Paul Ryan it is...

[Jim in CT]

And here is the difference between the GOP ticket and the Democrat ticket..

Ryan reluctantly admits that social security and medicare need to be overhaules in order to be saved. Ryan shares the irrefutable datga to suggest that those programs will collapse under the weight of the Baby Boomers, and he proposes a specific plan to address it.

The Democratic response is a commercial showing Ryan pushing an old lady off a cliff. That's not an exaggeration, that happened.

In the VP debate (which I cannot wait for) Ryan will calmy explain precisely why he believes what he believes. Biden will scream at the top of his lungs, bang the podium, throw papers in the air, accusing Paul Ryan oif wanting to kill old people, sell their organs in ebay, and split the profits with Wall Street fatcats.

I would love someone to ask Joe Biden just one wuestion..."Mr Vice President, you claim to be catholic, but you support abortion. Sir, is the Pope wrong on that topic"?

[spence]

I don't think Ryan brings that much to the ticket. Sure, he'll bring some additional conservative appeal but nothing for moderate voters outside of Wisconsin. Ryan is supposed to be the numbers guy but that's what I thought Romney was?

With how bad Romney did on his international test drive I'd have thought they'd look for someone with a little more diplomatic experience.

And Ryan's plan isn't going to resonate with the average voter. It makes massive supply side assumptions that are contradicted by even the last decade, and his plan for Medicare is terrible. Peg Federal contribution to inflation? That's just going to stratify the system and increase the cost of care...right back to where we started.

-spence

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by spence

his plan for Medicare is terrible.

-spence

And Obama's plan for Medicare is......

Spence, maybe you don't like Rytan's plan. But pointing at Ryan and saying "see! He hates sick people!" isn't an alternate option...

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by spence

I don't think Ryan brings that much to the ticket. Sure, he'll bring some additional conservative appeal but nothing for moderate voters outside of Wisconsin. Ryan is supposed to be the numbers guy but that's what I thought Romney was?


-spence

By picking Ryan, the ticket is showing how serious it is about solving the debt crisis.
This resets the tone of the real issues, the economy and jobs.

Obama had his shot at" Hope and Change" and now it's time to look forward
to solving the real problems not trying to spend our way out of debt.
Ryan's plan of Cutting taxes and loopholes will lead to increased revenues.

Ryan is a young well educated guy with a lot of ideas for the future, father of 3, Cub Scout leader, hunter and fisherman, very well rounded.

While both parties are guilty, it's time for the President, the leader, to step up, show some class and set the right tone for the election. It's time to come up with concrete plans to solve the issues not showing wheelchairs going off a cliff or accusing others of cancer deaths or whatever.

Now we have the tickets, let's hear and debate the plans.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by justplugit

While both parties are guilty, it's time for the President, the leader, to step up, show some class and set the right tone for the election. It's time to come up with concrete plans to solve the issues not showing wheelchairs going off a cliff or accusing others of cancer deaths or whatever.

Now we have the tickets, let's hear and debate the plans.

"While both parties are guilty..."

Agreed 100%...

"it's time for the President, the leader, to step up, show some class and set the right tone for the election. It's time to come up with concrete plans to solve the issues not showing wheelchairs going off a cliff or accusing others of cancer deaths or whatever."

That's the choice in this election. Romney/Ryan will offer th etough, but necessary, sacrifices to get u sback to financial stability (no one likes hearing that the well is dry, but when it's dry, it does no good to pretend otherwise).

Obama/Biden will attack Romney/Ryan for the horrible Draconian cuts they are proposing, and will do everythnig they can to demonize Romney/Ryan. Yet they will offer no alternatives, other than to say we can get $90 billion a year by taxing the uber-rich. Whoop-dee-do.

That's what this election comes down to. Are we ready to right the ship, or are we going to buy the be swayed by the guy who promises us more free stuff than the other guy.

If Obama offers specific solutions, I'm willing to listen. But from what I can see, his plan consists of (1) accusing the other side of hating poor people, and (2) more taxes and more spending. Earth to Obama...you cannot get out of a hole by digging your way out.

[CTSurfrat]

Love having Paul Ryan on the ticket! Maybe now we can seriously address the financial disaster we are facing with some honesty, though the left will claim that republicans hate old people, poor people sick people, want dirty air, dirty water etc....

In my humble opinion it comes down to a fundamental difference in the role we think government should play in our lives...one is limited, the other is cradle to grave. I will be voting for limited!

[scottw]

Romney can appeal to the moderates and independents and the current president has very little to offer those groups in terms of accomplishments or potential going forwrd, Ryan energizes the conservative base and he's very impressive....still trying to figure out why the current president picked Joe Biden aside from making him look really smart in comparison.....

maybe he listened to David Frum?

