Ryan's Onion op ed: "Admit it! I scare the ever-loving shit out of you, don"t I?'

The Onion nails it.  Or did Paul Ryan really write this piece?

I’m young, I’m handsome, I’m smart, and I’m articulate. And that scares the ever-loving shit out of you. You can pretend like you have this thing in the bag, but you know good goddamn well that this race just got real interesting, real fast. 

It’s okay to admit it. You’re frightened to death of me. It might actually be healthy for you to face your fears now rather than later, when Mitt and I are leading by a few points in the polls and it looks like this thing might end badly for you. Face it: I’m not some catastrophe waiting to happen, like a Sarah Palin or a Dan Quayle. On the contrary, you have the exact opposite fear. I’m a solid, competent, some might say exceptional, politician.

 Did you get nervous when you read that last sentence? Is it because you know in your heart of hearts that it’s 100 percent true? Is it because, even if you strongly disagree with my beliefs on Medicare, Social Security, women’s rights, and marriage equality, you know my talent as a speaker and my well-thought-out approach to these issues—no matter how radical and convoluted you find them—might just be enough to win over independent voters? 

Do you get chills just thinking about how strong my appeal actually is? 

I have another question for you: How scared are you that I can convince people I’m right? Because I’m good at it. No, I’m really good at it. You see, I know how to turn up the charm and charisma without putting people off. Then I back up what I’m saying with arguments that, when they come out of my mouth, sound completely accurate and well-reasoned. And I do it with such passion that people automatically recognize me as a man with deep convictions he will stand up for, no matter what. 

The American people love that shit. They love it. 

Passion, intellect, and a magnetic personality. Pretty damn intimidating combo, if I say so myself. You want to talk about polish? Man, I’ve got polish for miles. Oh, and by the way, I’ll go ahead and say this next thing because, if we’re being honest, why the hell not, right? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m white. Hoo, brother, am I white.

Read the rest: Admit it! I scare the evert-loving shit out of you, don't I?

Ain't No Way to Hide Ryan's Lyin' Eyes

Ryan the Liar. Lyin' Ryan.

The rhymes are becoming a meme, and for good reason.

Story after story in the national media has been published about the would-be VP lying to them -- and getting caught. (Hello, Wisconsin media -- are you listening?).

There's even a Twitter hashtag tracking the lies -- #lyinryan. If you're on Twitter, please use it. (Speaking of Twitter, our humble The Paul Ryan Watch just joined the Twitterverse -- please follow us at @PaulRyanWatch.)

Here are few of the more interesting stories from just the last few days on lies he's been caught in since the national media finally began paying attention to what he says.

- Matt Miller in the Washington Post writes about, as the headline says, "Recognizing Paul Ryan's 'tell' when he is trying to avoid something." As Miller writes, "It's worth parsing Ryan's tactics in this exchange because it shows the brand of disingenuousness we're dealing with." Miller links to and analyzes a tough video interview with Fox (!) showing Ryan as dissembler.

- Daily Kos reports that Lyin' Ryan blames President Obama publicly for the 2008 closing of the Janesville, Wisconsin, GM plant. Only problem: George W. Bush was president when the closing was announced, not Obama. As Daily Kos writes: "Bottom line: Without the benefit of facts, Ryan's story sounded compelling, but once you learn what really happened, you quickly realize Ryan was telling a tall tale that was just too perfect to be true. And with that kind of thing starting to become a pattern with Ryan, it's no wonder that Mitt Romney likes him so much."

- The headline of a Politcususa.com story says it all: "Busted: Paul Ryan Left $1-5 Million Trust Off Disclosure Forms Until He Was Vetted." From the story: "As he was being vetted, Mr. Ryan pulled a Romney and retroactively amended his disclosures on June 6, 2012 in order to include one of the couple’s largest assets — the $1-5 million income producing trust Janna Ryan inherited from her mother."

- And finally, as the Boston Globe reported, Lyin' Ryan lied to reporters about applying for millions in Obama stimulus money despite calling the stimulus legislation a "wasteful spending spree." He was forced to fess up after being confronted with four letters he wrote seeking the money.

