Paul Ryan poverty report panned by researchers cited in it

Researchers cited in U.S. House budget chairman Paul Ryan’s scholarly preface to the Republican budget say the report selectively uses data to discredit the 50-year-old War on Poverty.

“Several economists and social scientists contacted on Monday had reactions ranging from bemusement to anger at Ryan’s report, claiming that he either misunderstood or misrepresented their research,” reports Rob Garver of the Fiscal Times.

The 240-page report “The War on Poverty: 50 years later” released this week is a departure from past approaches Ryan has taken to introduce his budget proposals, which aim to balance the budget by slashing the social safety net.

“Ryan is very good at marshaling faux scholarship churned out by ideologues in the service of talking points, and at convincing reporters that he is an actual policy wonk,” writes Jonathan Chait of the Daily Intelligencer. “Unfortunately, he seems to have convinced himself and undertaken the ambitious goal of reconciling his policies with the work of real researchers. That was a bad, bad move.”