Paul Ryan's RNC Acceptance Speech

Just so its on the record, and people do not forget! 

Paul Ryan's Symbolism!

This from Rob Zerban:

I am thrilled that the American people have voted tonight for four more years of progress — for a President who wants to expand the American Dream, open new doors of opportunity, and secure a strong future for middle-class families across our country. Tonight, that should give us all cause for celebration.
And in the Senate, we’re going to have a tremendous, progressive champion in Tammy Baldwin!
I’m disappointed to tell you that we didn’t prevail tonight in this individual election against Paul Ryan. But I am so proud of the race we ran and all that we’ve accomplished.

When we first started this campaign, no one thought this district could be a real battleground. That we could force Ryan to dive deep into his warchest of special interest money. That we could hold Ryan accountable on his destructive Kill Medicare budget plan.

But we were determined. And bit by bit, our campaign grew from a ragtag group working out of my living room to a real, professional operation that gave our district hope, that for the first time in a long time, we could defeat Paul Ryan.

That was thanks to you, because our money wasn't coming in from Wall Street or corporate lobbyists. Instead, it was coming in from you. This campaign became a national grassroots movement powered by regular folks across the country, who believe in their own ability to change things for the better.

Our campaign was built by seniors on Social Security and Medicare, students on Pell Grants, and hard-working middle class families who chipped in $5 or $10 -- whatever they could to help us defeat Paul Ryan.  In fact, one number says it all: 96% of the contributions received by this campaign were less than $100 each

So we must be proud of this campaign and this movement we’ve built together. And we must not allow these efforts to have been in vain because the people of the First District deserve representation that belongs to them, not to the moneyed and powerful special interests. Because this fight was never about a single election or a single person. This campaign was about the middle class, working people, and the American Dream itself.

You have my word, I will remain a part of that fight.

Earlier tonight, I left a message for Paul Ryan to concede this election. But there is a grander, much larger battle ahead of us – and that battle, I do not concede.

Sincerely, thank you for all that you have done,

Rob

Paul Ryan just won the closest election of his career, and could not take the time to take the call from the person who represented them.   Looking at the numbers, Paul Ryan lost his hometown and his home county decidedly.   In fact, had the republicans not redistricted so unethically, and helped give Ryan a Waukesha padding, he would have lost his seat!   Yet in the end Paul Ryan thought so little of his opposition and opponent that he could not be bothered to take the call.    

Paul Ryan does not now, nor has he ever, represented the people of WI.  We lost a huge opportunity to make our state better and have the 1st Congressional District actually be represented in Congress by not electing Rob Zerban.    

Let's not make the same mistake in 2014! 

Paul Ryan Has No Spine For A Debate!

JSONLINE recently retained the services of some local bloggers on "both sides" and dubbed it the purple project.  It has really turned into a pretty red project with just more opportunity to push the WPRI agenda for free.

I have a hard time taking any project seriously that includes Christian Schneider.  Schneider does not take himself seriously so why should anyone else?  This however is about the one righty blogger of this group that I actually like and how ridiculously bad his most recent post is!

In his post, Rodriguez tries to give Paul Ryan (R-Wall St.) cover for ducking debates with his challenger Rob Zerban!  Aaron also fails miserably, let's take a look.

  Described by many pundits as the top intellectual mind of the Republican Party, Ryan excels in economic and fiscal policies. He’s a policy wonk for sure, but also possesses the finesse to communicate his ideas in a relatable format. 

Granted, thebar is not very high, however, outside of schneider(who once compared Paul Ryan to Batman, no kidding), and Rodriguez you would be hard find to find "many" more people to describe Paul that way, especially since his convention speech.   You will however find "many" who would call Paul ryan a fraud(27,900,000 google matches to be exact).  From Chuck Schumer, to Paul Krugman to Bill Maher and many others. 

But Ryan’s ideas and voting record are now the subject to national scrutiny by journalists, bloggers, economists, think tank analysts, and partisan advocacy organizations. What can a debate with an untested county supervisor add to the national discussion?

Umm Aaron, Paul ryan is also running to be congressman from the 1st Congressional District of Wisconsin.   Ryan understands that his prospects of becoming VP are not looking good, so he hedged his bets and bought $2,000,000 worth of ad buys.   So he must feel the need to get his "message" out to the voters of the First Congressional District.   WHat is $2 MILLION dollar ad buy going to ad to the "national debate"?

Ryan has not been timid about his views on pretty much anything from entitlement spending to tax reform. For years, Ryan has sounded the fiscal alarm, introducing multiple budgetary plans that sought to reform third rail issues like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

Yes Ryan loves to talk about his "views" on almost anything, as long as he can control the debate and the questions.  If he does at least he understands his weakness and refuses to ever answer a question from someone who he does not know!

