Associated Press
Paul Ryan brought his teleprompter to Cleveland yesterday, delivering a speech on one of his favorite subjects: "Restoring the Promise of Upward Mobility in America's Economy." In effect, it was a chance for the far-right congressman to defend his governmental worldview, making the case that poverty would decline and prosperity would flourish if only federal policies were more in line with his vision.
The transcript of the remarks is online, but there are a couple of things that jumped out at me. Most notably, Ryan seemed eager to stress his approach to welfare.
"[A] Romney-Ryan administration will clearly restore those parts of the welfare-reform law that have been undone or weakened. We will do this for the sake of millions of Americans who deserve to lead lives of dignity and freedom.
"We will also apply other lessons from welfare reform's success.... Mitt Romney and I want to apply this idea to other anti-poverty programs, such as Medicaid and food stamps. The federal government would continue to provide the resources, but we would remove the endless federal mandates and restrictions that hamper state efforts to make these programs more effective."
It's important to understand how ridiculous this is. For one thing, nothing in welfare law has been undone or weakened, so there's nothing to "restore." For another, Ryan's approach to Medicaid is to gut it in such a way that would deprive millions of already struggling Americans of basic care.
But pay particular attention when Ryan talks about his approach to "other anti-poverty programs." He insists Washington "would continue to provide the resources," but that's where the problem lies.
In reality, Ryan's proposed budget plan, which was heartily endorsed by Mitt Romney, is simply brutal towards the poor and working families. The plan identifies $5.3 trillion in nondefense budget cuts over the next decade, and nearly two-thirds of the savings come from programs intended to help Americans of limited means.
As the CBPP's Robert Greenstein put it, "[T]he Ryan budget would impose extraordinary cuts in programs that serve as a lifeline for our nation's poorest and most vulnerable citizens, and over time would cause tens of millions of Americans to lose their health insurance or become underinsured." He added that Ryan's plan "would cast tens of millions of less fortunate Americans into the ranks of the uninsured, take food from poor children, make it harder for low-income students to get a college degree, and squeeze funding for research, education, and infrastructure."
When Ryan offers assurances about "providing resources," he actually means far fewer resources, leaving families that are already struggling to get by with even less. It's not a recipe for "upward mobility"; it's a callous policy that leaves millions behind.
This stood out, too.
"Look at the road we are on, with trillion-dollar deficits every year. Debt on this scale is destructive in so many ways, and one of them is that it crowds out civil society by drawing resources away from private giving. Even worse is the prospect of a debt crisis, which will come unless we do something very soon."
To say Ryan has a credibility problem here is a severe understatement. We have "trillion-dollar deficits every year"? Yes, though the deficit has decreased by over $300 billion in Obama's first term, and Ryan's own budget plan would continue to run trillion-dollar deficits over the next several years.
The debt "crowds out civil society by drawing resources away from private giving"? If there's any evidence to support this claim, Ryan is keeping it well hidden.
"Even worse is the prospect of a debt crisis, which will come unless we do something very soon"? Putting aside the notion that an actual "debt crisis" comes with high interest rates and difficulties in borrowing -- and we have the opposite -- what Ryan continues to forget is his role in creating the very mess he's whining about.
We know exactly how the deficit got this large: the drivers were Bush-era tax cuts, two wars, Medicare expansion, and a Wall Street bailout. Who voted for all of these measures? Paul Ryan.
And even if we ignore his track record, Ryan's budget plan doesn't actually reduce the debt, it simply redistributes wealth, slashing investments in priorities he doesn't like, and redirecting funds to the top.
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Maybe part of their plan is to providing housing for poor people on all those ships we must build that the Navy doesn't want. He's waiting until after the election to tell us because he doesn't have the time to get in to it now.
I believe that there's a great deal Ryan isn't going to mention about what he'll do to improve the lot of the poor; Mainly because he has no plan whatever to help them.
For example ending free school lunches, eliminating Medicaid, and gutting all safety nets will not be too helpful to the poor or to the economy.
Should they get in (God forbid), after the election they can rightly ask, "Why didn't you read the actual Ryan plan before you voted?"