"Conservatives remain skeptical about Mitt Romney, but he is still the only candidate who even has a chance of winning the general election. The key is that Romney is the only candidate who can potentially appeal to moderates.

Even if there is no conservative enthusiasm, the underlying numbers still make Romney the best possible nominee. Because Democrats have a statistically smaller base, they need moderates more desperately than Republicans. If conservatives show up to the polls at the same rate as they did for McCain, Romney only needs modest gains among moderates to win the election."

Hey Romney, Don't Forget to Pander to Moderates - The Daily Beast

[zimmy]

Originally Posted by CTSurfrat

In my humble opinion it comes down to a fundamental difference in the role we think government should play in our lives...one is limited, the other is cradle to grave. I will be voting for limited!

It isn't one is limited, the other is cradle to grave. You may think the one side will limit government, but that isn't true; it will limit government is some ways, but mostly tilt things to its own benefit. It is ok with government setting up the economy in favor of particular industries; usually those that are in their funds. It fights for government subsidies of agriculture, but only for particular commodities, mostly those owned by conglomerates. It is interested in lowering taxes for the wealthy, but that is more about their own bank accounts and those of their friends, than it is about the overall economy or driving down debt. They are ok with a system that taxes one type of income at a much lower rate than other types of income. They are good at convincing a substantial amount of the population that it is about limited government and freedom, I will give them that.

[Jim in CT]

I also did not know that Ryan is an avid fisherman and bowhunter.

It's an interesting choice. Removing political considerations, Ryan would have been my first choice. But you can't ignore political angles. Perhaps the Romney camp assumes they will win Florida anyway, and figure Ryan gives them a shot at Wisconsin?

Here's the next Obama commercial...telling everyone that "Romney", spelled differently, is...

Money (R).

Surprised they haven't used that against him yet.

From my perspective, it's nice to have an actual Catholic on the ticket, as opposed to the Kennedy-Biden crew who claim to be Catholic yet refuse to live as Catholics. Nothing harder to admire than a politician who goes to mass on Sunday, then on Monday tells Planned Parenthood how swell abortion is.

To believe in everything is to believe in nothing.

[Raven]

Rythm and Blues

[scottw]

just reading around the vaious sites that would be considered "conservative" sites, the Ryan pick is very popular, if the conservative base was tepid about Romney as they were with McCain, this pick has provided a significant spark heading into the convention, and while Palin delivered some inspiration to a party that was desperate for some/any with McCain she was easily caricatured...I imagine that there are many in that moderate/independent block that regret taking a flyer on BO and many more are looking for a direction which includes some fiscal sanity which does not seem to be a concern for the current bunch....BO is in the unenviable position that McCain was last go round in that many will consider a vote for him to be a vote for more of the same and with the economy not likely to make any great gains and the country going in the "wrong direction" polls consisently around 60% for a very long time (62% latest RCP average and those favoring repeal of his signature legislation consistently around 50% and trailing Bush in terms of job approval at this point in his reelection effort ).....it's going to be interesting to watch the strategy

[Jim in CT]

Anyone know if Ryan is resigning from Congress? People in his position usually do not, but I haven't heard anything...

[striperman36]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

Anyone know if Ryan is resigning from Congress? People in his position usually do not, but I haven't heard anything...

I heard yesterday he was continuing his campaign for reelection. This was on cnn btw.

[striperman36]

Interesting article. Thank you. It actually seems unbiased...

[spence]

Originally Posted by striperman36

Interesting article. Thank you. It actually seems unbiased...

About the only part that wasn't biased was when the author admits the Ryan plan might be a total failure...TWICE

-spence

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by spence

About the only part that wasn't biased was when the author admits the Ryan plan might be a total failure...TWICE

-spence

Ryan's plan might indeed be a failure, Spence. But unlike the president, at least Ryan proposed a possible solution.

Spence, the other unbiased part was when the article said that we can no longer afford to ignore the problem. Yet, that's precisely what Obama has done. To be fair, Bush also ignored the problem of Medicare finances (in fact, made it worse). But Obama promised something along the lines of "change" and "a different way of doing things", or some such nonsense.

Not doing anything, is a disaster for all of us. And that is basically what Obama has done with Medicare - nothing.

Spence, I keep asking you what Obama's vision is to save Medicare. I get nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Bupkus.

Let's stop attacking Ryan for trying to solve the problem, and come up with a better solution. Insulting Ryan is not a viable alternative solution.

[fishsmith]

R&R have my vote, but it's sad that this is the best ticket the repubs have to offer, I think this election will be a layup for o.b.

[RIJIMMY]

Originally Posted by spence

About the only part that wasn't biased was when the author admits the Ryan plan might be a total failure...TWICE

-spence

every plan may fail spence. thats why it takes people with testicles to implement.
Simpson-Bowles was a good plan, sponsored by Obama. Where is that plan now? ??? No balls to implement.
The time to talk is over, the time to act is now.