We have seen Paul in action over and over have complete disdain for his constituents who want to ask him a question.    When is the last time you saw paul on anything that was less than extremely friendly to him?   I have been trying for over a year to get an interview with him.  

If Ryan refuses a debate Rob Zerban, it’s not because he’s ducking a challenge by a formidable opponent. It’s because the debate is unnecessary. Debates tend to prove two things: who has the better ideas and who is better at communicating them. Fortunately for Ryan, he has skills in both areas.

The problem here is, that Aaron just does not live reality.   Here is a quick exchange betweenRyan and some reporters that you have seen over and over and over again:

Ryan declined to address Obama's charge that he was among House Republicans "standing in the way" of legislation designed to help the drought-stricken heartland. He said only that he would get into "those policy things later."
"Right now I just want to enjoy the fair," he said.

 Mr. Transparency and exchange of ideas!

 Even if Zerban were a quick study and proficient at communicating, the debate would likely be a wash. If he’s not particularly adroit, he’ll last about as long with Ryan as a balloon in a room full of kittens.

Yes it is very hard to debate this logic:

Critics of Mitt Romney's tax reform plan say his proposal leaves out too many details, but Paul Ryan, the Republican presidential nominee's running mate, says keeping the proposal vague gives it the best chance for passage through Congress.

During an interview with Christian Broadcasting Network's David Brody, Ryan said Romney is following Ronald Reagan's playbook by not divulging the details about what specific tax loopholes he would close and the rates that would be set under his administration. Ryan said the reason is "because we want to get it done."

It does take a lot of balls to tell people we will not tell you what your plan is as a politician UNTIL your elected.  The "just trust me" approach, has a hard time working with someone who is a well known liar!

So to wrap up, let's be perfectly clear.  Paul Ryan (R-Ayn Rand), is ducking a debate with Rob Zerban because he is scared of losing his Congressional seat.  Paul Ryan enjoys the wonders of a government paycheck every week.  

Please sign the petition telling Paul Ryan to debate Rob Zerban!!

Help Rob Zerban retire Paul Ryan! 

Cross posted @Cog Dis @JeffSimpson7

Paul Ryan Gets a Lesson in Iowa Nice

Our friend Paul Ryan's first foray out of the state and made a campaign appearance in Iowa! His first speech as the Vice presidential nominee, was also the first time he got heckled as the vice presidential nominee.

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Paul Ryan's highly anticipated debut at the Iowa State Fair was interrupted by a handful of hecklers who relentlessly barraged the newly minted Republican running mate with jeers.
"Whoa, hey, all right," Ryan responded, as a woman scrambled to get on the stage and was hustled away by state troopers.
"It's funny because Iowans and Wisconsinites, we like to be respectful of one another and be peaceful with one another and listen to each other," remarked Ryan. "These guys must not be from Iowa or Wisconsin."
Two people tried to make it on stage -- one made it, and the other didn't.
"Stop the war on the common good!" another man began shouting at the front of the crowd, beating his fist against the air in the direction of the candidate. Moments before, the heckler had been waiting quietly on the hay bales under the hot August sun. People had gathered hours before Ryan's scheduled stop to see him. Now, supporters were angrily confronting the heckler, holding up their campaign signs to block his view of Ryan.
Yells of "Snake oil salesman!" "Stop the war on the middle class!" and "We are the 99 percent!" and the bickering that followed resulted in a din that nearly drowned out the candidate's speech, which was blaring from the speakers.
If distracted, Ryan remained calm on stage, sticking to his stump lines and throwing a jab at the president, "My guess is the reason President Obama isn't making it here from Council Bluffs is that he only knows left turns." 

 Like everything  that Paul Ryan says, he was wrong again! This from one of the ladies who "heckled" him.  Of course, Paul Ryan's version of debate is he talks down to us we do not get to address him: 

WEDNESDAY, AUG 15, 2012 11:04 AM EDT
Yes, Mr. Ryan, I’m from Iowa
The Republican VP candidate rudely dismissed me when I asked him whether he planned to cut Medicare.
BY CHERIE MORTICE

(Credit: (AP/Carolyn Kaster)

Attention, Congressman Ryan: I am one of the women you said must not be from Iowa or Wisconsin because we did not sit back quietly, respectfully, and smile and say nothing while you lied to us during your first solo stump speech as a vice-presidential candidate at the Iowa State Fair earlier this week. Actually, I am from Iowa. I grew up here. My parents are from here. I have taught school here, in Des Moines, for 40 years.

I asked you if you were going to cut Medicare. You didn’t answer. The truth is, Congressman, I already know the answer. I know what’s in the budget you wrote, that your fellow Republicans in Congress voted for, and that your running mate, Gov. Romney, supports. I know it ends Medicare as we know it today and turns it into a voucher program that raises seniors’ costs by thousands of dollars a year and throws us on the mercy of private insurers.