What really tee's me off about the Romney campaign is that Ryan goes around the country touting his budget plan's, and when Romney is confronted with it he say's.What, I do'nt know anything about that, I'm the one running for president.If The President and Biden did that the the republican/tea party channel's like Foxnot new's and CNN would be fact checking every word.
True. But remember, if you're the white guy you don't have to face that kind of scrutiny.
Part of me wants Ryan/Romney to win, just to show the idiots who actually trust a single word one of these liars ever says the folly of their ways. Just like the House Republicans and their nine percent favorability rating. Just what will it take to break these people, maybe we do have to hit rock bottom.
Great plan! Really great! Truly outstanding!! Tear down the 20th century so you can prove a point to idiots. One idiot needs to go join the rest of the idiots.
And the German communists thought in 1933 that not supporting the "Social Fascists" (their term for the Social Democrats) and letting Hitler and the Nazis take power would "speed the revolution."
I think we all know how that one worked out.
Even The Dude is smart enough to figure this one out.
Lebowsky - I get what you're saying, that maybe it the Robme/Ryan ticket gets in and the sheeple start hurting more they might wake up to which party is screwing them over more, suddenly see the light and start to vote for their own and America's real interests! I've thought about that myself, but really, I don't think that that would work, there are already far too many Americans that are hurting now; and just adding more people into the mix, might be more of a disaster than we really want to call down on Americans.
The GOTP base is already unhinged, just look at their actions. They have marginalized every voting block in this nation except rich old white men, and they don't care! As a party they are imploding, they've already kicked out the "moderates" within their ranks and all they have left are the crazies! The "emperor has no clothes" and it is the sheeple that need to be reminded of this over and over and over and over...
Disgustedwithitall: LOL That was great! (#3.1)
They'll do it, too. It'll look like Pink Floyd's video, "The Wall". Tear down the wall!!! But they will mean the twentieth century!
I would like to know how cogresses rating went from 13% to 29% in one week. OH, because they weren'r in session. That explains it.
LOL, Yep. They should stay out for about the next 4 years. Without pay.
I e-mailed Moonbeam.
Rachel, I think the press is letting Ryan have a pass on a tremendous moral calamity that he wants to sneak in (Cheney-like) if he gets the prize.
Obama should be using soaring oratory, quoting Robert Kennedy, MLK and Gandi, quoting scripture, calling to the rafters man's obligation to his fellow man.
There's nothing christian about christian conservatives and there's no use to pointing this out.
Obama has to allow himself to levitate above the Romneys and Ryans of the world and no longer even refer to them in his speeches. He's been shrinking in his body language, he needs a huge shot of egotism and even narcissism to get him through the next two weeks. His supporters need rock star Barack to make us believe again in the impossible.
He has achieved the impossible thus far and the opposition is kicking sand in the eyes of the public to keep them from seeing that until November 6.
It is a shame the GOP candidates can't just come out and straight up say:
"We are going to screw up the poor worse than bad moonshine."
Cause that is what they actually mean with all this BS Rhetoric. Why would anyone believe for a second that a Billionare like Mittens! could care about the '47%'? Has he ever spoken to anyone that makes less than $15k a year other than to say "Hey, you missed a leaf over there." Of course, I am sure Senor Romnero said "Hola, te has perdido una hoja por ahí." After all his father was born in Mexico.
I see several things going on here and you can call me paranoid if you want to but I think that these are very real potential consequences.
First: If Public resources disappear then Private groups will be required to fill the void. Those groups are largely religious organizations and churches. In short no bowl of soup comes with out a sermon.
Second: it also renders the under class who overwhelmingly democratic powerless. he small donations the democratic party has been receiving will dry up and there will be less and less ability for the poor to support state and local races let alone national ones.
Third: it deepens and inflames already existing tensions between the upper and lower classes and leaves the middle class tenuously hanging on because under Ryans economic plan they will be paying most of the tax burden. When things flair up as they would almost be guaranteed to do it will be the poor who are billed as the instigators and made to be the scapegoats.
After that...
I know it's a bit of a slippery slope argument and there are an awful lot of "If's" involved I simply present it as a possibility for consideration.
