Citing GDP downgrade, Ryan calls Obama policies "pitiful"

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Armed with new data from the Commerce Department showing the economy grew at a more sluggish rate in spring than previously estimated, Congressman Paul Ryan launched an all out assault on President Obama Thursday - calling his economic policies "pitiful."

"We've been seeing slow growth, now we see that's it's even slower. A downward revision from 1.7 to 1.3 - that's a pretty big drop," Ryan told Fox's Neil Cavuto during an interview on 'Your World.'

"This is not what a real recovery looks like," Ryan added. "We can either do four more years of these kinds of policies which are producing these pitiful results or we can get back to real growth, get people back to work, get back to that society of upward mobility."

The Republican vice presidential hopeful's comments come after the Commerce Department said Thursday the overall economy grew at an annual rate of 1.3 percent in the spring, down from its previous estimate of 1.7 percent growth.

Some experts say part of the downgrade goes well beyond President Obama's policies and can instead be blamed on farm production in the Midwest, which was reduced by a severe drought.

A Ryan campaign aide countered that argument doesn't hold water, since it was widely known the drought was coming and that should have been part of the initial GDP projections.