Want help going beyond the horse race? ProPublica is gathering the best stories out there on Congressman Paul Ryan, his positions, and his background. Have other stories to share? Add them in comments.
Background
Fussbudget, The New Yorker, August 2012
This sweeping profile is a great introduction to Paul Ryan and his politics. Starting in his hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin, it lays out the evolution of Ryan’s economic beliefs, and his rise through the G.O.P – from his early affinity to Ayn Rand to failed attempts at privatizing Social Security, to his Path to Prosperity budget plan, which would make radical changes in Medicaid and other social programs. The article also looks at the ways that federal-funded projects have helped Ryan’s hometown–and notes that Ryan’s plan “would drastically reduce the parts of the budget” that are funding exactly these kinds of projects.
Ryan shines as GOP seeks vision, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 2009
A broad look at Ryan from his home-state paper at a time when Ryan’s national profile was on the rise. Ryan discusses, among other things, how having gay friends led him to break with his party on a gay rights bill in Congress and his “real passion” — bowhunting.
The Legendary Paul Ryan, New York Magazine, April 2012
A look at how the Republican party rallied around Ryan’s “Path to Prosperity,” putting the newcomer’s fiscal agenda at the center of the 2012 presidential campaign well before voters had even chosen Romney as their Republican nominee.
On the paradox of Paul Ryan, The American Conservative, April 2012
What does Mitt Romney gain from Paul Ryan? Romney may be betting on a boost from conservatives who view Ryan as a hero for his aggressive stance on entitlements and federal spending, but as W. James Antle III points out, that may not be enough to win over grassroots conservatives. Antle writes that despite his anti-entitlements campaign, Ryan’s voting record “more closely resembles that of the Republicans who have lost to Tea Party primary challengers than that of a ruthless government-cutter.”
Man with a Plan, Weekly Standard, July 2012
The Weekly Standard’s Stephen Hayes wrote a favorable profileof Ryan in July in the midst of veep buzz. The piece traces his entire career with a particular focus on how, in recent years, Ryan became “the intellectual leader of the Republican party.”
How Important is Altas Shrugged author Ayn Rand to Paul’s political philosophy? The Atlas Society, April 2012
In a 2005 speech to the Atlas Society, Paul said, “The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand…you can’t find another thinker or writer who did a better job of describing and laying out the moral case for capitalism.” According to the excerpts and audio of his speech posted on the society’s website, he also said that Rand was “required reading” for his interns and staff. But recently, Ryan has said while he had read Rand’s novels when he was young, his supposed obsession with her was “an urban legend.” “I reject her philosophy,” Ryan told Robert Costa at National Review in April. “It’s an atheist philosophy. It reduces human interactions down to mere contracts and it is antithetical to my worldview.”
Policy
A Closer Look at Ryan’s Budget Roadmaps, The New York Times, August 2012
As part of an in-depth look at Ryan’s polarizing House Republican budget plan, the New York Times highlights two studies of how the plan would affect Americans. One, a long-term analysis by the Congressional Budget Office of some of Ryan’s suggested changes to Medicare and Medicaid, found that, “Under the proposal, most elderly people who would be entitled to premium support payments would pay more for their health carethan they would pay under the current Medicare system.” The other, a study by the Tax Policy Centerof the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, found that “the tax cuts in Paul Ryan’s 2013 budget plan would result in huge benefits for high-income peopleand very modest—or no— benefits for low income working households.”
What’s Paul Ryan’s foreign policy? Foreign Policy, April 2012
While Ryan has a limited record on international affairs, he has spoken about everything from how to handle China (less hawkishly than Romney) to getting cosier with rising powers India and Brazil. Foreign Policy’s helpful overview says the overall picture that emerges is “a bit of a Rorschach test.” Ryan says the U.S. should stay deeply engaged– “America is the greatest force for human freedom the world has ever seen” — while he has also called for cutting funding for U.S. international aid.