Transforming the American middle class into a peasant class.
There are no if's to it we had that type of US economics that produced the roaring 20's the problem came in 1929 when the stock market crashed and the banks failed causing the great depression which saw the private charities over whelmed and unable to meet the demands of the poor. None of this is new we are facing the same problems we saw after the 1929 crash the problem is the GOP see this as an opportunity to bring back Chinese wages to the country. Never mind facts like gas in 1929 sold for 10 cents a gallon or that a loaf of bread was 5 cents, that part of the GOP plan never enters the picture, remember you could buy a brand new car for under $1,000 in the 20's. The Mitt wits believe that if wages drop then prices for products will drop but where they get that belief from is their inability to connect dots, notice wages in the US have been dropping since 1981 yet the price of goods has risen no matter how cheap labor is.
If you want to see what sort of society the Republican want to create, go watch the last season of "Copper" on BBC America.
Mr. Romney and friends do not want prices to drop because that will mean less profit for them. They do not see that their economic policies are ruining the free market they bow down to every minute of the day. Mr. Romney's class makes the same mistake Louis XVI made - assuming the 99% is here to serve THEM. The 99% will remove them from making public policy one way or the other. Let us pray it does not take the return of Robespierre to do it.
Yes that is the corporate plan the Mitt wits are told a different story from their over lords, why do you think Mitt wits complain about living wages they were told labor costs drove up the prices in the 80's. That it was artificially drove up by Nixon policies is never talked about.
whomitmay, Hello, welcome to a better format!
They want to institute the Friedman school of economics in this country, and ruin our recovery; they will actually profit by that, strange as it sounds. When Chile and Bolivia began to have a viable economy and a good size middle class, these Friedmanites stepped in and expunged them. They profited by that. They are about to institute the New Wold Order right here now.
Their work is done in Iraq. New worlds to conquer and privatize. They finally have the ignorant American electorate they need, thanks to Koch's funding (and founding) the T-party. They got the populists all fired up and angry about the deficit and abortion to the point they couldn't see straight and were willing to believe our president is a socialist, Kenyan, and a Muslim. That, of course, meant he had to GO.
Ryan, Romney and all the new right wing extreme Republicans avoid taking full responsibility for causing the deepest recession since the great depression and the fact that they did everything in their power to make it worst after Obama won the 2008 election.
They alone are responsible for the high employment numbers, as they did nothing to help and only spent their time on their war on women and calling Obama a Moslem, a foreigner, a socialist, a communist and a hundred other names.
These people have damaged our country more than all our enemies and all the terrorists combined. Their greed for money and power has rule their every action.
If there is a hell, they all deserve to be sent there.
Al Sanders,#7
You nailed it. They are the enemy within.
Domestic terrorism is their game.
I have been wrestling with trying to understand why people would choose to vote against their own interests. I now think that people who vote Republican in fact DO see what they are doing to the safety net and the poor. They just refuse to acknowledge that they might end up needing those services someday, and are so anxious to see themselves in the top 1% (or as close as they can climb on the ladder) that they are willing to chop the ladder off below them. They see the lazy, moocher, 47% as their obstacle to climbing up. They don't see themselves ever needing help. They don't understand that they are one serious medical emergency away from disaster, and if they go down this road there will be no help for them. The wealthiest in the country, like the Romneys and the Ryans and all their rich hedge-fund cronies will never need that safety net and they are the only ones who will truly benefit from this path.
The reason they are willing to vote against their own interests and the interests of their children and grandchildren is because the Carl Rove and FOX hate machines have been successfull in pitting Americans against each other. They have pitted the middleclass against the poor by calling the poor lazy, people who only want free stuff and don't want to work and who are the cause of the high taxes the struggling middleclass has to pay.
They have pitted religions against each other, labelled prochoice people as baby killers, foreigners as unable to understand the American experience, liberals as communist and socialists.
They have promoted racial hatred to a new level, whites against blacks, orientals, and latinos.
Men against women.
Less educated against educated.
Their only way to win is to divide us and they don't deserve to be in office.
My Republican party has been taken over by extremists and I can not find one reason to vote for any state or federal candidate of this extreme Republican party.
