The leader of the Maine GOP praised the selection of Wisconsin Congressman and conservative budget hawk Paul Ryan as candidate for vice president, while the Maine Democratic chairman defaulted to demagoguery about class welfare in disparaging Ryan.
Gov. Mitt Romney’s selection of Ryan, well known as one-man assault team on the federal budget, clearly signals that Republicans are taking aim at President Obama’s failed agenda on the economy, the federal budget and the country’s massive debt.
As chair of the House Budget Committee, the young, energetic and likable Ryan has had marksman-like focus on fiscal policy. His proposals for reducing debt and controlling spending include sweeping modifications to beloved but unsustainable entitlement programs—considered the third rail of politics—such as replacing Medicare with a “voucher” program for seniors.
Ryan introduced a plan, “The Path to Prosperity,” in April 2011, which included significant changes to Medicare. He then helped introduce the similar “The Path to Prosperity: A Blueprint for American Renewal ” in March 2012.
Ryan’s budget proposal would eliminate $5.8 trillion from federal spending over the next decade and would reduce the budget deficit by $4.4 trillion during the same period.
He calls for reductions in discretionary spending, including programs such as food stamps, which would total more than $900 billion in cuts. Ryan would also repeal ObamaCare, saving billions in federal subsidies.
Ryan proposes transforming Medicare into a defined-payment program that seniors could use to buy insurance. This would not affect seniors now using Medicare, but would apply to the next generation of seniors.
Ryan’s plan would also cut Medicaid by $735 billion over 10 years, allowing the states to administer their programs with more flexibility. His budget plan would leave Social Security and defense spending at current levels.
Ryan would reduce the top federal income tax rate for individuals and corporations from 35 percent to 25 percent. His budget calls for eliminating some tax breaks and loopholes to offset the loss of revenue.
At 42, the good-looking Ryan is a rising star in the Republican Party. The fifth-generation Wisconsin native is a Catholic devoted to his wife and three children, an outdoorsman and a fitness enthusiast.
“Congressman Paul Ryan is a great choice by Mitt Romney to serve as the next Vice President of the United States,” said Charlie Webster, chairman of the Maine Republican Party. “He is a very bright young star in the Republican Party with fresh ideas and an ability to communicate our ideals like few others can. Together, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are America’s best hope for more jobs, less welfare and a strong future for working people.
“Republicans of all stripes admire Paul Ryan and are energized about what he brings to the ticket,” Webster said. “I congratulate Congressman Ryan and applaud Mitt Romney for his excellent choice in a running mate.”
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and RNC Co-Chair Sharon Day were effusive about Romney’s selection of Ryan.
“My friend and fellow Wisconsinite Paul Ryan will serve America admirably as the next Vice President of the United States,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. “Americans are starving for leaders who can fix our economy and get our spending under control. Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan have the knowledge, expertise and vision we need to get America working again and get our fiscal house in order.
“Across the country, Americans are hurting, but ‘America’s Comeback Team’ will offer us a new direction and a brighter future,” said Priebus. “I congratulate Governor Romney on his excellent decision. This is a great day for Wisconsin and for America.”
“I share the chairman’s enthusiasm for Congressman Paul Ryan,” said RNC Co-Chair Sharon Day. “The Romney-Ryan ticket will help get America working again.”
On the other side of the aisle, Maine Democratic Party Chair Ben Grant continued the Democrats’ refrain about class warfare, claiming a Romney-Ryan ticket would favor the rich and hurt the poor.
“Mitt Romney’s choice of Congressman Ryan once again demonstrates how out of touch he is with working and middle-class families in Maine and America today,” Grant said. “He’s chosen as a running mate the architect of one of the most extreme, anti-middle-class budget plans in our nation’s history.
“A Romney-Ryan ticket would mean the end of Medicare as we know it, huge tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires and more of a burden on middle class families and seniors,” Grant said. “Romney sent a message to Americans today: if you don’t have a big bank account and millions of dollars, he doesn’t want your vote.”
But U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) sees Ryan as serious candidate who is willing to engage debate on the critical issues that are facing the country. “Mitt Romney’s selection of Representative Paul Ryan is first and foremost an indication of his seriousness on the paramount issues of deficit reduction and economic growth,” she said.
“It is vital that we have a national conversation on the necessity of getting America’s fiscal house in order, given our skyrocketing and historic levels of deficits and debt—and how we achieve this goal will determine the future fiscal and economic security of our country,” Snowe said.