Ryan’s personal finances and connections
Ryan is wealthy–but not by Romney standards. The congressman reported 2011 assets valued at between $2.4 and $9.3 million, according to an Associated Press report looking at his recently filed financial disclosure form. The money is spread in small chunks over various stock investments and in business interests in Wisconsin and his wife’s home state of Oklahoma. You can browse his assets here(.pdf). Ryan also filed an amendment to his disclosure noting that his wife’s mother died in 2010 and the family gained interest in a trust worth between $1 and $5 million.
Paul Ryan’s Shrewd Budget Payday, Daily Beast, June 2011
The website takes a closer look at mining, mineral, and energy holdings owned by Ryan — primarily in his wife’s home state of Oklahoma — and how they would be positively affected by Ryan’s proposed tax policies. A Ryan spokesman told the Daily Beast: “These are properties that Congressman Ryan married into. It’s not something he has a lot of control over.” The piece also reports that relatives of Ryan have received federal farming subsidies.
Paul Ryan has got plenty of friends on K Street, Politico, August 2012
A brief look at the friends Ryan his wife Janna have made on K Street in their years in Washington, among them former Ohio congressman Mike Oxley (of Sarbanes-Oxley fame), who is now a lobbyist for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Janna Ryan, a tax attorney, herself worked as a lobbyist for PriceWaterhouseCooper, the article reports.
Ryan’s Unlikely Alliance with Organized Labor Mother Jones, May 2011
Ryan’s family construction business relies on union labor. “I grew up in organized labor,” Ryan told the Milwaukee Magazine in 2005. “I have a lot of constituents who are in organized labor. I really do not have this ‘us against them’ mentality.” As a congressman, Paul has worked closely with local union leaders and fought to protect the wages of construction workers. While many of his policy plans are directly opposed to what unions want, some unions have continued to support him. Over the course of his career, theCarpenters & Joiners Union has given him $57,500—only slightly less than he has received from Koch Industries, according to The Center for Responsive Politics.
FAQ: How Paul Ryan Proposes To Change Medicare
Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan, GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s choice for vice president, has provoked consternation from Democrats and anxiety among some congressional Republicans with his proposals to reshape Medicare.
Mitt Romney introduces Paul Ryan as his choice for running mate in Norfolk, Va., Saturday (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images).
The Republican-controlled House, along party lines, twice approved his proposals to overhaul the popular social insurance program for the elderly and disabled by giving beneficiaries a set amount of money every year to buy coverage from competing health plans. That is a fundamental shift from today’s program, where the federal government pays for as many services as beneficiaries use.
The proposals were never enacted because of opposition from the Democratic-controlled Senate and President Barack Obama.
This year, Democratic congressional candidates nationwide are making the protection of traditional Medicare a centerpiece of their campaigns, just as Republicans attacked them two years ago for curbing future Medicare spending as part of the 2010 health care law. Now, Democrats are hammering their GOP opponents for voting for Ryan’s proposals, which were included in the last two House budget resolutions.
Here is a guide to some of the issues and questions raised by Ryan’s plan.
Q. What is Ryan’s latest Medicare plan?
Ryan would gradually raise the eligibility age of Medicare from 65 to 67 by 2034, and cap its spending increases at half a percentage point higher than the growth rate of the economy, or the gross domestic product. Ryan’s plan would provide a set amount of money annually for future Medicare beneficiaries — those currently under age 55 — to be used to purchase either a private health plan, or the traditional government-administered program through a newly created Medicare exchange.
Under the proposal all plans, including traditional Medicare, would submit bids for how much they would charge to cover a beneficiary’s health care costs. All plans would include a minimum set of benefits equal to the value of those in the traditional program. The government would pay the full premium for the private plan with the second lowest bid, or for traditional Medicare, whichever is lower. Beneficiaries would have to pay the difference if they chose a plan that set rates higher. There could be one less expensive plan option, and beneficiaries who chose it would get a rebate for the difference.
Private health plans would have to offer coverage that is at least actuarially equivalent to that offered in the traditional, government-administered plan. That means that while the benefits could vary, the value of the plan would have to be the same.
Q. So seniors could stay in the traditional, government-run Medicare program if they like?
Ryan says that is the case, but Democrats and some critics argue that the plan would so fundamentally alter Medicare that it might no longer be a desirable – or affordable — option.