Lyin' Ryan pulled it off when he was just a Wisconsin congressman, but he's not slick enough to keep the tall tales going now that he's truly in the biggest of big national spotlights. Keep an eye out for Ryan's lies. And keep watching Ryan's Lyin' eyes.

Ryan Making News At Wash Post Online

They say all publicity is good publicity as long as they spell your name right, but I'm not sure Paul Ryan thinks so today.

It takes a few days for stories to break into the national media, but Ryan's duplicity on earmarks as well as the Obama stimulus - - swearing off earmarks while continuing to solicit them, and blasting the stimulus while begging for funding, then looking for credit in his district for bringing home bacon - - is at the top of The Washington Post's online edition:

In several instances, he sought earmarks opposed by the George W. Bush administration. In 2009, he urged the Obama administration to award millions of economic stimulus dollars for “green” jobs in his district, even though he had voted against the stimulus package that year.

The congressman’s stance on federal dollars drew more attention this week when he denied that he had ever sought stimulus dollars in an interview with a Cincinnati television station. Earlier he had made the same claim on a Boston radio show.

He backtracked Thursday and acknowledged he had sought stimulus funds, but he said his office had mishandled the requests. He continued to voice opposition to the stimulus program, which he has called a “wasteful spending spree.’’

Paul Ryan's favorite band rages against Paul Ryan

Paul Ryan, cool cat wannabe, loves Rage Against the Machine's music, he says. He must not listen to the lyrics. Here's what the band's guitarist/activist Tom Morello has to say:

Ryan's love of Rage Against the Machine is amusing, because he is the embodiment of the machine that our music has been raging against for two decades. Charles Manson loved the Beatles but didn't understand them. Governor Chris Christie loves Bruce Springsteen but doesn't understand him. And Paul Ryan is clueless about his favorite band, Rage Against the Machine.

  Rolling Stone has more.

Let's See...Car Keys? Sunglasses? Multi-Million-Dollar Trust Fund...Oops

The front page of USA Today in the newspaper box I spotted Thursday raised a question about our own aw-shucks, just-regular-folks Congressman Paul Ryan from salt-of-the-earth Janesville:

Do we really want a House Budget Committee Chairman potential Vice-President/US Senate presiding officer who can't remember he made six-figure income from a trust worth between $1 and $5 million?

While being vetted by Mitt Romney's campaign, GOP vice presidential hopeful Rep. Paul Ryan amended two years of his financial disclosure statements to add an income-producing trust worth between $1 million and $5 million that he had previously neglected to report.

The trust, an inheritance of Ryan's wife, former Washington lobbyist Janna Little Ryan, represents one of the couple's largest assets. Letters and amendments Ryan filed June 6 with the Clerk of the House show the trust produced income of between $15,001 and $50,000 in 2010, and between $100,001 and $1 million last year.

Cross-posted at thepoliticalenvironment.blogspot.com/

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.

Paul Ryan: What color is your nose?

Years before Paul Ryan became Mitt Romney's chiseled running mate -- he was a high school prom king, soccer stud, student council president ... and the "biggest brown-noser" in the entire class while at Janesville Craig High School. TMZ Has yearbook photos of the boy wonder.

Wisconsin paper's "hero" coverage of Ryan

OK, Wisconsin media, we get that Paul Ryan is from our state. But really, La Crosse Tribune, "Hero's welcome"?

Yeah, a bunch of Tea Partiers in Waukesha County, the most Republican county in Wisconsin, were excited to see him. (Gee, wonder why his rally was held there?)

But most of Wisconsin doesn't consider him a "hero" or barely knows him. Anyone who cares about Medicare or education or social services considers him something else not flattering. That includes elderly, people who will one day become elderly, the middle class, supporters of education, women, etc.

"Hero"? Did he fight in a war? Did he stand up against injustice? Does he have the guts to tell Americans -- before the November election -- what services he's planning to cut to balance the budget? No, no and no.

La Crosse Tribune, save your "hero" coverage for someone who truly cares about all Americans, not just about his own fortunes and those of his rich, out-of-state supporters.

Here's a link to the Tribune's front-page headline on a Romney campaign website. The Romney campaign sees its propaganda value. Do you, Tribune?

