Lawrence O’Donnell: ‘The Democrats Have Caved Completely’ On The Budget

Republican Congressman Paul Ryan is beginning to unveil his budget for 2012 with potentially $4 trillion in savings. Lawrence O’Donnell appeared on Morning Joe this morning and not only predicted that the Ryan budget will be opposed by most Americans, but also expressed frustration with Democrats for poorly negotiating this year’s budget.

O’Donnell warned that Ryan’s big plan will “abolish Medicare as we know it” and is filled with other unpopular changes to the federal government. Instead of finding new reasonable revenue sources or closing loopholes, O’Donnell claims that Ryan’s ideas are so dramatic that it will easily be a new target for Democrats. Although that’s not to say O’Donnell has faith in the Democrats to negotiate budgetary issues, since he feels the Democrats “have caved completely” with this year’s budget and that it is “a loss tactically for the Democrats no matter how you score it.”

Also of interest was O’Donnell declaring President Obama will not touch Ryan’s proposals any time soon, since there is “plenty of time to get to this in the second term.” Already planning for the second term seems a bit premature, but maybe O’Donnell found Obama’s campaign launch video truly effective.

Watch the clip from MSNBC below with O’Donnell starting at 4:00:

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