“The real question is what it would cost,” and whether seniors would pay more out of pocket than they do now, said Jonathan Gruber, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He cited the risk the government-run plan would attract the sickest people, driving up its costs, while private plans would lure the healthiest. In addition, medical providers could abandon the program if Medicare cut their reimbursement rates to curb costs.
Q. Would the changes apply to current seniors?
Ryan’s plan would apply only to those under age 55. Current Medicare beneficiaries and those nearing eligibility would continue to get Medicare as it exists today.
Q. Would seniors pay more under Ryan’s plan?
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that Ryan’s original proposal from 2012would require a typical 65-year-old person to pay a lot more for Medicare by 2030. His latest plan is missing key details, however, so the CBO has been limited in its analysis of the impact.
Although Ryan would give future seniors the option of remaining in the traditional, government-run Medicare program, that program would have to compete with private plans. Critics predict that traditional Medicare could become unaffordable if it attracts the sickest people who require more health care and who, therefore, drive up the program’s costs.
Q. Ryan’s most recent plan is similar to one he co-authored with a Democrat last year. Does that mean it has bipartisan support?
No. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., did not endorse Ryan’s Medicare plan in the last House budget resolution. It is similar to a plan that the two wrote together last year, but there is an important difference. The limit on federal spending per beneficiary was not as strict in the plan they wrote together: The two had placed the cap at GDP growth rate plus 1 percent. Also, no other Democrat supported their 2011 proposal.
Q. How do Ryan’s proposals compare to Democratic plans?
President Barack Obama and many Democrats have said they agree the federal government needs to restrain the growth of Medicare spending, but they seek to do it without making direct cuts to benefits. Democrats want to preserve the program’s defined benefit basis, meaning that the government will pay whatever it takes to cover a specified set of services. During budget deficit reduction negotiations in Washington, Obama proposed holding Medicare spending to half a percentage point higher than the growth rate of the economy. Romney later adopted the same cap.
As part of last year’s budget negotiations, Obama also proposed gradually raising the Medicare eligibility age – if Republicans agreed to revenue raising proposals. But no agreement was reached.
The health law tackles Medicare spending growth, in part, by creating an expert panel, called the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), which would be responsible for finding ways to reduce spending if Medicare grows at a higher rate than the target. But the board is not allowed to recommend anything that would ration care or that would change benefits, eligibility or cost sharing for Part A (hospital services) or Part B (physician services). It also couldn’t do anything to change the percentage of premium that seniors pay for prescription drug coverage, or the subsidies that low-income individuals get. The expectation is that reductions would come from medical providers, although hospitals are protected at first.
Q. If both Obama and Ryan are proposing a target rate of GDP growth plus half a percentage point for Medicare, wouldn’t federal spending be the same under both scenarios?
There are important differences. Ryan’s plan is a hard cap on federal spending. He would automatically lower Medicare spending so that it is below the trigger level.
Obama is proposing a target that might not bring federal spending down to that level. His proposal follows an effort in the 2010 health law to curb Medicare cost growth by tying the spending target to the Consumer Price Index in early years, and later on to the rate of GDP growth plus 1 percentage point. Now Obama is proposing to lower the target to the rate of GDP plus half a percentage point. If federal spending per Medicare beneficiary rises faster than that – a determination made by the Medicare actuary – then the expert panel must recommend cuts to Congress, which would go into effect unless lawmakers passed an alternative cost-cutting plan. The cuts would come as a percent reduction in Medicare spending, and wouldn’t necessarily be sufficient to meet the target.
Moreover, the panel’s future may be in question, as Republicans – and some Democrats – have sought to kill it, arguing the board would be able to ration care and would have too much control over Medicare. Obama has yet to nominate the panel’s 15 members, who must be confirmed by the Senate.
Some health care analysts also argue that reducing payments to medical providers could drive them out of accepting Medicare patients, creating access issues for beneficiaries. Richard Foster, Medicare’s chief actuary, warned in the 2012 Medicare trustees’ report that the health law will eventually lower payments to medical providers so much that “Congress would have to intervene to prevent the withdrawal of providers from the Medicare market and the severe problems with beneficiary access to care that would result.”
