Mitt Romney’s advisors are no fools. He has chosen Paul Ryan, the ideologue of the Tea Party, as his running mate. And let’s be clear, in the veep vetting process, Ryan and others provided the Romney camp with several years of tax returns. Ahem.
I was hoping Mitt Romney would offer the American people a political olive branch to demonstrate his willingness to work across party lines to boost our nation. Instead, he has chosen a staunchly conservative political ally who is more concerned with beating Barack Obama than helping fellow Americans.
This tunnel-vision mentality continues to fuel the hubris of this ticket. We don’t need more entrenched partisanship, especially as vehement as Paul Ryan.
Paul Ryan has been a Yes Man for the Republican party since he headed to Washington at an admirably young age. In his 13-year term he has successfully passed two bills; he renamed a post office and lowered excise tax on arrow shafts (how apropos coming from a man who partakes in bow hunting). Under both Democrat and Republican controlled houses, no one has embraced Paul Ryan’s new social contract. The deep thinker, budgetary expert, charismatic Midwestern father cloak is nothing but theater. Political posturing has been Ryan’s MO since hitting the Hill. He has simply shown no willingness to reach across party lines and compromise with his Democratic peers, instead focusing on his own self aggrandizement. Is saying no to compromise really an admirable trait? In short, both men are rich in hubris and bankrupt when it comes to humanity.
The Romney/Ryan ticket is simply bad for Americans, young and old. Their ideals represent an unwavering and blind allegiance to the uber rich while punishing the poor and middle classes. Their disdain for socioeconomic classes beneath them is deplorable. Their budget and ideals further boost the wealthy on the backs of the rest of us. Trickle down economics doesn’t work! The budget must be balanced and it must help all Americans.
The middle class cannot -- and should not -- bear the burden for the gaping hole left by the nation’s wealthiest few who do not pay taxes.
No jobs will be borne of the Ryan budget plan. In fact, the U.S. could lose a million jobs under this plan. Drastically cutting Pell Grants and Head Start would damage the future U.S. job market and compromise our intellectual capital, rendering us worthless in an expanding, complicated global economy. Cutting Medicare hurts the elderly, a segment of our population that has paid into the system and represents a generation we should nourish rather than neglect. Fair pay for women. Equal rights. DOMA. Birth control. Non discrimination protection. Hate crime prevention. Say goodbye to it all with Paul Ryan tugging on Romney’s puppet strings.
The silver lining is this: the Romney/Ryan ticket has opened up dialogue in this country to discuss real issues and the people they affect rather than typical political ideology. Let’s take this opportunity to talk about the people affected, not just the statistics as faceless numbers. Let’s open up the floor to talk about our country’s moral compass, where we envision ourselves as a nation, what it means to take care of one’s own, what education can do to help the impoverished, how stable health care can bring peace of mind to the elderly, what a little girl’s life will look like as she grows into a woman in this country, how we view civil rights, human rights, and the Bill of Rights.
If there were ever a time to fully examine the issues, the time is now. Too many people are blinded by campaign and party rhetoric or a candidate’s charm and good looks and vote against their own interests. I’ve been doing my homework. In my estimation, Paul Ryan cannot be underestimated.
Nor can he be trusted.
This post is part of a weekly conversation with our Moms Matter 2012 political bloggers. To see the original question and what the other writers have to say, see "Romney Picks Paul Ryan as VP."
Image via Tony Alter/Wikimedia
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Comments 41
Romney/Ryan 2012!
I agree with Lynn02. I used to be upper class but now under Obama I have become middle class. I do not feel I am being taken care of by him because I am probably at the top of middle class. All he talks about is helping the middle class. Under the past several presidents I didn't need help- now I do and I don't see where help is coming from. So to answer Lynn02 no I am not better off than 4 years ago. Sad too because I am a fiscal conservative but socially liberal. I hate to vote for either party really because neither truly represents me or most people I know.
*sigh*. This is NOT an election about social issues. No one is considering banning birth control, no one wants to repeal anti hate crime legislation. NO ONE. This is about sky high unemployment and raising taxes, and a burgeoning defecit. If we continue the way we have been, Medicare will go BANKRUPT. Yes, cuts suck, but we have to rein in spending in order to preserve these programs for future generations. This election is about the ECONOMY, and on that point, the Romney/Ryan ticket is MUCH stronger than Obama/Biden.
