Ryan scorns defense cuts he voted for

Paul Ryan voted for $492 billion in looming U.S. defense cuts he now scorns President Barack Obama for, but aides said that doesn't mean Ryan supported them. "President Obama's reckless defense cuts that are hanging over our cloud -- hanging over the horizon -- could put almost 44,000 jobs at stake right here in Pennsylvania. We are not going to let that happen," Ryan told a crowd at the American Helicopter Museum & Education Center in West Chester, Pa., 15 miles from Valley Forge, where the Continental Army spent the winter of 1777-1778 during Revolutionary War. "National defense" is "the first priority of the federal government," Ryan said, suggesting a Mitt Romney presidency would not let defense cuts happen. Ryan -- running mate of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney -- was referring to predicted spending cuts set to go into effect automatically in January. They are part of the Budget Control Act of 2011, which ended the U.S. debt-ceiling crisis that threatened to push the United States into sovereign default last summer. As part of the deal, a congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, often called the "supercommittee," was required to identify about $1.2 trillion in cuts to reduce the federal deficit. If it failed, then Congress could increase the debt ceiling another $1.2 trillion -- but that would trigger across-the-board cuts, called "sequestrations." Roughly half the automatic cuts set to take effect Jan. 2, 2013, are to come from the defense spending, while the other half would come from non-defense spending. The mandatory and discretionary spending cuts, to be spread out from 2013 to 2021, amount to about $984 billion, which is the difference between $1.2 trillion and the amount of deficit reduction the supercommittee enacted. So planned defense cuts amount to about $492 billion. Ryan -- chairman of the House Budget Committee -- was among the 174 House Republicans and 95 Democrats who voted for the debt-ceiling deal. The Washington Post asked Ryan's campaign staff how the GOP vice presidential nominee reconciled his support for the debt-ceiling plan with his argument Obama was to blame for the looming defense cuts. A spokesman said Ryan supported the debt deal as a "process" but did not support the defense cuts. "Chairman Ryan voted for a process for bipartisan deficit reduction," Ryan spokesman Michael Steel said. "President Obama insisted on these crippling defense cuts and then went AWOL, campaigning full time. He now bears responsibility." The Obama campaign and White House had no immediate comment. In the past Obama has said he does not support sequestration but will veto any measures that simply try to undo it. Instead, he has said he would push Congress to work toward an alternative spending reduction package.