Read More: Paul Ryan’s Plan For Medicare: Essential Reading
Jean Meekhof Miller Stowell says
And then ask your self how a no name like oBUMa got from someone no one had ever heard of to the white house. He is a scary person. He is the only president who I truly feel does NOT have the American people and what is best for America on the top of his agenda. What is his agenda anyway???
Liana G says
“Q. Would seniors pay more under Ryan’s plan?
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that Ryan’s original proposal from 2012would require a typical 65-year-old person to pay a lot more for Medicare by 2030.”
Who wants to live that long? Especially if their quality of life is dependent on 7 pills a week and constant visits to the doctor. This is EXACTLY the reason why Medicare is so costly. There will not be many doctors who will be able to refuse to see sick people when all these people can only afford to pay a fixed amount. When gov’t is footing the bill regardless of cost there is no incentive for those in the medical field and big pharma to reduce said cost.
Paul Ryan will get the youth votes. Young people see SS as a ponzi scheme that they will be paying into but not collecting on. And if our young people continue to pick up stakes and move overseas because of lack of jobs and a crumbling country, who will pay into these entitlements? Especially with this massive and aging baby boomer generation getting ready to collect.
Paul Ryan will also get the older votes too. Earlier this year, my son and I were pouring over data and powerpoint charts form the US Census Bureau and various other institutions on population and demographics and social concerns, and we were surprised to find that older generation were more concerned with the future ahead for the next generation rather than their own personal wellbeing. Boomers are a different story though. They are the most selfish even though their children (GenY) are suffering the worst. I tried to copy the powerpoints and other data but couldn’t. Anyone interested can Google the research. “A new Take on an Old Issue”, and 2006 babyboomers.
Riley says
I am a BOOMER and he will not get my vote!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Magnolia says
Riley, are you aware that your President has cut Medicare by 1/3, $700 billion, to fund his healthcare plan?
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/08/president-obama-in-2009-pledged-to-veto-attempts-to-undo-medicare-cuts/
Magnolia says
Nothing will change for those currently over 55.
question says
While Paul Ryan/Conservatives other holy books are by Ayn Rand, the one they legislate by is http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mx_LQZuXpVk/TdPX_aqSm4I/AAAAAAAAAB4/xc84dmLMLw4/s1600/ant-and-grasshopper1.jpg The Ant & the Grasshopper.
This was the day I learned, first hand, what it meant to be a Paul Ryan Conservative Republican. An office colleague explained his theory and topped it off wishing VA could secede so none of his $ would ever go to those lazy, do-nothings. It’s an explanation read here daily.
The fable concerns a grasshopper [he represents all those lazy Democrats] that has spent the warm months singing while the ants [those extremely hard-working, more righteous than thou Republican Conservatives] worked to store up food for winter. When that season arrives, the grasshopper finds itself dying of hunger and upon asking the ant for food is only rebuked for its idleness. [Note: Conservatives sincerely believe this]
The present day ants delighted in the proclamations of how much [the actually very hard working]grasshopper was going to do to turn the country around. That’s because the Head Ant [who actually looks quite tortoise-like] said ‘we’re going to do jack to help this not-born-here bum, we’re going to filibuster our tiny little feet off, say NO to every itsy bitsy thing he wants…we don’t even care if the whole country takes a huge credit rating hit. Screw ’em… It is our ONLY job to see that this is a one-term [expletives deleted] grasshopper. Have a nice rest ants…come back in 4 yrs to say how little got done -te he.
Magnolia says
ANYBODY BUT Obama. I’ll be voting for Romney and Ryan.
Anonymous says
“It makes no difference who you vote for – the two parties are really one party representing four percent of the people.”
But remember, there is more than just 2 parties.
sanity says
“It makes no difference who you vote for – the two parties are really one party representing four percent of the people”
But remember, there are more than just two parties.