Did you actually read Ryan's second plan and how it concerns medicare? My God, have you read about ANYTHING that's happening to medicare? Thanks to OBAMA's 716 billion dollar cut from medicare to fund Obamacare, medicare has less than twelve years to survive. What Ryan's plan did was to ensure that medicare would stay afloat, NOT to get rid of it by having private sector companies compete with each other and the government to bring premiums down for seniors. There is nowhere in that plan that states that Ryan is going to totally cut medicare, and certainly not for people who are currently 55 and over.
By the way, Obama's transfer of medicare funds to Obama care hurts medicare more than the republicans ever would. Think about it: if you work, you're being taxed on your hard earned money by local and federal governments. That tax partly funds medicare. So the president is taking YOUR hard earned money that supposed to be head IN TRUST for your use when you retire and putting it into a system where it benefits people WHO DON'T or HAVE NOT paid into it at all.
Obama's own debt chairs have praised Ryan on his plans. Hell, Obama himself praised Ryan on that same plan in 2010!
I agree with almost all of the others. Just what was the point of this post? All you did was say what a commercials says. My grandson does that too. Repeats commercials word for word!! He's 8! There are no stats. This is all just YOUR opinion.
Are you better off now than you were 4 years ago? We're not. Does the current administration reach across the isle or does he "blame" the people who don't agree with him and cry "they just won't let me do anything?"
"olive branch to demonstrate his willingness to work across party lines"
The Republicans are running a Massachusetts liberal, and a guy who is proposing a gradual, decades long transition to a balanced budget. Prior to the democrat takeover of congress, such a position would barely have qualified one as a "conservative". Only through some bizarre "tunnel-vision mentality" where spending DOUBLE what you get in revenue and where TRILLION plus dollar annual deficits is somehow considered "normal" (or even sane); could such a view be considered "staunchly conservative".
BTW, WHEN during the OWEbama administration has he EVER been willing to "work across party lines" on ANY issue? Ever since the democrat super-majority, it has been the democrats get 100% of what they want, no matter how radical, 100% of the time, NO "compromises" what so ever.
The author... "thinks" neither OWEbama nor Biden are "concerned with beating" their opponents?
"hubris" and "entrenched partisanship"?!? Left wing hypocrisy knows no bounds.
Contrary to the lies of the author, the Ryan Budget plan has been lauded by both sides of the aisle.
Congratulations, you managed to get this precisely backwards. Your spew edited for truthfulness:
"The deep thinker, budgetary expert, charismatic Kenyan father cloak is nothing but theater. Political posturing has been OWEbama's MO since hitting the Hill. He has simply shown no willingness to reach across party lines and compromise with his Republican peers, instead focusing on his own self aggrandizement. Is saying no to compromise really an admirable trait? In short, OWEbama is rich in hubris and bankrupt when it comes to humanity."
"allegiance to the uber rich while punishing the poor and middle classes"
Don't you lefties ever feel embarrasement when bleating absurd left wing agit-prop like mindless sheep? Yes, by all means, DON'T think for yourself, spew propaganda until your hate is strong.
"Their disdain for socioeconomic classes beneath them is deplorable."
Except you can't find a single example to support your hate filled slander.
"Their budget and ideals further boost the wealthy on the backs of the rest of us."
Don't you feel even the slightest shame or embarrasement with that crap?
"Trickle down economics doesn’t work!"
Except every single time it has been tried!
"The budget must be balanced and it must help all Americans."
ROTFLMAO!!!!!!! Really? Really? $6,000,000,000,000!!!,!!!,!!!,!!! in NEW DEMOCRAT DEBT and you are going to go THERE? ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!
"the nation’s wealthiest few who do not pay taxes"
Disgusting. Ignorant. You obviously have NO sense of shame. I could quote the numbers showing how the tax burden is overwhelmingly placed on the wealthy, buy you are obviously not going to let the facts stand in the way of a good hate rant.
"Jobs"?!?
ROTFLMAO!!!!!!! Really? Really? The longest and deepest unemployment since records have been kept, and you are going to go THERE too? ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Point of fact on Medicare: It is OWEbama who is looting over $700,000,000,000 from Medicare (that people have paid into all their lives) just to help partially bankroll the initial roll-out of OWEbama care! After that, just bills with no source of funding in sight. Ryan want's to save the program, not eliminate it as the democrats are doing.