I agree with everything you said. My point was that I have now come to think that they aren't brainwashed at all, that they are voting this way knowingly...
A few thoughts by others who have considered the situation:
“Government by organized money is just as dangerous as government by organized mob.” FDR, 1936
"Think of how stupid the average person is and realize half of them are stupider than that" George Carlin
"...if by a liberal they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people - their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, their civil liberties... if that is what they mean by a "liberal" then I am proud to be a liberal."
~ John F. Kennedy
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" - Charles Darwin
"At any given moment, public opinion is a chaos of superstition, misinformation, and prejudice" - Gore Vidal
"Persuading the people to vote against their own best interests has been the awesome genius of the American political elite from the beginning."- Gore Vidal
“The more I study religions the more I am convinced that man never worshiped anything but himself.” - Richard Burton
One of the reasons people vote against their own best interest that as low as they may be on an economic scale, they believe that someday, somehow they will eventually BE part of the upper class. They are voting for what may in be their best interest 10-15-20 years down the line (if it ever happens).
Actually, there is an excellent explanation for this phenomenon of people voting against their own best interests. It was written even before the T-Party came about and the man who wrote it was prescient and saw the T-party coming.
Tommy Frank: WHAT'S HE MATTER WITH KANSAS? So good. So important.
Republicans side with terrorists to weaken the United States
Our contry is in competition with the world and the welfare of all Americans depends on how well we compete.
Imagine that our country has a basketball team and that half the players are Democrats and half are Republicans. The opposing team is made up of terrorists. In the first game, the terrorist charge on to the court, the Democrats charge out onto the court and the Republicans go to sit on the side of the terrorists.
Our country can't succeed if one side works to have us lose.
"Together we stand, divided we fall", really applies to where this country is today.
Not for nothing, the pretender that is Paul Ryan is what happens when the media gives credibility to someone who deserves none. This guy is always hailed as a serious wonk -- but for the fact he can never answer a straightforward, direct question with anything but gibberish and outright lies. That means he's not a serious wonk. In my book, Ryan's never had an original "bold" idea in his life. He's a front man for lobbyists, ALEC and any other far-right concern that would like to put their perverse policies front-and-center. He does not belong in public office. And just think of it, this is the guy who despises government, yet has been on a government salary practically his entire working life. The disconnect boggles the mind.
Here's all anybody needs to know about the fu king, sniveling little piece of shhit with the name Paul Ryan:
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/3079:goodbye-to-all-that-reflections-of-a-gop-operative-who-left-the-cult
"If you think Paul Ryan and his Ayn Rand-worshipping colleagues aren't after your Social Security and Medicare, I am here to disabuse you of your naiveté.[5] They will move heaven and earth to force through tax cuts that will so starve the government of revenue that they will be "forced" to make "hard choices" - and that doesn't mean repealing those very same tax cuts, it means cutting the benefits for which you worked."
Somebody needs to punch that lying asswhole's lights out.
My sentiments exactly! except I would add Papist to the @!$%# part!
As a former Catholic. I have to object to this. He is not Catholic in any way that matters...
Totally agree that the republicans will tax cut social programs to death. Death by a thousand cuts.
Tom 51, #11.3
They speak loudly and carry a big pair of scissors. They will use them. No more Keynesian economics, no more safety nets. You will be free at last......
to be hungry and sick and poor.
Two things have been bugging me for quite a while -
1. Both Mitt and HerAnnness have consistently included their "charitable contributions" when explaining just how much they have paid in taxes. I had thought that it was b/c they were required to fork over 10% to remain in good standing and allowed to enter the secret temples.
2. Economists have said that in order to pay for Mutt's tax cut, the charitable contribution will most likely have to be eliminated or, at least, capped.
It now appears, given Ryan's diatribe, that these people really do think that any money given to the Help is a tax, is the way the 'takers' steal their money. For sure, this tax plan will decrease contributions. Our 'civil society' is about to become decided less civil.
Churches, temples, etc. should be taxed!
Get over it, newsblog, some of us like our Catholicism! (And I support Roe V Wade).