Prescient33 says
The “goods?” Only dedicated progressive would view that as the “goods,’ as it shows that Paul Ryan is a man with viable ideas on how to save the Republic. On the other hand, the collection does glaringly demonstrate that Obama does NOT have a viable plan other than to raise taxes, and all honest economists will admit that does not work. It has failed in Europe, and will fail here. Obama’s economic wunderkind, Geitner (the idiot that can’t even handle Turbo Tax, addressing Representative Ryan’s budget proposal, admitted Obama didn’t have a proposal, but lamely mumbled, “they didn’t like yours.” Obama will go down in history as a feckless bumbler that was unable to propose a workable and acceptable budget during his four year term, despot the fact he hd a veto proof majority for t6he first two years.
p.s.: Ryan’s proposal to save Medicare is for future beneficiaries only, as all over age 55 will not be affected. On the other hand, Obamacare, should it not be repealed, will take over a half a trillion dollars out of the current medicare budget, and terminate Medicare Advantage, just for starters. And that is the law today, not a proposal.
sam8131 says
Maybe, just maybe, this white man’s ideas may help save America’s economy. Obaman’s policies sure haven’t done much to help the economy.
David Sullivan says
Dave S
We know more about Paul Ryan less than a day after he becomes
the Republican VP candidate than know about Barack Obama three and
a half years into his Presidency. Five trillion added to the USA’s debt
and we still do not know what our President did for the first thirty years
of his life. Oh I forgot the New York Times said everything was
just fine with Barack Hussein Obama formerly known as Barry.
Richard Gardner says
Jean, you might want to read a periodical or a book once in a while and stop watching Faux News
Gia says
Either way demo or rep are wrong. It must be a national healthcare we all pinch in we all get in return. Just like ss, & put a gap on doc visit & hung the one defrauding the system.
John Boy says
Love the picture of Paul Ryan with the teleprompter, this is a no, no for a Tea Bagger. They have been making an issue of Obama using a prompter for years, now they seem to be endorsing it’s use. Guess it’s hard to keep with with the Frank Luntz daily talking points lies without one.
Geezer says
Romney and Ryan AKA: Zip and Pip.
OBAMA/BIDEN 2014 – Because we don’t need extremists who work for only
the richest Americans and corporations in the White House.
Letting people die of illness isn’t the right way to trim spending.
Eliminating the middle-class doesn’t appeal to me either.
Barack doesn’t tie his dog to the car roof like Mittens.
Forget Zip and Pip.
Barack Obama: “Whether Times are good or bad, happy or sad, Let’s stay together”
FRANK DILIBERTO says
YEA GEEZER……..That makes a lot of sense!
ROMNEY / RYAN OR WILL ALL BE 1 CLASS………….POOR
Geezer says
Sorry Frankie, but we’re still paying for George Bush’s failed policies.
Your boys want the middle class and the needy to die off, while cutting
taxes for the richest people.
We’ll all be poor if Zip and Pip are elected – except for 1 – 2% of Americans.
Sorry Frankie Boy – I care about the other 98 percent of our population.
Further, as white as I am I could care less that the president is black.
Most of the anti-Obama crowd simply hates that there’s a black man for president.
As you say: “That makes a lot of sense” – to the sensible-minded of us, of course.
Ta-Ta for now.
palmcoaster says
More taxpayers funds wasted in frivolous litigations like shown in this link, is what will take place with Ryan/Romney…while many Americans go hungry.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/13/darrell-issa-eric-holder-lawsuit_n_1772327.html
Dorothea says
13 of the Funniest Tweets about Paul Ryan:
Who knew tweeting was such fun? As soon as I learn how, I’m following Andy Borowitz–but he has some competition in yukking it up at Paul Ryan’s expense. Enjoy!
