"I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents."-- James Madison, the father of the U.S. Constitution
Posted on 08/17/2012 8:00:22 PM PDT by Sola Veritas
(Reuters) - In his first week as a Republican U.S. vice presidential candidate, Paul Ryan has quietly moved away from the Medicare reform plan that has defined his political career.
At campaign stops, Ryan has made little mention of the Medicare and budget savings that conservatives cheered when presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced his running mate. When Medicare comes up, it's more often than not in an attack on Democratic President Barack Obama.
"Do you think raiding Medicare to pay for Obamacare is an achievement? Why don't we just get rid of Obamacare all together?" Ryan said at a rally in Springfield, Virginia, on Friday.
Romney, meanwhile, has promised to spend $716 billion more than either Ryan or Obama would spend over the coming 10 years on the popular government health insurance program for the elderly.
Romney's promise - and Ryan's silence - could help their ticket pick up votes among the elderly who are suspicious of any changes to Medicare.
But the Republican candidates' stance would also make it more difficult to reduce trillion-dollar-plus budget deficits, said to Michael Tanner, a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute.
"What Ryan and Romney are doing right now is political, not budgetary. They are clearly doing less than I think they should in terms of Medicare reform, and they're doing it for purely political reasons," said Tanner, who has been a fierce critic of Obama's health insurance law.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
HAHAHAHAHA!!! Al-Reuters is mad because Obama lost the exchange over Mediscare, and they want Ryan to keep talking about it so they can paint him as being obsessed with it. Transparent.
Romney has already said that he will run on his own budget (and Medicare) plans, whatever they are - not on Ryan's blueprint:
Romney says campaign will run on his budget plan, not Paul Ryan's - TheHill, by Bernie Becker, 2012 August 13
Of course, given the fiscal inadequacy and PR disaster of Ryan's Medicare plan in the last budget / debt ceiling battles that was exploited by the Dems at the time, and Ryan's subsequent acknowledgement of the fact and "modification" of the plan, it may not be such a terrible idea for Romney and Ryan to focus on ObamaCare and be less specific about their own "plans" - that is, if they can get away with it.
Republicans concerned Ryan as VP could cost party House and Senate seats - TheHill, by Cameron Joseph and Alexandra Jaffe, 2012 August 13
I don't think Romney chose Ryan because he approves of his policies — I think it was a desperation move...
Of course, he needed Palin/Cheney/Kemp/Quayle to pacify / energize the base, that was the plan all along - that's the same losing play GOP has been playing for decades now.
*** = Excitement Factor (to vote FOR)
| Presidential Candidate | VP Candidate |
|---|---|
Republicans |
|
| Gerald Ford | Bob Dole |
| Ronald Reagan *** | George H. W. Bush |
| George H. W. Bush | Dan Quayle (***) |
| Bob Dole | Jack Kemp *** |
| George W. Bush ^^ | Dick Cheney *** |
| John McCain | Sarah Palin *** |
| Mitt Romney | Paul Ryan *** |
|
|
|
Democrats |
|
| JImmy Carter | Walter Mondale |
| Walter Mondale | Geraldine Ferraro *** |
| Michael Dukakis | Lloyd Bentsen |
| Bill Clinton *** | Al Gore |
| Al Gore ^^ | Joe Lieberman |
| John Kerry ^^ | John Edwards (***) |
| Barack Obama **** | Joe Biden |
^^ = Near Win / Loss
Notice the pattern of which column (side of the ticket) the Excitement Factor should be in, to win?
You find the reporting of Reuters and the musings of a liberal poly-sci professor to be conclusive, or even worth .... anything? Interesting. I’m sure that if Ryan were talking non-stop about Medicare, Reuters and Professor Jillson would be praising him! Yeah, of course they would, because they are unbiased observers and reporters!!! Yes, this is sarcasm.
"Do you think raiding Medicare to pay for Obamacare is an achievement? Why don't we just get rid of Obamacare all together?" Ryan said at a rally...
"I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents."-- James Madison, the father of the U.S. Constitution
No need to worry... Ryan is a VP candidate, he will do what the Presidential candidate (the "top" of the ticket) will tell him to do. As such, he has been "co-opted" as soon as he accepted the position... Oh, and what do they say about the Vice Presidency and "a bucket of spit"?
I am not aware of the political leanings of Reuters - except they are not U.S. but U.K. in ownership.
Actually, they used to be. As part of the publishing media conglomerate Thomson Reuters, it has been Canadian since its acquisition in 2008 by The Thomson Corporation (majority owned by the Woodbridge Company), but is headquartered in New York, at 3 Times Square.
Most of Reuters' writers political leanings are decidedly liberal, but they do stick to the facts... and then bend their opinions to "fit" those facts.
You’ve been a FReeper as long as I have, and you have not been aware of the leanings of Reuters. C’mon....you can’t do better than that! Please!
You’ve been a FReeper as long as I have, and you have not been aware of the leanings of Reuters. C’mon....you can’t do better than that! Please!
This is psyops. We’re running a national campaign and doing it to win. You do that by focusing on the issues that move voters not just to your side, but to the voting booth. They’ve found a theme that resonates - Obama is cutting $716 billion in Medicare.
How many elections have you witnessed, followed and participated in? This is how national presidential races are won. It is SOP for elections.
Stop handwringing and carrying water for Obama.
Exactly. Ryan has been inviting that debate!
And the dems know this... thus the pivot to chains and race last week. They know they`re losing the argument about Medicare.
yup.
Geez - you anti-Romney folks really can't help yourselves can you? Reuters spins a story and you are eager to bite and swallow it down because it gives you an opportunity to hack and flail at Romney.