And I assure you, Congressman, what I did, what those other Iowans did that day, wasn’t easy for those of us raised to be “Iowa nice.” From a young age I learned to behave in the way you alluded to, to be extremely friendly and to always assume the best of people. Over the years I’ve sat very patiently, listening to politicians, watching them dodge questions or distort answers or really just abuse the facts and I never said anything because it wouldn’t be nice, it’s not Iowa nice.

But I’m 63 years old now, I’m retired, and I’ve seen the impact of that silence. I’ve seen who really pays the price for silence and it is the poor and the middle class. I have seen the big picture – how corporate greed erodes democracy and factories take over farms. I’ve seen it all up-close and personal too, every day, for 24 years, teaching middle school in a district that serves low-income families. I have seen kids come to school in the dead of winter with no socks and kept my classroom stocked with food to make sure these kids had a fighting chance to learn when they made it, by themselves, with no one to set the alarm and no one to drive them through the snow, to school against the odds. I’ve seen their parents struggle to get off drugs and wait months, years even, for a spot in a treatment program that would give them a fighting chance to be the parents they truly want to be.

So you understand, Congressman Ryan, and Governor Romney, that when I hear you tell a crowd that you want to “help the middle class to prosper,” by cutting off the lifelines these young people need to survive – food stamps, Medicaid, public education and, yes, drug treatment, it makes my blood boil. It sends that Iowa nice thing right out the window.

I get just as angry when you talk about broadly shared prosperity, as if that’s something you believe in, when you have written and voted for plans that slash taxes on millionaires and corporations and do nothing at all for my 86-year-old aunt, whose groceries I buy half the time, because she lives on $1,400 a month, mostly from Social Security, and pays $785 a month for a one-bedroom apartment.

There’s so much more, Congressman Ryan, and Governor Romney, that makes me forget my upbringing – at least the part of my upbringing that tells me to sit back, grin and bear it, and let you lie to me and destroy people’s lives and then maybe, at most, grouse about it quietly in private. Or maybe I’m not forgetting my upbringing at all, come to think of it. Maybe I’m remembering well the lessons of generations of hardworking Iowans who value community, fairness, opportunity and kindness in the face of a mean-spirited policy of greed. A little of that Iowa nice has turned from Iowa nice, to Iowa sad, to Iowa angry and finally, to Iowa strong.

Cherie Mortice is a retired schoolteacher and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (CCI) Action Fund member from Des Moines, Iowa.

The Winners & Losers of the Paul Ryan Pick

Mitt recently tabbed Paul Ryan (R- Wall St), so lets take alook at who wins and who loses with this pick.

Winner -  Grover Norquist:
 

 “We are not auditioning for fearless leader,” Grover Norquist told conservatives at the CPAC convention in February. “We don’t need a president to tell us in what direction to go. We know what direction to go. We want the Ryan budget. … We just need a president to sign this stuff. We don’t need someone to think it up or design it. The leadership now for the modern conservative movement for the next 20 years will be coming out of the House and the Senate.”

Norquist went on: “Pick a Republican with enough working digits to handle a pen to become president of the United States. This is a change for Republicans: the House and Senate doing the work with the president signing bills. His job is to be captain of the team, to sign the legislation that has already been prepared.”

Loser;  The small faction of sanity in the republican party:

 The clamor you are hearing for Paul Ryan for VP is not about helping the Romney candidacy. It's about controlling the Romney campaign—and ultimately the Romney presidency. It's about forcing a platform on Romney, and then dictating the agenda for that presidency's first year. The platform happens to be suicidal, and the agenda impossible, but that does not matter to the Ryan advocates. They take the old Tammany Hall point of view: "Better to lose an agenda than lose control of the party."


In that sense, the Ryan proposal is a test of Romney's leadership. If he accedes, it's a big surrender of control—and a surrender to many of those who most opposed (and who inwardly continue to dislike) his nomination.

Winner:  Ayn Rand!  

 Loser: Conservatism:

 The man who solved Mitt Romney’s problems with conservative voters has spent his post-collegiate life in Washington, D.C. political jobs. He voted for the 2008 Troubled Asset Relief Program. He voted for the 2009 auto bailout. He voted for Medicare Part D, and has defended it robustly ever since.

Winner: Comedians:

U.S.S. WISCONSIN (The Borowitz Report)—An exhaustive manhunt that took months and spanned the country came to a dramatic end today as a less interesting person than Mitt Romney turned up in Wisconsin.
On the deck of the U.S.S. Wisconsin, officials from the Guinness Book of World Records were on hand to certify the result of the search.

