no motivation to improve their lives -- but they disagree over the precise number.
Romney's estimate, famously, is 47 percent. For Ryan, it's 30 percent.
[Paul Ryan:]
Seventy percent of Americans want the American dream. They believe in the American idea. Only 30 percent want the welfare state.Before too long, we could become a society where the net majority of Americans are takers, not makers….
Ryan's comments were delivered as part of his keynote address at The American Spectator's 2011 Robert L. Bartley Gala Dinner, which the magazine posted online. A reader tipped HuffPost to Ryan's speech, given in November -- six months before Romney's videotaped remarks.