“Ryan: Trillions Could Be Cut from Budget if We Eliminate Empathy” -Andy Borowitz on Twitter
“Paul Ryan is Romney’s pick for VP. Perfect choice. Ryan’s a water boy for the super rich and Mitt Romney is thirsty.” -Adam McKay on Twitter
“Let’s not let a bunch of cheap jokes about Paul Ryan looking like Eddie Munster distract us from the fact that he is a sociopath.” – Andy Borowitz
“Paul Ryan wants to cut food for poor people. That American bastard totally stole that idea from Dad.” -KimJongNumberUn on Twitter
“Paul Ryan has strong, unbreakable beliefs: Like the poor have it too good and billionaires just need a break.” –LOLGOP on Twitter
“Paul Ryan made all his interns read Ayn Rand. So I guess we know where he stands on torture.” -Andy Borowitz
“Paul Ryan seems like the kind of guy you could have a beer with, just before he takes your Medicare away.” -Mark Harris on Twitter
“Mitt Romney choosing Paul Ryan is like putting a sheet of blank paper inside a manila envelope.” -DamienFahey on Twitter
“Since Romney doesn’t care about poor people, he needed to balance the ticket with someone who doesn’t care about old people.” -Andy Borowitz
“If Paul Ryan popped up in the first ten minutes of a Law and Order episode, you’d be all ‘oh, he’s the killer’.” – bazecraze on Twitter
“Paul Ryan looks like a guy in a romantic comedy ‘bad first dates’ montage. He’s the one like, ‘Uh, excuse me, I said SPARKLING water’.” -BoobsRadley on Twitter
“Ryan is opposed to Obamacare and Medicare. Also, the word ‘care’.” – Andy Borowitz
“Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan To Awkwardly Hug, High Five For Next Three Months” – onion.com on Twitter
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/08/12/13-funniest-tweets-about-paul-ryan-2/
question says
Nothing explains America’s failed education system more than…
…Birthers…
Magnolia says
When the President unseals all his school records, the birthers will go away but not until then and with good reason.
Lonewolf says
Here’s a clue: Harvard confirms he graduated, with honors. and was on the Law Review. What do you want to see…his grade in Shop class?
Magnolia says
I’d like to see all his grades and the items he wrote while President of the Law Review. Too much to ask?
Dorothea says
@David Sullivan
Reading the New York Times would be an preferable alternative to regurgitating lies and more lies from Fox News.
Will says
@ Liana G
You said: “The Congressional Budget Office estimated that Ryan’s original proposal from 2012would require a typical 65-year-old person to pay a lot more for Medicare by 2030…. Who wants to live that long?”
From 65 now to 2030 is only 17 1/2 years. A lot of people might want to live that long. I know many very sharp 83 year olds.
Actuaries say that for a couple age 65, there’s a 50% chance that at least one spouse will live beyond 92 and a 25% chance that at least one spouse will live beyond 97.
At what age do you want to turn off Medicare?
FlaglerLive says
The full CBO analysis of Paul Ryan’s budget is available here.
Magnolia says
I believe I heard the campaign state that it isn’t Ryan’s budget they will be using.
At the current rate, most will be in the poor house soon.
ricky says
I’m from Wisconsin and Ryan has more knowledge about the USA in his little finger then Obama has in his whole body. Obama is all show and no go. He has no idea and does’nt care about the good old USA. He’s trying to destroy it..
John Boy says
Ryan needs to pay the taxpayers back for his 14 years of wasted time in Congress, only twp pieces of legislation initiated by him have been implemented.. 1.) Naming a Post Office in his hometown of Jamestown. 2.) Reducing the Federal Tax on hunting arrows fro $.37 to $.14 per arrow.
This fool mean time collected $2.5 Million in salary and also amassed an estimated $9 million in personal wealth from where? Political contributions and his only other job of driving the Oscar Meyer, Wiener Truck.
question says
All you need to know about Paul Ryan’s hopes and dreams:
Karma says
Erskine Bowles(D) – who co-chaired President Obama’s Deficit Commission and previously served as chief of staff for President Clinton said this about Paul Ryan Budget:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/08/13/erskine_bowles_ryan_budget_is_sensible_honest_serious.html
Ken Dodge says
Geezer says:
August 13, 2012 at 12:17 pm
Sorry Frankie, but we’re still paying for George Bush’s failed policies.
That’s why come November I will not vote for George Bush.
Geezer says
Funny!
