Mitt Romney has picked Paul Ryan as his running mate. Ryan has energized the ticket. He is a darling of the conservative right and he is a lightening rod to the left. Romney made two opposing groups happy with this pick. When I heard the pick I could not help but think about Tim Pawlenty. During the primaries Pawlenty criticized Romney on the campaign trail, but when given the opportunity to repeat some of his charges in the face of Romney he chose not to, and I knew then Pawlenty coveted that number 2 position, but like Fredo of the Godfather he got passed over for the more attractive, vibrant candidate. Ryan is the pick and he does bring energy to the ticket, but he also brings baggage. What I like about Ryan is he does say what he means and what he intends on doing will hurt the most vulnerable among us, but Ryan does not shy away from it. So for some Ryan is a solution, but for many he is a problem. http://thegrio.com/2012/08/11/what-the-paul-ryan-pick-means-for-obama-and-romney/
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THEIR TICKET IS ONE DOOMED ON ARRIVAL. FOR MITT ROMNEY INFORMED AMERICANS ( I SAW AND HEARD HIM FROM NIGERIA) THAT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IS FEATURING TWO PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES, ONE ROMNEY, THE OTHER PAUL RYAN, THE ARCHITECT OF “BUDGET AGAINST THE POOR”. I HOPE MISTAKES AND CONFUSION WILL CONTINUE TO REIGN IN THEIR CAMP. AND THE ALMIGHTY, THE BLACK MAN’S GOD, WILL FIGHT FOR OBAMA.
Ryan fancies himself a deficit hawk, but “strangely” his zeal for a balanced budgets and fiscal discipline coincides with a Democrat occupying the WH. Where was his Road to Prosperity plan when Bush was in office?
Ryan is not a policy heavyweight. His proposals are warmed over conservative boilerplate. He makes no serious attempt to reduce runaway defense (warmongering) spending or to reset the fundamentals of monetary policy. He does not take on the titans of the financial industry or even acknowledge the insanity of the Federal Reserve system.
In Ryan’s view, seniors, the poor, the unwell, must tighten their belts while the ultra-wealthy continue to amass record profits.
It is interesting that you characterize Ryan’s intentions as a plan which will harm the most vulnerable among us. If you are referring to the impact of his medicare proposal on the elderly then you’re being mendacious to put it nicely or you’re grossly misinformed on that issue.
The plan that Ryan proposed has no impact on the elderly who are currently on medicare. As for future beneficiaries, those who are presently under the age of fifty five will, when they are eligible, have the CHOICE of participating in the plan as it currently exists or they may use vouchers provided by the program to secure coverage on the open market.
However, you have failed to express any outrage over Obamacare stripping seven hundred billion dollars from medicare which will have an immediate cost to seniors upon its implementation to procure Medicare Advantage coverage. That will be money taken right out of their pockets. Why they might have to choose between healthcare and food. Isn’t that a Democrat’s worse nightmare? But I refuse to think of you as being mendacious so that leaves being misinformed.
It’s sad how much of the Paul Ryan choice is just about image. I think it underlies a more significant problem in our political society, which is that elections are marketing candidates like any other commercial product. An informed citizenry isn’t all that important to candidates. Obama is as bad on this as Republicans.
Adam Weiss blogs at politicalcreativity.net
My Dear Bill,
When you start a post with a personal attack, you reveal the weakness of your argument. So allow me to adjust your collar and send you on your merry way. I’ll even give you a lollipop so there’ll be no hard feelings.
In 2022, Ryan’s plan ends the current medicare program for everyone born after 1956. Those born prior to 1956 continue to receive benefits under the old program. Those who enroll after 2022 receive a voucher to use toward private health insurance, they DO NOT have a choice to access health insurance under the old system.
Under the new program, the average 65 year old can redeem a voucher for about $8,000. This amount coincides with the net per capita federal payment projected for 65 year olds that year. But the actual benefit varies depending on where grandpa’s income level falls near the federal poverty line.
The CBO projects that in 2022, the out-of-pocket expenses for a 65 y/o beneficiary will be about 25 cents of every dollar spent on his/her health care, which is about what it is today. By 2030, that 65 y/o will pay nearly 70 cents of every dollar spent on his/her health care. That is an unacceptable shift of cost to our senior citizens. Most seniors live on a fixed income. They cannot afford this cost.
By the way, the voucher amount is indexed to the CPI, not the healthcare inflation index. This means that as healthcare costs skyrocket, the vouchers dont keep pace and become worth less and less each year. Did I mention the states would have to reduce benefits due to the initial drop in federal support? Now the population continues to grow and healthcare services lessen. That is a bad combination.
President Obama stripping $700 billion from Medicare? Are you referring to the Paul Ryan’s Budgetary Consequence report from the House Budget committee majority released in April of this year? Yeah, that estimate said the ACA would increase the deficit by $700 billion over 10 years. It’s full of holes Bill, a hack job. Maybe you’re referring to the reduction of Medicare advantage as ACA is implemented and health insurers compete for that market? I can’t tell because your sentence is so poorly constructed.
Ultimately, Ryan’s budget fails to address how the government would obtain the revenue to address the healthcare needs of our rapidly expanding population. He would reduce the corporate tax from 35 to 25 percent, eliminate taxes on business overseas profits, substantially lower taxes for the highest earners, and make it harder for so called high risk applicants to get insurance. I haven’t talked about his plans for Medicaid. Ryan won’t reduce defense spending, yet we outspend the next dozen odd defense budgets combined? And this is supposed to be a serious plan?
Ryan is missing the big picture. We honor our seniors and put our money where our mouths are when it comes to taking care of them. The P2P fails to do this.
Bill, please don’t argue for the sake of being disagreeable. I don’t have time for foolishness.
Well, this will clearly shift Romney’s campaign to a more medicare-focused slant.
I always feel that Romney’s camp will pick Rand Paul because of his father’s iconoclastic cred and solid tea party support.