And other Wisconsin media, please take a deep breath and make sure you're engaging in actually reporting, not "hero" worship.

Paul Ryan, The Fountainhead

-- Stuart Carlson cartoon.

Ryan: Boy Scout or bagman to the rich?

The Boy Scout image of Rep. Paul Ryan continues to be shattered as reports show him to be a bagman for special interests -- mainly outside of Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports today that as congressman, $3 out of every $4 of donations he received came from outside Wisconsin. And of the $1.7 million to his Prosperity PAC leadership committee? Only 1% from Wisconsin.

Why is money gushing to Ryan from outside of his own district? His dedication to tax breaks for the rich, most likely, and his position as chairman of the House Budget Committee, where he tries to make those gifts to the rich a reality.

The Journal Sentinel article also talks about problems he faces with donations from a wealthy Wisconsin businessman:

"In recent days, several news outlets have delved into the Journal Sentinel's past coverage of Ryan's financial connections to former Kenosha trucking magnate Dennis Troha, whose family gave $58,102 to the congressman. Troha pleaded guilty in 2008 to two misdemeanors for funneling campaign donations through family members to then-President George W. Bush's campaign and the Democratic Party. 

In 2005, Ryan called federal regulators at Troha's request to discuss the businessman's proposed $808 million Indian casino in Ryan's district. Ryan maintained he was neutral on the project, though records show Ryan told federal officials that his constituents wanted the casino.

No Quarter also disclosed in 2007 that Ryan was one of several congressmen who helped insert a provision in a highway spending bill that allowed trucking firms such as the one previously owned by Troha to haul more cabs on each route. Troha received at least $107,000 in consulting fees from the trucking company because the legislation became law."

Ryan's not some man of the average people in his district. He's a man of the moneyed people outside of Wisconsin, and at least one trucking magnate in the state who was convicted of illegal donations to President George W. Bush. And it's paid off handsomely -- he's sitting on the largest cash campaign balance of any House candidate.

Ryan hoping to hit jackpot after secret meeting with billionaire casino owner

Sheldon Adelson, who's said he'll spend $100-million to try to beat President Obama -- and who chipped in a measly $250,000 (pocket change) to Gov. Scott Walker's anti-recall campaign -- met privately with Paul Ryan in Las Vegas Tuesday. The NY Times reports:

In keeping with Mr. Adelson’s penchant for staying below the radar, Romney aides refused to say who attended the meeting with Mr. Ryan, though the location (a private room at one of Mr. Adelson’s hotels) and leaks from the Romney camp left little doubt. And in keeping with laws that prohibit elected officials from explicitly asking donors for super PAC money, aides to Mr. Romney insisted before the event that the meeting was not a fund-raiser.

So there, of course, was no talk about the millions Adelson is pouring into a super PAC running attack ads against Obama. No need to talk about that, after all; he's already doing it.

Mr. Adelson has already contributed more money to defeat Mr. Obama than anyone: over $50 million has gone to the 2012 campaign, including $10 million to a “super PAC” backing Mr. Romney and $10 million to Crossroads GPS, which has run millions of dollars of advertisements against Mr. Obama.

This was more a case of bowing to Adelson's billions, giving him and 40 other Nevada fat cats (unidentified, of course) private access to the veep candidate. Is this a great system or what?

Why Does Paul Ryan Love Ayn Rand???

And we know he does, but he embraces the old snake oil sales woman because he has to.

The late Rand's entrance into this presidential election, thanks to Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, is more serious than it seems. Sweet reason has a hard time with Rand glorifying selfishness as political doctrine. Now that "selfishness ethic" happens all the time, accompanied by vicious attacks on the federal government and people who work for it, in the Republican-run House. It's not all the author's fault, but Ryan's devotion to Rand is yet another Republican insult and injury to classic American ideas of fairness, squareness, and civic-mindedness. In fact, the Ryan-authored House Republican budget document, which cuts the heart out of our body politic, ripping social services and Medicare to shreds, is a pledge to the Rand coat of arms, standing against people who need a little help from other people. And in turn, Rand gives him a rationale for the intellectual poverty of his ideas.

