If you don't know Paul Ryan, you're about to hear a whole lot about him. It's being reported by numerous sources that Romney will make the announcement official Saturday morning.
He's sorta a bizarro Kennedy--photogenic, smooth in front of crowds, charming, well-spoken, big ideas, etc. But . . . his budget will essentially kill the middle class. Folks will argue that assertion, but if his budget is implemented, Medicare will be replaced by vouchers. He also wants to privatize Social Security--ergo, the death of these popular, successful social safety-net programs and a return to 25% or higher poverty for senior citizens, and the nail in the coffin of the middle class. Ask your parents or grandparents want they think of cuts to Medicare/Social Security.
Oddly, taxes will go up for the middle class, down for the wealthy; and most strikingly, the Ryan budget actually increases our deficit. I'll pull in some links later, but don't fall for the false narratives--know who/what you're voting for.
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here is Ezra Klein's immediate take on the Ryan pick.
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(from Dave Weigel Twitter)
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He's sorta a bizarro Kennedy--photogenic, smooth in front of crowds, charming, well-spoken, big ideas, etc. But . . . his budget will essentially kill the middle class. Folks will argue that assertion, but if his budget is implemented, Medicare will be replaced by vouchers. He also wants to privatize Social Security--ergo, the death of these popular, successful social safety-net programs and a return to 25% or higher poverty for senior citizens, and the nail in the coffin of the middle class. Ask your parents or grandparents want they think of cuts to Medicare/Social Security.
Oddly, taxes will go up for the middle class, down for the wealthy; and most strikingly, the Ryan budget actually increases our deficit. I'll pull in some links later, but don't fall for the false narratives--know who/what you're voting for.
* * * * *
here is Ezra Klein's immediate take on the Ryan pick.
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(from Dave Weigel Twitter)
First prez election with no military vet on either ticket since 1932.and
Also, first-ever GOP ticket with no Protestants.(from Ezra Klein)
Mitt Romney, announcing Paul Ryan as his VP, attacks Obama for cutting Medicare by $700 billon. Just wow(from Michael Moore)
Channeling Bush, war supporters/military dodgers Romney & Ryan insult those who served by using battleship as their prop.(from Keith Olbermann)
Just a reminder that the anti-government Ayn Rand whofor Brian :-)@RepPaulRyan says inspired him to seek office, ended up on Social Security + Medicare
Paul Ryan on Ayn Rand
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David Corn of Mother Jones explains why the Ryan pick is the one Obama wanted-- here
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In all, 62 percent of the budget cuts proposed by Ryan would come from low-income programs.--so Robert Reich writes in his piece on the Ryan and Romney ticket; good explanation of the how Ryan's proposals reveal the hard right shift of the Republican party, back to the ugly era of Social Darwinism. You can read the Reich piece here.
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Just a baffling choice. Ryan doesn't help out in any swing states, and his policies are exactly the sort that Obama wants to hang around Romney's neck.
ReplyDeleteIt's a bold choice, at least. Romney's consolidating his base, but at the expense of damaging his appeal to moderate/presently undecided voters. I don't think the math will ultimately work in his favor.
David Corn, for one, agrees w/ you--it feels like a pick that will resonate more w/ the talking heads (esp from Fox) than w/ the electorate.
ReplyDeletepanic pick?
Say what you want about Romney, and I'm obviously not a fan, panic is not part of his repertoire. This is more an instance of short-term calculation in the absence of abiding principle. VP nomination as corporate raid, if you will.
ReplyDeleteif not panic, desperate or risky then?
ReplyDeleteI do like your corporate raid parallel, although by picking Ryan, he's increased his potential risk in order to gain quite a potential reward--a "safer" pick would have been Portman, yes? Romney is willing to take on more risk (Ryan), as such, more of his own skin is in the game b/c he really wants this "company"; it's a huge money-maker. And I don't think my point contradicts your angle--
Paul Ryan's budget is austerity for everyone except investment bankers and military contractors. It is ridiculous and also infinitely more responsible than anything Obama is promising. Why the democrat’s budget takes...oh wait, Democrats don't even go through the charade of pretending to follow a budget anymore. Never mind, just print more money and promise everybody everything. What could possibly go wrong with that plan?
ReplyDeleteSeveral commentators have made the appropriate point that Ryan's inclusion on the ticket makes a real conversation on fiscal policy at least a little likelier. I would agree that it's a conversation worth having. Even so, a ridiculous, brutal idea isn't actually better than no idea. Clearer, maybe, but not better.
ReplyDeleteObama and the Dems don't provide a budget because they lack an idea, it's because they don't want the accountability. Their plan is to ruin our currency. (The Race to Debase) Use QE1, QE2, and Operation Twist to inflate the amount of currency in the system so they can promise healthcare, social security, medicare, medicaid, Section 8, welfare, unemployment, and defense spending (even with the modest cuts) all at once eventhough they could barely afford to pay for any one of them by themselves. At some point the whole system fails (the cliff they're all taling about)and people have will suddenly have none of these supports. This is much more brutal than the brutality Ryan is proposing. Sip your poison or chug it all at once? Either way you die.
ReplyDelete