Well tonight is the meeting of the minds; a Texas fundraiser for Romney, with none other than Glen Beck, Dick Cheney, and Reinse Prebius. (or however it is spelled). OMG, there's a real gathering off of the rich and the insane.
Hey, according to Romney, money is money. Who care who writes the checks? Not this sociopath!
I should think they'd hold off on that gathering until October 31st, Halloween.
Wait a minute - Ryan (falsely) claims that Obama has weakened the welfare requirements by giving states the opportunity (they requested) to try different approaches. Then in his next breath, Ryan says
Exactly how is that approach any different from just what HHS did under Obama? Seriously, any right-wingers out here able to explain that? If you have not yet read the HHS memo and letter to the states on this topic, I suggest you do before responding.
Will R/R fund the refugee camps in Canada and Mexico that will be needed?
The Greatest Lie Told By the GOP throughout history is this,
"Do as we Tell you and we'll make you rich." The sad thing is many many folks fall for this line every election cycle and we get worse for it.
Also beware when a RePugniCant invokes "states" and how they are going to free them from the restrictions of the Feds . . . what that means in "real" speak is they want to free up all those GOP controlled states to take away whatever it is the Fed is giving you now.
All their "small government" drivel is never a good thing for the common wo/man; it really means that the state government (if it is controlled by the GOP) will become more instrusive into the place where you live.
Please ask everyone you know to take a look what is happening in Texas.
I have lived here for 16 years and this state has taken a quick ride downhill, and will be exponentially worse on January 20, 2013 at 12:01p if Thurston and Eddie are crowned. The laws have been passed, the budget slashed - and will be made more cruel by then as the Tx leg meets again starting in January.
This dystopia coming to a state near you.
Want a good laugh ? Read Arizona Prop 120. Google it.
I thought it was a joke, but apparently not......
"In this world of pain and sorrow, there are many things to be thankful for. As for me, I am thankful I am not a Republican." -- H.L. Mencken
A Freakonomics question about the 1996 welfare reform act. Sixteen years later we've seen a huge spike in violent crime. Not saying it's related - but I'd love the geniuses at Freakonomics to look into it the same way the saw correlation between Roe v. Wade and declining crime rates in the 90's. Thoughts from the smartest board on the internet?
Rural America loves Rachel - don't believe everything you read about us - we're not all tea party loons. :-)
Crime is a symptom of poverty and lack of education, the more poverty the more crime. Then there is the drug war that pretty much like Prohibition created a new class of criminals as well as increased usage. As seen in Reagans crack down on crack, before Reagans tough drug laws crack use had been declining. Prohibition saw an increase in alcoholics as well as gang involvement. The GOP only tries to put a band-aid on the problem without addressing the issues that create crime. The GOP way is build more prisons and tougher sentences which then increases violence levels by criminals. The 1990's saw drug laws relaxing as well as a decrease in poverty and an increase in education.
Because prisons = profit. You can't make a dime if no one is doing time.
That is one reason why drugs should be legal. Pot should be legal, for sure, and other drugs treated, if one is addicted, as a medical condition, not a crime, not something to enhance the profit of private prisons, and decrease the electorate in some states like PA.
and if Romney and his cronies didn't offshore so much of their money, the taxes could help the economy. yet they are "worried" about the economy while being akin to draft dodgers (which i supported,btw). they are hypocrites. and with Romney profiteering from the auto bailout, it is all despicable.
We will all have to move to Canada if Romney/Ryan are elected. Sad state of affairs. Get out and vote, and vote for Obama/Biden. Could anyone imagine if something happened to Romney having a Paul Ryan as president. That is the scariest thing one could imagine.
I recently heard a women being interviewed.
She said she was voting for Romney and the only reason was jobs. She admitted that as a woman there were issues she didn't like about the R&R ticket, but that should be dealt with later. At the moment, she said, I need a job, forget everything else.
I know it is seen as extreme to make 1930 German comparisons. However, I'd just finished a book about 1930 Germany. Over and over, German people were quoted as saying forget everything I don't like about this up & coming political party, I need a job. They are promising me a good job. I'll worry about the other issues once I have that job.