“Moreover, Governor Romney’s decision underscores his commitment to policies that are critical to establishing an environment for expanding our economy and creating jobs, including overhauling our broken tax code and reforming federal regulations that are stifling America’s greatest jobs generators: our small businesses.
“Our nation is at a tipping point,” Snowe said. “We cannot afford the status-quo course of more spending and an ever-expanding government, while families and individuals haven’t experienced any positive effect in their own lives. That’s what this election is all about, and that is the choice Americans will face on Election Day.”
A DIFFERENT VIEW:
From somebody blogging as RaysZ28_2009 in response to a column about Ryan’s likeability:
“Believe the Lies, Believe the hype! Because this guy has an axe to grind, just as his mentor Adolf Hitler did! He is destroying America from within, and this country will be back to Slave Labor, and picking Cotton. Believe that. his views & radical ideals are that only the strong survive. He believes the rest are sub-humans. Where does that come from? Hitler and the Nazi’s. This guy is even more of threat on American values as he is disguising his real values under false hoods. Wake up America, you’re getting the wool pulled over your eyes by his Big Corporate backed Thugs!”
Bill Moyers ends his comments on “ In Paul Ryan, The Right at Last Has Their Man”; with the following.
“But in Paul Ryan, the Golden Boy from Janesville who schooled himself in the ideology of right-wing think tanks inside the Beltway, they finally have one of their own — a true believer for the new Gilded Age.”
http://billmoyers.com/2012/08/13/bill-moyers-in-paul-ryan-the-right-at-last-has-their-man/
A quote from Mark Twain during the last Gilded Age.
“What is the chief end of man?–to get rich. In what way?–dishonestly if we can; honestly if we must.”
– Mark Twain-1871
The divide in America is not between political parties and their ideologies, between religious beliefs, between rich and poor, or between value systems; it is between the corporate state and the citizen.
Supporters of “The Corporate State…” march to the following orders; establish optimal conditions for private firms so that they may profit without interference.
The marching orders follow a simple set of principles: elimination of outside influence on compensation and benefits, and other operating expenses; removal of controls (regulations) impacting freedom of action; and establishment of barriers to prevent challenges to the corporate state’s control.
“The Citizen” has the following desires; physical cravings of food, drink, shelter and sex; emotional yearnings of recognition, validation; and rational needs for truth and knowledge. “The Citizen” follows a basic principle; rationalize actions to satisfy physical and emotional desires.
“The Corporate State” and “The Citizen” have one thing in common; Money.
Money is the means and motivation for “The Corporate State” to make a profit; and for “The Citizen” to satisfy its physical and emotional desires.
Where there is money, there is greed.
“The Corporate State” demonstrates greed when in the interest of profit through financial gain they throw destitute families out of homes, allow the uninsured to die, wage useless wars, poison and pollute the ecosystem, slash social assistance programs, gut public education, trash the global economy, plunder the U.S. Treasury and crush all popular movements that seek justice for working men and women.
“The Citizen” demonstrates greed when in the interest of satisfying physical and emotional desires it seeks financial gain without providing, when physically capable and effectively educated, an equitable contribution of service in return.
“The Corporate State” and “The Citizen” must acknowledge their greed; and must acknowledge that without controls greed goes unchecked. Money is not going away and neither is greed going away.
“The Citizen” has the ability to address its greed. To do so, “The Citizen” must continually strive to insure that its rational desire for truth and knowledge provides a check and balance between money and, physical and emotional desires.
“The Corporate State” is not a citizen; it does not have physical cravings or emotional yearnings. For “The Corporate State” to address greed “The Citizen” must continually strive that their rational desire for truth and knowledge provides a check and balance between money and “The Corporate State’s” profit impact on society.
Controls on “The Corporate State” are required. Greed unchecked in “The Corporate State” results in the removal of all services, eliminating the middle class and working class; it results in physical and mental death; “The Citizen” loses all hope. When hope is lost, “The Citizen” rationalizes food, alcohol, religion, and material consumption to their extremes. Today’s social Darwinism is tomorrow’s social genocide.
Controls on “The Citizen” are also required. Greed unchecked in “The Citizen” results in excessive use of services; entitlement becomes the norm; extreme debt the result. Greed unchecked in “The Citizen” who is a member or supporter of “The Corporate State” increases greed of “The Corporate State” exponentially. The negative impact on society is also exponential, coming full circle back to the need for controls on “The Corporate State”.
References:
“Death of the Liberal Class”, Chris Hedges
“The Republic”, Plato
Great quote from Olympia.
John was that Joe Biden’s blog? After all Romney/Ryan is going to put us back in chains.