The self proclaimed Catholic has to follow the teachings of the Atheist Rand because he sure is not following Catholic Doctrine. Just ask the leaders of the Catholic church. The Nations Bishops got together and wrote a letter aimed at the Ryan Budget:

Mr. Ryan’s budget “will hurt hungry children, poor families, vulnerable seniors and workers who cannot find employment,” the bishops wrote in an April letter to the House. “These cuts are unjustified and wrong.”

Then of course, a group of Nuns also got together and delivered the same message to Mr. Ryan:

“As Catholic sisters, we must speak out against the current House Republican budget, authored by Rep. Paul Ryan,” reads a statement on the group’s website. “We do so because it harms people who are already suffering.”

At least Ayn Rand is not alive to add her voice to the ones criticizing Ryan!

Ryan: Most right wing pick in a century, least popular since Dan Quayle

Paul Ryan is  the least popular pick for vice-president  since Dan Quayle. Although Ryan probably can spell potato.

And he's the most conservative candidate for veep since at least 1900. Does that sound like a winning combination to you?

Paul Ryan, Big Green Spender, Rail Lover...Who Knew?

Over at my blog at the Journal Sentinel's Purple Wisconsin site, I took notice of Paul Ryan's love for earmarks, commuter rail and other federal spending he's made a career out of attacking, and apologize for missing Ryan's Green 'record':

Have I gotten Paul Ryan wrong all these years!

In my defense, I was making my evaluation as Ryan blasted the stimulus program created by Congressional Democrats and President Barack Obama and rose to prominence in his party and among fiscal conservatives as the Number One Smart Guy On Capitol Hill Opposing Federal Spending.

So I didn't think he was an ally on things I supported, like the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter train killed off by Wisconsin GOP legislators serving Scott Walker - - to the glee of the Wisconsin Club For Growth - -  or green energy programs that can have their best impact when funded by major federal dollars and backed with the federal government's imprimatur.

Well, shame on me.

Today's Boston Globe shows me how I misjudged Ryan, though as I said, I was not expecting Ryan with his Tea Party cred and Boy Scout charm to be saying one thing publicly about Big Bad Government, and something else - - the exact opposite - - to officials working for Pres. Obama.

From the Globe:

In 2009, as Rep. Paul D. Ryan was railing against President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package as a “wasteful spending spree,” he wrote at least four letters to Obama’s secretary of energy asking that millions of dollars from the program be granted to a pair of Wisconsin conservation groups, according to documents obtained by the Globe...

The documents show that Ryan’s attempts to take advantage of the stimulus funds even after he voted against them was more expansive than previously reported...

Ryan also received authorization for preliminary engineering funds for a commuter-rail system linking Kenosha, Racine, and Milwaukee, and a streetcar expansion project in Kenosha.

A version of this posting also at thepoliticalenvironment.

Paul and Glenn sitting in a Tree....

H/T The Blaze ....

Here is the full transcript: Emphasis mine: 

One name that I hear an awful lot about and, you know, it’s strange. I’m getting a lot of heat now from this article that was in Forbes magazine called Beck, Inc. It was on the cover. I think it’s ought on newsstands today, the cover. And it starts with the opening line of, I could give a flying crap about politics. I care about principles. I don’t care about the process at all. And there’s a followup story in Forbes now on that because so many people misunderstood it. Or they are using it to smear me. I don’t follow the people day to day in Washington, but when I hear names over and over again, I look into them. Paul Ryan is a name I keep hearing of just, you know, he’s a god among conservatives. So I asked Stu, I don’t know, about a week ago. I said, Stu, can you look into Paul Ryan, found out what you can about him. He found a speech that I read to you or portions of that he gave in Oklahoma, and it appeared to me that he was standing up for progressivism which doesn’t really sit well with me. We heard from Paul Ryan’s office as soon as the show was over and they said, no, you’ve got that all wrong. If I get it wrong, I don’t care what political party it’s in; I will correct the record. Heritage.org has corrected the record today and the guy who wrote the article is a guy who I know hates progressives because he’s one of our researchers on the progressive movement. And the best guy to do it is Paul Ryan. So he joins us now. Hello, congressman, how are you, sir?