[spence]

Originally Posted by RIJIMMY

every plan may fail spence. thats why it takes people with testicles to implement.
Simpson-Bowles was a good plan, sponsored by Obama. Where is that plan now? ??? No balls to implement.
The time to talk is over, the time to act is now.

I thought Simpson-Bowles was certainly a step in the right direction. It's a shame the GOP led House voted it down. Yes, Obama wasn't a strong supporter but he never even had a bill to sign or reject.

-spence

[scottw]

Originally Posted by spence

I thought Simpson-Bowles was certainly a step in the right direction. It's a shame the GOP led House voted it down. Yes, Obama wasn't a strong supporter but he never even had a bill to sign or reject.

-spence

"Which brings us to Simpson-Bowles (see how I did that?). On Wednesday, Reps. Jim Cooper and Steve LaTourette managed to put Simpson-Bowles to a vote before the House of Representatives. It didn't just fail. It got crushed. The final tally was 382-38. Twenty-two of the supporters were Democrats, while 16 were Republicans. But overall, the rejection was overwhelming, and overwhelmingly bipartisan."

Wonkbook: House reaches bipartisan deal to reject Simpson-Bowles - The Washington Post

Greenspan: Obama’s ‘Worst Mistake’ Was Rejecting Simpson-Bowles Deficit-Reduction Plan
http://www.moneynews.com/FinanceNews...5/02/id/437734

Geithner explains why Obama never embraced Bowles-Simpson
http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-mone...bowles-simpson

[spence]

It's now practice to denote respect by indicating if you'd share a foxhole with the quotee. It's part of the political forum reform plans.

I'm not sure I'd share a foxhole with you to be honest. While you were busy digging up out of context quotes to snidely parse the enemies battle cry, Jim would probably have already shot them.

This is really about my safety after all.

-spence

[scottw]

Originally Posted by spence

I'm not sure I'd share a foxhole with you to be honest. While you were busy digging up out of context quotes to snidely parse the enemies battle cry, Jim would probably have already shot them.

-spence

what...no specifics? what did I quote that was not factual?.... snidely?

[Jim in CT]

So the hate-fest begins in earnest.

(1) At Ryan's kickoff speech, 2 female left-wing haters were heckling him, and tried to storm the stage. On MSNBC, Rachael Maddow used that as evidence that Ryan isn't a good pick. Maddow said something to the effect of "see, at his first speech, he gets that kind of a response from the crowd (2 people out of 10,000 heckled him). Therefore, Ryan is not a good pick.


(2) Enter Andrea Mitchell of NBC News, who said Ryan's selection "is not a pick for suburban moms, is not a pick for women". So we have established that Ryan is anti-women. Check.

(3) Enter Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont. The esteemed senator Sanders said on MSNBC last night "unlike Paul Ryan, I believe America needs a strong middle class to thrive". OK. So now we also know that Paul Ryan doesn not want America to have a middle class. Check.

(4) Every single guest/host on MSNBC, every single one of them, said the following..."Paul Ryan wants to end Medicare as we know it."

Earth to Ryan-bashers...Paul Ryan doesn't want to end Medicare as we know it. The economic impact of the Baby Boomers (millions of people getting old, who will live in old age for decades, needing tons of expensive care) are going to end Medicare as we know it. Medicare as we know it will not exist for anyone younger than Baby Boomers. Paul Ryan doesn't want that. He simply admits it. Finally, his plan (as it turns out) only ends Medicare for people who opt out into a voucher system. People can still choose to stay in a Medicare-type plan if they want. Or, if they prefer, they can opt out into a system where every married couple gets $11,000 a year to find their own health plan. Maybe this is a good idea, and maybe it's not. But it's better than the liberal plan, which is to stick our fingers in our ears, close our eyes, and hope that the problen somehow goes away.

[Jim in CT]

Sp Spence said in this thread that the Simpson-Bowles commission made some good suggestions about the economy. Here is what one of the chairs of that committee, Erksine Bowles, has to say about Paul Ryan. Mr Bowles was Bill Clinton's chief of staff, and remember the Clinton administration did an amazing job turning the economy around...


Erskine Bowles praises Paul Ryan, budget plan (VIDEO) | The Ticket - Yahoo! News

""I'm telling you, this guy (Ryan) is amazing. I always thought I was OK with arithmetic. This guy can run circles around me," Bowles tells a class of students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"He is honest, he is straightforward, he is sincere. And the budget he came forward with is just like Paul Ryan. It is a sensible, straightforward, honest, serious budget and it cut the budget deficit just like we did by four trillion dollars."

But I thought Ryan wanted poor people to die, so he could sell their organs on ebay and give that money to Wall Street fatcats? At least, that's what they're saying on MSNBC...

