Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Monday admitted that he voted against the farm bill, but insisted that Democrats were to blame for the bill's surprise failure.
"I didn't support the farm bill," Ryan told MSNBC's Morning Joe. "The Democrats promised 40 votes and they didn't deliver the votes that they had promised. Our leaders brought the bill to the floor based on the commitment that Democrats from the agricultural districts made. And then during consideration of this bill on the floor, they reneged on the commitment of the 40 votes that they promised and the bill went down."
"So when you're in divided government and when you're trying to bring bipartisan legislation to the floor, you have to keep your word on whether you're going to vote for something or not," he continued. "I, before this bill came to the floor, said I wasn't going to vote for it. They knew that. Some Democrats said, we will vote for it. Then after the bill was brought to the floor, they changed their minds, and the bill went down."
Ryan added that the worst thing about working in Congress was "a lot of people lie."
"They look you right in the eye and lie to you," Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker agreed.
"Absolutely, and you know that they're doing it," Ryan observed.
Minutes before bringing the farm bill up for a vote, the 62 conservative Republicans -- like Ryan -- who ultimately voted down the farm bill, pushed through an amendment to limit the food stamp programs and undercut Democratic support for the overall bill.