PAUL RYAN: Hey, nice to meet you.
GLENN: Nice to meet you, sir. Tell me, tell me your thoughts on progressivism.
PAUL RYAN: Right. What I have been trying to do, and if you read the entire Oklahoma speech or read my speech to Hillsdale College that they put in there on Primus Magazine, you can get them on my Facebook page, what I’ve been trying to do is indict the entire vision of progressivism because I see progressivism as the source, the intellectual source for the big government problems that are plaguing us today and so to me it’s really important to flush progressives out into the field of open debate.(when exactly have you sought open debate paul?)
GLENN: I love you.
PAUL RYAN: So people can actually see what this ideology means and where it’s going to lead us and how it attacks the American idea.
GLENN: Okay. Hang on just a second. I ‑‑ did you see my speech at CPAC?
PAUL RYAN: I’ve read it. I didn’t see it. I’ve read it, a transcript of it.
GLENN: And I think we’re saying the same thing. I call it ‑‑
PAUL RYAN: We are saying the same thing.
GLENN: It’s a cancer.
PAUL RYAN: Exactly. Look, I come from ‑‑ I’m calling you from Janesville, Wisconsin where I’m born and raised.
GLENN: Holy cow.
PAUL RYAN: Where we raise our family, 35 miles from Madison. I grew up hearing about this stuff. This stuff came from these German intellectuals to Madison‑University of Wisconsin and sort of out there from the beginning of the last century. So this is something we are familiar with where I come from. It never sat right with me. And as I grew up, I learned more about the founders and reading the Austrians and others that this is really a cancer because it basically takes the notion that our rights come from God and nature and turns it on its head and says, no, no, no, no, no, they come from government, and we here in government are here to give you your rights and therefore ration, redistribute and regulate your rights.(except our Founders were radical progressives who at best were agnostic and adamant about not being seen as religious).  It’s a complete affront of the whole idea of this country and that is to me what we as conservatives, or classical liberals if you want to get technical.
GLENN: Thank you.
PAUL RYAN: ‑‑ ought to be doing to flush this out. So what I was simply tying to do in that speech was simply saying those first versions, those first progressives, they tried to use populism and popular ideas as a means to getting ‑‑ detaching people from the Constitution and founding principles to pave the way for the centralized bureaucratic welfare state.
GLENN: Okay. So you and I have ‑‑ wait, wait, hang on just a second. You and I agree because ‑‑ the way it was worded.
PAUL RYAN: Yeah.
GLENN: It sounded like you thought that Woodrow Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt and their progressivism was good and that’s ‑‑
PAUL RYAN: Yeah. There was one blog which I think you cited that completely misinterpreted my remarks.
GLENN: Thank you.
PAUL RYAN: All the other blogs that wrote about my speech I think got it accurately. What I probably should have done was added a couple more sentences. I cut the thing back for time.
GLENN: No, no, that’s fine.
PAUL RYAN: I should have just added a couple more sentences. What I was basically saying is the progressives we have now who are the people we have run our government, they don’t even try to do that. They don’t even try to pretend to be advancing a popular agenda. They try to cram through their agenda as fast as they can while they have the power that they have in order to get this stuff in place. So that is basically what I was saying is the kinds of progressives we have today, you know, aren’t even pretending to do what people want for the country(umm can i get just one example of a progressive agenda that has been crammed through since the New Deal?).
GLENN: Paul, how is it that you and I have never met?
PAUL RYAN: You know, I don’t ‑‑ it’s a really good question. You don’t go to Washington much, do you?
GLENN: No, I avoid it like the plague.
PAUL RYAN: I go to Washington and Wisconsin every week and I don’t really go anywhere in between, except for Oklahoma where my in‑laws live.
GLENN: Do you watch or ever listen to the show? Are you familiar with what I’ve been saying?