Dorothea says
Despite Mitt Romney’s efforts to court women voters ahead of November, he chose a running mate who is far outside the mainstream on women’s health issues. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) cosponsored a bill that would give fetuses full personhood rights from the moment of fertilization, which was even rejected by voters in the socially conservative state of Mississippi. He voted to defund federal family planning programs, authored a budget that dismantles Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, all of which disproportionately aid and employ women, and voted multiple times to prevent women in the military from using their own money to pay for abortions at military hospitals.
Ryan also supported a highly controversial bill that Democrats nicknamed the “Let Women Die Act,” which would have allowed hospitals to refuse to provide a woman emergency abortion care, even if her life is on the line.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/11/paul-ryan-personhood_n_1767760.html?utm_hp_ref=elections-2012
ANONYMOUSAY says
If Barack Obama is such a mystery, blame your Republican leaders. It’s funny how when you couldn’t get him to look like an Elitist you went with the no experience soft on terrorism when that didn’t work you went the Black Militant route when that didn’t work you waited for him to rescue minorities more than minorities themselves expected him to do so you could have your gotcha moment that never came. Now Birth Certificates and school records. There is nothing that Obama could ever do to make you happy except maybe become a convicted statistic to justify warped thinking. Why didn’t your Isa’s and Rance Prebus and Trumps track down all these conspiracy theories during the vetting process and expose him from the outset? I know why, it’s because you underestimated him. And if Obama is so worthless why couldn’t you beat him or beat him down. You guys are playing Checkers and Obama is playing Chess. You hate him and are scared of him because you can’t break him.
Geezer says
Checkmate!
Magnolia says
I don’t think anybody hates him. I don’t think that wanting to see somebody’s background constitutes “warped thinking”.
question says
ANONYMOUSAY – Excellent, extremely accurate new look at the sorry Republican strategic skills. Kinda the dart & weave ‘serpentine’ maneuver demonstrated so perfectly here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2_w-QCWpS0
Magnolia says
Saw this today. Fascinating…
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/cut-ad-clinton-cos-ryan-guy-amazing_649942.html
Samuel Smith says
Hilariously enough, the same people slobbering over Ryan are the same ones that voted for Rick Scott.
JOHN R. says
We now know more about Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan than we do about President Obama even after almost four years in office. Where is the balanced reporting?
Dorothea says
Just a few examples of the lies and hypocrisy of Ryan and Romney.
On Tuesday, the Boston Globe and Associated Press reported on documents showing that GOP Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan had secured more than $20 million in stimulus funds for a local energy efficiency organization…
However, in an interview with a local Ohio television news station, Ryan claimed he never secured funding through the program, saying “I never asked for stimulus.”
Ryan’s statement directly counters the evidence of four letters obtained by the AP which the congressman wrote to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, praising energy programs supported by the stimulus and requesting funds for initiatives in his district…
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/08/16/702921/after-documents-show-paul-ryan-secured-20-million-in-stimulus-grants-he-claims-i-never-asked-for-stimulus/
Romney/Ryan on the Truth-O-Meter and Medicare voucher program:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/aug/16/barack-obama/does-paul-ryan-want-turn-medicare-voucher-program/
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/06/paul-krugman-paul-ryan-budget-that-romney-supports-is-a-fraud/?fb_ref=.UCYmrnaAktM.like&fb_source=home_multiline
“The claim that Obama cut $700 billion out of Medicare is relatively new. Not long ago, the oft-cited number was $500 billion. How did he manage to cut another $200 billion when no one was looking?
First things first: Neither Obama nor his health care law literally cut a dollar amount from the Medicare program’s budget.”
Read more: http://www.classwarfareexists.com/politifact-romney-claim-that-obama-robbed-medicare-of-700-billion-is-mostly-false/#ixzz23nE4iDro
pamala zill says
People ..please read’ ANIMAL FARM’. CRYSTAL CLEAR.LIL
Dorothea says
Watch this video of Paul Ryan defending George Bush’s stimulus package.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/19/paul-ryan-bush-stimulus_n_1803761.html?utm_hp_ref=elections-2012
Eleven Ryan lies last week and still counting:
http://eforum.reviewjournal.com/lv/showthread.php?t=73695