You treat Ryan like the Left treats minorities - like a hapless idiot with your assertion that he is "being corrupted" by Romney. You ignore what reuters ignored - the government put these people in the position of dependence on Medicare and it would be criminal to stop funding it in toto all at once. They need 9morally and ethically) to spend what it takes to take care of the elderly that have no other options - they also need to change it for future generations, which they have stated intent to do. If you wish to slam Romney - why not try an exercise: compare what you say about him with the same areas about Obama - be honest, and then make a rational decision instead of rationalizing the tripe.
Why do I believe that if you respond at all, it will be a raving rant with a bunch of Romney only, or superficial comparisons instead of a cogent rebuttal????
Reuters is full of crap.
Ryan will blow the lid off Obamas scheme of socialized medicine for senior citizens today at The Villages in Florida, actually very soon I hear.
I think this speech will make some interesting news today.
Not a lefty biased article at all...nope!
Do I really need to use the tag?
It’s an article by the commies at Reuters, the same anti-semitic Jew haters who manipulate photographs and cheer for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. Did anyone expect these Goebbel goosesteppers to write anything remotely in favor of free markets and small government?
“You’ve been a FReeper as long as I have, and you have not been aware of the leanings of Reuters. C’mon....you can’t do better than that! Please!”
I was telling you the truth that I was unaware of Reuters being “leftest.” I do not read every news source to determine what I can or cannot trust. I did not buy any of the stuff on their about Ryan having a bad plan. The only thing that caught my eye and caused me to post it was that there appears to be a situation where Ryan “may” be compromising long held signature views, in order to be VP.
Since it is a contention here that Romney is made OK by Ryan keeping him in check. IF such a situation is true, then the “keeping in check” view is flawed. Since Reuters is such a unreliable source, it will take more time to see if this is is truly occuring.
I believe, just like Jim Robinson, that Ryan will be tossed to the side by Romney once Ryan helps Romney get elected. I also agree with Jim Robinson, that Romney should not be supported by someone who is truly conservative. He past record is deplorable, and he didn’t “see the light” on issues of significant until he decided first to run for POTUS in 2007. He is not to be trusted with high office anymore than Obama. Having Ryan as his VP does not change that. It makes him more insidious.
It's been barely a week since Ryan was announced and the past week has been a blur of campaign rallies in which Ryan usually has 5-10 minutes of speaking time. Hardly enough time to put forth detailed policy initiatives. Personally, I think Ryan has performed brilliantly in these appearances, keeping the focus on removing Obama and drawing huge crowds while helping Romney fill the campaign coffers for the real campaign which kicks off Labor Day weekend.
The RNC later this month will provide a venue to put forth a detailed platform for the upcoming campaign and if Ryan's ideas are really being discarded, it will become evident at that time.
To quote El Rushbo sadly: I think we have too many lightweights trying to be the “smartest guy in the room” by seeing who can come up with the most convoluted quadruple-cross bullhockey scenario as to how Romney is somehow worse than Obummer now.
Never mind that El Rushbo and a lot of loyal, smart, solid conservatives such as Rush, Ronaldus Magnus’ son Michael and many others are reconciled to the fact that Romney is the candidate now, and who are thrilled with the selection of Ryan.
No, you and a few other geniuses are so much smarter than they....so you intend to sit on the sidelines and carp about it......or better yet, go off on a tangent and push a lying thief such as Ron Paul and split the vote. Besides being a lying thief, Ron Paul is not more than a half-a-notch behind Joe Biden in the stupidass department. Only where Biden is pretty much “merely” stupid; Ron Paul is devious and conniving, and “merely” stupid in some of his Foreign Relations and National Defense ideas. FR has really gone downhill since I first discovered it in 1992!
“Never mind that El Rushbo and a lot of loyal, smart, solid conservatives such as Rush, Ronaldus Magnus’ son Michael and many others are reconciled to the fact that Romney is the candidate now, and who are thrilled with the selection of Ryan.”
I will simply quote Jim Robinson (more conservative than Rush Limbaugh ever has been) who deems to allow you to continue to post your Pro-Romney trash on FR........
Jim’s first quote:
Horse hockey. Reagan didn’t go around around for thirty plus years advocating that abortion should be safe and legal in America or that Roe v Wade should be sustained and supported as settled law. Or that he would be better for homosexual rights than Ted Kennedy. And we definitely know that he was polar opposite to the liberal progressive Mitt Romney on compulsory health insurance. Reagan warned us that that would be the way socialists would take over America. Look out America, here it comes. Brought to you courtesy, Mitt Romney.
Obama on socialized healthcare: “I agree with... Mitt Romney.”
Reagan on compulsory health insurance (socialist RomneyCare/ObamaCare):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdLpem-AAs
Second quote of Jim Robinson:
My only comment is I will not vote FOR a known abortionist/homosexualist, gun-grabbing, big government socialist/statist. That would betray everything I believe in and promote. Would make a mockery of FR just as it’s making a mockery of the GOP as a conservative political force.
Romney as a conservative is a complete fraud.
Here’s the proof of that from his own mouth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OQoBxZZPqU&feature=player_embedded
God love him, but when it gets to the bottom line, El Rusbo is Republican first, conservative second and he has to be to maintain his mega-million listener Republican audience. FR is not linked at the hip with any political party. FR is a GRASSROOTS, pro-God, pro-life, pro-family, pro-gun, pro-constitution, pro-liberty conservative site. Romney is none of the above and I can not and will not support him. When the GOP starts running guys with liberal progressive records like Romney’s, and worse, praising him as Reagan reborn, we’re no longer on the same team.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OQoBxZZPqU&feature=player_embedded
We are the resistance. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it.
Voting straight conservative here. Urge everyone to do the same so we can start impeaching/expelling/removing the corrupt usurping bastards!!
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