PAUL RYAN: I’m familiar with it but you are on at a time of day that I just can’t get to a television. You are on too early. So I just haven’t had a chance to watch. I’ve watched you on O’Reilly and you’ve been replayed on Greta. So obviously I’m familiar with you.
GLENN: I’m just ‑‑
PAUL RYAN: And I know you’ve been going after progressivism which is exactly what I’ve been trying to do as well(unfortunately you have not been going after getting your district back to work)
GLENN: I mean, I’m just surprised that, I mean because it sounds like you’re on exactly the same ‑‑
PAUL RYAN: Yes.
GLENN: ‑‑ road that I’m on, and I have been feeling, and I imagine you are, too, feeling wildly alone on this because most people don’t even understand progressivism.
PAUL RYAN: Right.
GLENN: So many dopes out in America are just like, yeah, well, I’m for progress.
PAUL RYAN: That’s right.
GLENN: Jeez, it’s not about progress. It’s not even about the Constitution. I just gave a talk this weekend where we were talking about, you know, we’re fundamental ‑‑ the president of the United States is saying we’re going to fundamentally transform the country.
PAUL RYAN: Right.
GLENN: Into what? We’re going to make progress to where?
PAUL RYAN: Right.
GLENN: What are we progressing to?
PAUL RYAN: If you read the entire Oklahoma speech, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. That’s what I’m saying, here’s what this means ‑‑
GLENN: My fault, my fault.
PAUL RYAN: They are leading us to a social welfare state, cradle‑to‑grave society where they create a culture of dependency on the government, not on oneself. It is meant to replace the American idea. And the reason I’m doing a lot of these speeches ‑‑ the reason I’m talking about Hegel and Faber and Bismarck, you know, and what those people stood for and what they did and said and all their disciples, you know, in America is because I really believe we’ve got to have a debate and a political realignment fast because we will win the debate now. We are a center‑right country. But if they succeed in moving us faster down the tipping point where more Americans are dependent on the government than upon themselves, where a debt crisis sparked money entitlement explosion brings us to, you know, a really tough fiscal situation, then down the road we may not win that referendum and so that is why I’m trying to, you know, do what I can from my position in congress to sound the alarm bells on what this agenda really means, what this philosophy’s all about and how we need to have a referendum in America in real elections to untangle this mess they created and prevent us from reaching this tipping point where we are a social welfare state, cradle‑to‑grave society, dependent on the government that lulls us into lies of complicity and dependency versus the America idea of, you know, making the most of your life, equal opportunity, equal natural rights. You know, those are the things that got us where we are and that’s why I put this roadmap plan out there. I introduced it three years ago. I put a new version out in January. You can go to my website, Americanroadmap.org. It is a very specific economic and fiscal plan. It’s a piece of legislation that says there is an alternative to this progressivist vision for America. There is a way to reapply and reclaim the founding principles in America and still get America back and make this century another American Century appeared that’s why I’ve been, you know, speaking from the hilltop. It’s not popular and it’s ‑‑ and for my party, we can’t afford to screw up again. But we’ve got to get people to stop being worried or afraid of taking on this debate and that’s what I’m simply trying to do.
GLENN: Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. I mean, I don’t think I’ve heard a politician, really, I’m looking at my producers. Have we had a politician on this show since when, when we first met Santorum maybe, maybe. DeMint is really, really good but I don’t know anybody, not even Santorum, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody ‑‑ I need to find out more about you, Paul. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody ‑‑
PAT: Nobody’s articulated progressivism like that.
GLENN: ‑‑that is articulating the problem in this country and knows what the root is like you have.
