This Is Mickey Mouse': There Were No Softball Questions in Mark Levin's Interview With Paul Ryan on Budget Deal

Conservative radio host Mark Levin hosted Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Tuesday to discuss the new budget deal announced by lawmakers. Levin wasn't exactly impressed with the deal and he let Ryan know it, even calling the agreement "Mickey Mouse" more than once.

Ryan first explained that the deal, titled "The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013," replaces sequester cuts with savings from future cuts. He said he was happy with the plan because it prevents deep budget cuts to the Defense Department and the U.S. military.

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 10: House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan T.J. Kirkpatrick/Getty Images

"This prevents that from happening, and cuts spending in other areas," Ryan said. "The result for me needed to be, if I did nothing, what would happen versus doing this. Doing this cuts the deficit about $23 billion."

Levin cut Ryan off to point out that spending increases under the agreement are "immediate" while spending reductions are "over time," which means "we may never see them."

"That's not true," Ryan replied. "This is unfortunately the nature of what we call mandatory spending. For instance, I'm saying right away federal employees…are going to have to pay more for some of their pensions. That law changes now, but over time it accumulates a lot of savings."

After allowing Ryan to elaborate, Levin spoke his mind.

"This is really Mickey Mouse," he said. "I don't mean to be offensive. You're claiming a $23 billion savings on the deficit and increasing spending by, what, the same amount in the next two years?"

Ryan argued the federal government will save $85 billion and "give back" to the sequester $63 billion.

"We have a $90 trillion unfunded liability that goes up about $7 trillion a year. We have $17.3 trillion fiscal operating debt -- and the Democrats wouldn't let you really address that would they?" Levin asked.

"That's right," Ryan responded.

With President Barack Obama in the White House, the congressman explained, it is unlikely that Congress will be able to fix the country's fiscal problems. Obama is not "willing and able to do that," he added. However, Ryan said it is in the nation's best interest to avoid another shutdown and keep the focus on the important issues like Obamacare and the IRS.

"You guys are all worked up about that," Levin said of a potential government shutdown. "Lots of us don't really care about that."

Levin repeatedly expressed his disappointment in the fact that deal only seeks to cut $23 billion over a decade.

"We're facing a fiscal disaster, I know you know this, you've told me this," Levin said. "And we're talking about $23 billion over 10 years?"

Ryan agreed the deal doesn't fix the country's financial woes, but the "precedent" that is being set is a step in the right direction.

Listen to the entire contentious interview below:

To read more about the new budget deal, read TheBlaze's report here.

(H/T: Right Scoop)

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