Of course there were jobs produced in 1930 Germany -- in gearing up for war there were many new jobs. I'm not sure where Romney thinks his jobs are coming from. Half facetiously, I wonder -- so that's why we need the huge military budget increase Romney wants.
It is not at all extreme to make 1930 German comparisons. In fact it is very apt. In times of economic hardship extremists thrive and ordinary people are so desperate to try anything to improve their economic situation that they are willing to overlook aspects relating to rights and equality, considering them to be "luxuries", that are secondary to the question of keeping a roof over their heads. Only when the extremists come to power do they realise that the loss of fundamental freedoms is a greater tragedy than economic hardship.
The problem is we all forget this. Look at what is happening in Europe now. Greece, a country which was brutalised by a fascist dictatorship as recently as the 1970s, has now voted an overtly Neo-Nazi party into its parliament, because they have promised to deal with immigration and crime (by committing crimes and acts of violence against anyone who looks foreign).
Here, people have already forgotten the fact that the problems we have today were caused by 8 years of Bush policies that the Romney/Ryan ticket intend to replicate and people are willing to overlook this just because Obama's progress in cleaning up the mess was not fast enough... And let's not forget that Bush's policies were not nearly as aggressive against the middle class as the Romney/Ryan policies are promising to be.
So no, it is not extreme to make 1930 Germany comparisons. In fact it is necessary and people need a serious wake-up call before it is too late.
One of Hitler's henchmen (Goebbels?) said to tell a Big Lie and keep repeating it and it will be accepted as truth. Romney and Ryan are experts at this. Ours will certainly be a different society if they manage to steal the election. I think we all need to re-read "1984" and "The Handmaid's Tale". I can't imagine that any self-respecting woman would vote for the Republican ticket. The Republican platform is exactly what Akin and Mourdock are espousing and is what we will have if they gain power. Every single Tea Party republican should be voted out of office ASAP.
I have been thinking that way too, like what did the average German think when Hitler took over? Are we seeing it happen again- and if so WHAT can we do?\
Catnips57, #21.3,
Educate, educate, educate. Hitler promised jobs and prosperity to a very depressed and hungry Germany. They were in a deep recession, just as we are here today.
"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
I don't see Romney as a Hitler. He's more of a empty vessel who's sold his soul for his overriding desire to become president. He would be satisfied with day one and the last day only -- as long as he has achieved the title. What I see as the horror is who he has sold out to. His henchmen and their extremist followers can be seen as similar as some in 1930s Germany. One line of Obama in the first debate that I have not seen quoted was along the lines of: a president has to also say no & Romney has never exhibited a capacity to say no to the extremist in his party.
The hard right seems to want to run the government like a business. Goods and services bringing in revenue, proceeds in excess of expenses distributed to investors (donors) with the social safety net sized to a talking point. I did not know our system of governance was designed as a for profit endeavor. I thought our government was created for the people, by the people. Now with articles of incorperation equal to a birth certificate should employees have fewer rights than children? If a fertilized egg should be afforded 14th amendment rights then shouldn't a corperation moving over seas to increase profit face suit under child abuse laws?
Liar, liar hair on fire!
The Ryan-Romney effort to fight poverty and restore upward mobility by limiting federal government safety net programs is like throwing banana peels in front of blind people walking up a down escalator. The Romney-Ryan team would kill the dynamic, free enterprise based economy as dynamic growth and upward capability are released now even without any help from the current 112th Congress. Block grants is the TEA-Republican term for "this is all you get, your on your own afterwards." Take for instance the block grants they want to provide called "stinking voucher system" for Medicare recipients who just might have high blood pressure, prostate cancer, osteoporosis or heart disease. Sorry, that's a pre-existing condition which WOULD have been covered under Obamacare, but not under their immediately eliminated ObamaCares!
It seems that many people including seniors who should know better are accepting the stories that Romney and Ryan have concocted, even though they (the voters) have heard and/ or read about Romney frequent changes on his positions on almost all of the issues, and that alone should be an eyeopener.
FL being the State with so many seniors, I do have a strong feeling that Romney will capture FL when it is all said and done.
I am sadden that many people listening to his rhetoric will believe him. What a shame.