PAUL RYAN: Look, I grew up in the orbit of Madison, Wisconsin. I know who these people are, I know what they think, I know what they believe. And so I would just encourage you, go to my roadmap website, read the roadmap.
GLENN: Give me the website.
PAUL RYAN: Americanroadmap.org. Read the full text of the Oklahoma speech, read my in Primus Hillsdale speech on progressivism and healthcare.(that post to follow) Those three things right there, I mean, I could go on and on but those three things tell you what I’ve been trying to lay out and do just from my perch, you know, in congress.
GLENN: Paul, tonight and for the next five nights I am going to be softening the ground. I am laying out an idea of cutting the budget, doing what we did in 1920 after the first progressive ‑‑
PAUL RYAN: Yeah, Calvin Coolidge, sure.
GLENN: And I’m going to cut the ‑‑ show America that the budget can be cut by 50%. It’s going to cause pain, but it has to. It has to be cut or we die. And show a way that we can reduce taxes to be ‑‑ do what Georgia did to Russia. Just keep lowering the taxes.
PAUL RYAN: Right.
GLENN: So they could survive. We need to do that. And I’m telling you that it’s ‑‑ I’ve been telling the audience it’s going to be wildly unpopular. You are going to hate me by the end of the week because everybody will experience pain. But man, I’ve got to tell ya, I’m not running for anything. If you can get people in Washington to actually stand up and say, I mean, I’ll soften the ground and show people why it has to be cut, but we’ve got to cut this and we need somebody with a spine in Washington that will stand up. I’m ‑‑ boy, I hope I don’t find out ‑‑ you are not like a dirt bag, are you?
PAUL RYAN: Yeah, right.
GLENN: I just don’t want to find out, oh, jeez.
PAUL RYAN: Look, I ‑‑
GLENN: You don’t know Eliot Spitzer ‑‑
PAUL RYAN: No.
GLENN: Or anything like that, right?
PAUL RYAN: I’m not running for president. I’m not trying to be somebody else. I’m not trying to be somebody I’m not. I’m not running for president. I’m a ranking member of the budget committee. You know, my background is in economics. That’s my aptitude. If you read my roadmap, it is basically a plan that lays out how to relimit government, how to turn these entitlements into individual ownership programs where you are not dependent on the government for all these things, where you are more independent. And how you can basically reclaim the 21st century for the American idea instead of ‑‑ and we are very quickly approaching this tipping point in this country.
GLENN: I know.
CALLER: Where I mean, 60% of our fellow citizens right now get more benefits from the federal government in dollar value than they pay back in taxes. So we’re already very quickly going down this path. Throw healthcare on top and then cap and trade and implement this Obama budget and you are way down that path.
GLENN: Well, we won’t survive that.
PAUL RYAN: So and that’s what I lay out on my roadmap. I show you using Congressional Budget Office numbers just how we are going to implode. We have an economic implosion on the horizon. Everybody knows this but nobody’s doing anything about it. And that’s why I’ve decided to put this plan out there ‑‑
GLENN: God bless you.
PAUL RYAN: ‑‑ that has been certified by the CBO as doing what I say it does.
GLENN: Okay.
PAUL RYAN: So I encourage you to take a look at it.
GLENN: I will. Paul, and I would like to stay in touch with you. I appreciate your correcting my error and I apologize for that.
PAUL RYAN: Look, that one blog really misinterpreted what I was trying to say and you know, as you just mentioned in your lead‑in, you get misinterpreted sometimes.
GLENN: Well, I’m glad we’ve cleared it up and we’ll stay in touch. Paul Ryan, thank you very much, sir.
PAUL RYAN: Sounds good.
GLENN: Appreciate it. You bet. Bye‑bye. Oh, my gosh.
PAT: You weren’t already married, I think you would have proposed to him.
GLENN: Oh, my gosh.
PAT: I think you would have proposed to him then. I saw the look in your eye(chris matthews has nothing on this crush).
GLENN: You know what it is? You know what it is? Hope, why, because someone knows the truth and knows how to articulate it.
PAT: He really does and did. That was really good.
GLENN: Let me ask you something. Let me ask you something. I said that my time would be done when I found somebody else that would articulate it.
PAT: I think you are in the clear.
GLENN: Can I go home now? Can I go home?

