running mate Archives - Where Is The Outrage?

Ryan plan will kill economic growth

The Ryan economic plan will kill economic growth. It will give money to the rich in the form of tax cuts and it will raise taxes on the average American. It will increase the Pentagon’s budget in spite of the fact that the Pentagon states that they don’t need any more money.

From EPI:

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has selected House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) as his running mate, further elevating tax and budget policy issues. Ryan is known for providing seemingly wonky budget plans over the last decade. Below, we highlight and summarize previous analyses of these plans. What stands out is that Ryan’s budget blueprints impose huge cuts to non-defense spending yet still fail to address long-run fiscal challenges in any serious way. Further, they clearly exacerbate many pressing economic challenges, like restoring full employment, rebuilding the middle class, and curbing health costs. Lastly, they are often simply incomplete or even dishonest, claiming to hold overall revenue levels constant while offering no tax increases to counterbalance very large tax cuts aimed at the highest-income households. Simply put, the Ryan budgets fail to correctly diagnose the most pressing economic problems facing the U.S. economy, and hence fail to propose real solutions. Here are themes everyone needs to know about the Romney-Ryan agenda for the federal budget, and a 10-point overview of Ryan’s budgets.

By ecthompsonmd|2012-08-24T20:08:49-04:00August 24th, 2012|Economy|Comments Off

Yep, they are poor just not poor enough

Yep, you’re poor, but we don’t care. The rules of austerity mean if you are poor you are on your own. Am I my brother’s keeper? Heck no. My brother needs to get two or three jobs in spite of the fact there are three or four applicants for each job. My brother needs to work harder. Dog eat dog. Welcome to the rules of austerity.

From AP:

In South Carolina, a yearly income of $16,900 is too much for Medicaid for a family of three. In Florida, $11,000 a year is too much. In Mississippi, $8,200 a year is too much. In Louisiana and Texas, earning more than just $5,000 a year makes you ineligible for Medicaid.

Governors in those five states have said they’ll reject the Medicaid expansion underpinning Obama’s health law after the Supreme Court’s decision gave states that option. Many of those hurt by the decision are working parents who are poor — but not poor enough — to qualify for Medicaid.

Republican Mitt Romney’s new running mate, conservative Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan, has a budget plan that would turn Medicaid over to the states and sharply limit federal dollars. Romney hasn’t specifically said where he stands on Ryan’s idea, but has expressed broad support for his vice presidential pick’s proposals.

Medicaid now covers an estimated 70 million Americans and would cover an estimated 7 million more in 2014 under the Obama health law’s expansion. In contrast, Ryan’s plan could mean 14 million to 27 million Americans would ultimately lose coverage, even beyond the effect of a repeal of the health law, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation of Ryan’s 2011 budget plan. (more…)

By ecthompsonmd|2012-08-14T21:00:37-04:00August 14th, 2012|Economy, Healthcare|Comments Off

Paul Ryan

So, Republican nominee (presumptive nominee) Mitt Romney has chosen Paul Ryan, Republican financial guru and Representative from Wisconsin, to be his running mate. I don’t understand.

In the past, a vice presidential candidate was chosen because they were able to bring something to the table that nominee didn’t have. For example, Dick Cheney was the experienced politician who knew the ins and outs of Washington DC. George W. Bush was relatively young and inexperienced; therefore, Dick Cheney made sense to complete the ticket. One of the big knocks on President Barack Obama was that he didn’t have foreign-policy experience. VP Joe Biden had been in the Senate for over two decades and had extensive experience in foreign policy. He made sense. Paul Ryan simply doesn’t make sense.

Mitt Romney has been telling the American people that he should be president because he was a successful businessman who understands the economy. He’s a money guy. This is his selling card. Paul Ryan has had seven terms in the House. He has become the financial guru for the House Republicans. He’s come up with their last two budgets. So, is it logical that if one financial guru is good, two must be better? Really?

When you look at the demographics, the Republicans are in some trouble. This is the whole reason for the voter ID laws, to decrease the number of people (undesirable people, from the Republican point of view) eligible to vote. One would figure the Republican Party would somehow have to reach out to minorities. With Barack Obama in the White House, they have basically written off Blacks. Therefore, they had to appeal to Latinos. I don’t see how Paul Ryan’s going to appeal to Latinos.

Then, of course, there is another large constituency to court – women. Republicans, as a rule, have done everything in their power to alienate all women. So, one would figure that Republicans would do something to try to win over the hearts and minds of at least some women. I don’t see how Paul Ryan does this all.

What does Paul Ryan bring to the table? What group does he solidify? To me, the answer is obvious. Ann Coulter almost had a meltdown on the set of Hannity just the other day. If she represents the conscience of the Republican Party, then the Republican Party is not all that happy with Mitt Romney. So, Mitt Romney had to choose someone who would tell the Republican Party that he’s conservative enough. This is exactly like Mitt Romney going to the NAACP and talking to the conservative base because he didn’t talk to the audience of NAACP members. He continues to try to convince the Republican base that he is one of them. This pick was to try to solidify the Republican base. I also find it interesting that he made the announcement before the convention. Now, the convention has only one purpose, to solidify the base.

By ecthompsonmd|2012-08-12T20:20:34-04:00August 11th, 2012|Elections|2 Comments