“This man is in fact the least interesting person in America,” one Guinness official said, adding that Mr. Romney himself had held that title since 1947.

Losers:  Grandma and Grandpa: 

Winners: The Koch Brothers:  

 Madison -- U.S. House Republican Budget Chair Paul Ryan of Janesville traveled to a secret California fundraising junket this past weekend run by billionaires Charles and David Koch, the major financers of the so-called tea party movement, the ThinkProgress news site reported today.

Losers:   His Elderly Constituents:

Winners:  Expensive Wine Makers:

 Wall Street’s favorite congressman Paul Ryan (R-Koch Brothers), was recently seen at Washington DC’s Bistro Bis drinking $350 bottles of Pinot Noir. 

Losers:  The rest of his constituents:

Winner: Paul Ryan's Bank Account: 

 Statements of Economic Interest (SEI) recently released by Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Janesville), when compared to previous years’ SEI show a clear pattern – the more influence he has on the Congressional Budget process, the more stake he (through his wife Janna (nee Little)) has gained in Oklahoma mining interests. This family interest is led by Ryan’s father-in-law, Dan Little; and is currently making millions leasing rights to energy giants engaging in extensive natural gas shale fracking.

Losers:  The middle class:

 Paul Ryan’s infamous budget — which Romney embraced — replaces “the current tax structure with two brackets — 25 percent and 10 percent — and cut the top rate from 35 percent.” Federal tax collections would fall “by about $4.5 trillion over the next decade” as a result and to avoid increasing the national debt, the budget proposes massive cuts in social programs and “special-interest loopholes and tax shelters that litter the code.” But 62 percent of the savings would come from programs that benefit the lower- and middle-classes, who would also experience a tax increase. That’s because while Ryan “would extend the Bush tax cuts, which are due to expire at the end of this year, he would not extend President Obama’s tax cuts for those with the lowest incomes, which will expire at the same time.” Households “earning more than $1 million a year, meanwhile, could see a net tax cut of about $300,000 annually.”

 Winners:  Anti Abortion Zealots:

 Ryan co-sponsored a “personhood” amendment, an extreme anti-abortion measure. Ryan joined 62 other Republicans in co-sponsoring the Sanctity of Human Life Act, which declares that a fertilized egg “shall have all the legal and constitutional attributes and privileges of personhood.” This would outlaw abortion, some forms of contraception and invitro fertilization.

Losers:  Our Military and Veterans: 

 Looking at the recently released GOP budget, written by Rep. Paul Ryan, it's hard to see how they do. In fact, looking at the nearly 100 page document, the word "veteran" doesn't appear once. Not once....

 But, without saying the word "veteran," the budget tells us a lot about what they think about veterans. The budget calls for across the board spending freezes and cuts. If enacted, the Ryan GOP budget would cut $11 billion from veterans spending, or 13 percent from what President Obama proposes in his own plan.

It's unconscionable that they'd do this at a time when so many Iraq veterans have just come home and rely on veterans care. Over 45,000 US troops were wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more will come who will rely on VA services, on top of veterans of other wars and eras who depend on the VA. But, this shortsightedness isn't new.

Winners: anyone who wants free subs!

Losers:  Anyone in WIsconsin who thinks their state was redistricted fairly:

 For example, there is one email from Andy Speth, who is Paul Ryan's Chief of Staff:

Thank you for being available to participate in the call this afternoon with the Speaker, the Majority Leader and Congressman Ryan. The purpose of the call is to get everyone on the same page as far as the process and timing of the congressional redistricting map is concerned.

What a nice, polite email showing a team working together, right?

 Winner; Unregulated Banking System: 

Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s choice for vice president, is one of the top political fundraisers in Congress, with backing from the employees of banks and insurance companies that would benefit from his actions on financial regulation and Medicare.

Loser:  Seamus! 

He is dead!  

Finally, just because, here is another awesome article by  Esquire's Charles Pierce:

 Paul Ryan is an authentically dangerous zealot. He does not want to reform entitlements. He wants to eliminate them. He wants to eliminate them because he doesn't believe they are a legitimate function of government. He is a smiling, aw-shucks murderer of opportunity, a creator of dystopias in which he never will have to live. This now is an argument not over what kind of political commonwealth we will have, but rather whether or not we will have one at all, because Paul Ryan does not believe in the most primary institution of that commonwealth: our government. The first three words of the Preamble to the Constitution make a lie out of every speech he's ever given. He looks at the country and sees its government as something alien that is holding down the individual entrepreneurial genius of 200 million people, and not as their creation, and the vehicle through which that genius can be channelled for the general welfare.

 Finally comes this from facebook where it shows just what an impression he left his high school classmates:

Cross Posted @ Cogdis!