Ryan Rage in 2009 Began Before Inauguration

On the weekend his running mate was introduced to much of America, Mitt Romney attempted to paint a picture of Paul Ryan as some sort of thoughtful, bipartisan leader in a polarized Congress:

"This guy’s a real leader... He’s reached across the aisle. He’s worked with Democrats, Republicans. Tried to take on the toughest issues America faces.”

But Congressman Ryan's voting record (and his YouTube record) both reflect the reality of Ryan: a fringe right-wing ideologue. His chief aim post-election in 2008 seems clearly to have been strategic opposition, following the official Republican gameplan of opposition and obstruction at all costs.

For instance, here's video of Congressman Ryan in January 2009 — a week before President Obama was inaugurated  —  already railing against the expansion of S-CHIP. The legislation to expand access to health insurance for millions of children had been twice vetoed by President Bush, and ended up passing by large bipartisan majorities in both chambers, including winning 40 of his Republican colleagues' votes in the House and 66 votes in the Senate.

Ryan projection: "Obama is trying to paint us as a caricature...as if we're some bizarre individualists..."

Republican VP pick Paul Ryan is now trying to turn everything completely around on the Democrats, flipping reality on its head. From "We built it" to the "radical Obama agenda."

Few media reporters have noticed that the Republican and Paul Ryan have been controlling the nations purse string for two years. So how did Obama spend so much? He didn't. 

But the stimulus was a success, and Republican politicians fell all over themselves touting new jobs and businesses that were helped by the government money. Yet the stimulus was a failure.  

But the following is perhaps too much, even for wildly partisan tea party low information voters (I can dream). According to the Post’s Greg Sargent: 

Now that Paul Ryan has been tapped as Mitt Romney’s veep candidate, he’ll take on an elevated role as a critic of Obama’s stimulus package. Janesville, Wis., where he still lives, is recovering economically in no small part because of money from the stimulus and other federal grants.

There’s the Janesville Innovation Center, which will “provide entrepreneurs with commercial space in which to launch their ideas.” This is being funded by a $1.2 million stimulus grant, Lizza notes. That’s not all. As Lizza notes, the federal government is contributing more than $10 million to a new facility in Janesville that will produce a medical tracer that used to be made outside the United States. The new plant could employ some 150 people.

John Beckford, the head of a local economic development group and a Ryan supporter, explained to Lizza how Janesville is reinventing itself after a GM plant closed in the town. 

Beckford is your typical hypocritical conservative ideologue and Ryan voter. Republicans don’t care about spending really, just when somebody else does it.  

Ryan has been pounding away at Obama’s “didn’t build that” speech. When Lizza pointed out to Ryan that this seems at odds with the fact that federal spending is helping drive his home town’s economic recovery, Ryan didn’t disagree.

Ryan: “Obama is trying to paint us as a caricature. As if we’re some bizarre individualists who are hard-core libertarians. It’s a false dichotomy and intellectually lazy.” 

In reality, what all this shows is that it is Romney and Ryan who are painting a caricature of Obama’s views, positions and policies.

Peevish Romney Abandons Ryan Budget

During their ballyhooed first joint appearance Sunday on "60 Minutes," Mitt Romney said (page four of the transcript) the Paul Ryan budget plan was off in a lock box somewhere.

Bob Schieffer: There's no question your campaign has been trying to make this election a referendum on Barack Obama. Now, some people are saying you are making it a referendum on Paul Ryan's budget plan.

Mitt Romney: Well, I have my budget plan as you know that I've put out. And that's the budget plan that we're going to run on.

Along with Romney's acknowledgment that the Ryan plan was toxic, the transcript somewhat captures Romney's annoyance at the question. He doesn't do peeved very well.

"I have my budget plan as you know...," a reminder to journalist Schieffer by a defensive, and ego-challenged CEO-Forever-Romney that he's the candidate, Numero Uno, and Ryan is #2.

Cross-posted at thepoliticalenvironment.

Paul Ryan Used Insider Information To Avoid 2008 Crash

While most of us working saps were left to the merciless invisible hands controlling our modest mutual fund accounts and helplessly watched our 401k take hits of 30 to 40 and even 50 percent in a matter of weeks following the economic crash of 2008, Paul Ryan used his position in the public trust to save himself. Hey, he probably figured what's insider information for if you can't apply it to yourself? And, who's going to notice?

The Richmonder Excerpt:
Ryan attended a closed meeting with congressional leaders, Bush's Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on September 18, 2008. The purpose of the meeting was to disclose the coming economic meltdown and beg Congress to pass legislation to help collapsing banks.

Instead of doing anything to help, Ryan left the meeting and on that very same day Paul Ryan sold shares of stock he owned in several troubled banks and reinvested the proceeds in Goldman Sachs, a bank that the meeting had disclosed was not in trouble. This is the guy Republicans want one heartbeat away from the presidency? He seems more than a little shady to me.

Here's just one page of Ryan's financial disclosure form for 2008 with several transactions highlighted followed by more suspicious trades in the following months.

You can view more of Ryan's financial disclosure pages here.

H/T to the Richmonder

Hello! I am Paul Ryan...