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by scottw

glad you said "foxhole"

First big laugh of the day

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

So the hate-fest begins in earnest.

(1) At Ryan's kickoff speech, 2 female left-wing haters were heckling him, and tried to storm the stage. On MSNBC, Rachael Maddow used that as evidence that Ryan isn't a good pick. Maddow said something to the effect of "see, at his first speech, he gets that kind of a response from the crowd (2 people out of 10,000 heckled him). Therefore, Ryan is not a good pick.

It was more than 2 hecklers but still not surprising by Maddow. Wench.

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

(2) Enter Andrea Mitchell of NBC News, who said Ryan's selection "is not a pick for suburban moms, is not a pick for women". So we have established that Ryan is anti-women. Check.

Mitchell is incapable of hiding her bias.

I know longer watch MSNBC because of the inherent bias. CNN is actually more fair these days. I have not found a news channel that is unbiased - sadly

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

Sp Spence said in this thread that the Simpson-Bowles commission made some good suggestions about the economy. Here is what one of the chairs of that committee, Erksine Bowles, has to say about Paul Ryan. Mr Bowles was Bill Clinton's chief of staff, and remember the Clinton administration did an amazing job turning the economy around...


Erskine Bowles praises Paul Ryan, budget plan (VIDEO) | The Ticket - Yahoo! News

""I'm telling you, this guy (Ryan) is amazing. I always thought I was OK with arithmetic. This guy can run circles around me," Bowles tells a class of students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"He is honest, he is straightforward, he is sincere. And the budget he came forward with is just like Paul Ryan. It is a sensible, straightforward, honest, serious budget and it cut the budget deficit just like we did by four trillion dollars."

But I thought Ryan wanted poor people to die, so he could sell their organs on ebay and give that money to Wall Street fatcats? At least, that's what they're saying on MSNBC...

To be clear, that wasn't all he said - Bowles did have some negatives he brought up on Ryan - but it was mostly positive.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by JohnR

First big laugh of the day

It was more than 2 hecklers but still not surprising by Maddow. Wench.




Mitchell is incapable of hiding her bias.

I know longer watch MSNBC because of the inherent bias. CNN is actually more fair these days. I have not found a news channel that is unbiased - sadly



To be clear, that wasn't all he said - Bowles did have some negatives he brought up on Ryan - but it was mostly positive.

"To be clear, that wasn't all he said - Bowles did have some negatives he brought up on Ryan - but it was mostly positive"

John, I'm not saying Ryan walks on water. But he is not anywhere near what the left is making him out to be, either. We need (in a real hurry) to get past the point of saying "you should fear Paul Ryan because he wants to end Medicare". We need to be able to say "here are the good things about his proposal, and here are the things we can improve upon". No one on the Democratic ticket is saying that.

John, I believe our kids are about the same age (mine are 5, 2, 1). Unless something drastic is done, they will each be hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt when they graduate college. That is not hysteria or exaggeration on my part, it is mathematical fact.

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

John, I believe our kids are about the same age (mine are 5, 2, 1). Unless something drastic is done, they will each be hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt when they graduate college. That is not hysteria or exaggeration on my part, it is mathematical fact.

Agree %100, and unless something is done now with Medicare it will
be dead in the water in 12 years. Soc Sec won't be far behind.
In the end ALL of us will have to give up something and sacrafice in order
to get this country back on the right track.

In the real world, there is no Santa Claus.

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

"To be clear, that wasn't all he said - Bowles did have some negatives he brought up on Ryan - but it was mostly positive"

John, I'm not saying Ryan walks on water. But he is not anywhere near what the left is making him out to be, either. We need (in a real hurry) to get past the point of saying "you should fear Paul Ryan because he wants to end Medicare". We need to be able to say "here are the good things about his proposal, and here are the things we can improve upon". No one on the Democratic ticket is saying that.

John, I believe our kids are about the same age (mine are 5, 2, 1). Unless something drastic is done, they will each be hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt when they graduate college. That is not hysteria or exaggeration on my part, it is mathematical fact.

Oh - I agree and I agree. We are at $50K for every American just to pay off we we are now - TODAY - not including continuing debt obligations.

We have a tremendous gash in the hull of the Fiscal Ship of State and we are discussing what is on the menu from brunch and what deck chairs clash with other deck chairs - we are not even rearranging yet.

The one thing that might get Grannies more upset than their medicare might be to tell them that their grandkids will be indentured slaves at current course.

[spence]

Originally Posted by JohnR

I know longer watch MSNBC because of the inherent bias. CNN is actually more fair these days. I have not found a news channel that is unbiased - sadly

I only watch Morning Joe, the nightly programming just isn't very interesting.

-spence

[The Dad Fisherman]

I didn't take that article as a bash piece.....