Rep. Ryan: Boehner puts being GOP leader before being American

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) puts his party allegiance before being an American, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) alleged Thursday.

Ryan blasted his state colleague for using what he said were “misinformation and fear tactics” when Boehner speaks out against the $787 stimulus package signed into law earlier this year.

“To choose to be a Republican before you’re an Ohioan, before you’re an American…is wrong,” Ryan said on a conference call organized by the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

Ryan labeled claims by the top-ranking House Republican that the stimulus had failed as “absolutely ridiculous,” and based on “basic falsehood.”

But Ryan, a fourth-term Democrat, didn’t stop with his fellow Ohioan. He accused House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) of being “two-faced” for opposing the stimulus while touting some funds that had flowed to his district for a rail system.

Update, 12:39 p.m.: Boehner spokesman Michael Steel responds:

Desperate comments like this show just how out of touch Washington Democrats like Rep. Ryan are. The trillion-dollar ‘stimulus’ bill isn’t meeting the Obama Administration’s own standards, and now we’ve lost three million jobs since January. Democrats promised if it passed, unemployment wouldn’t rise above eight percent. Now it’s over 11 percent in Ohio. Instead of making political attacks, Democrats would be smart to start working with Republicans to get our economy moving again.