Tag Archives: Paul Ryan
McCain says Ryan as #2 on ticket was ‘A Bold Choice’ just like Palin?
Republican Tea Party (GOTP) 2008 presidential bride’s maid, Senator John McCain has decided to weigh in on GOTP 2012 presidential wannabe Willard Mitt Romney’s choice of Tea Party (TP) darling Paul Ryan as his running mate saying in a “Fox News Sunday” interview that it was an “excellent choice”. Of course this is the man who foisted Sarah Palin on American as his running mate.
McCain said vice presidential picks can provide a boost in battleground states, something that didn’t seem to occur to him in 2008 and something that doesn’t seem to be behind Willard’s choice either, and McCain has spent, and continues to spend, a great deal of time trying to justify his questionable choice of Palin.
“First of all, the selection is made as to who will best help you get nominated and who you believe is best suited for the role of vice president of the United States,” McCain said. “At that time — I’m still proud of my running mate. I’m proud of Sarah and her family and I’m proud of the work that we did.”
I’m certain Willard’s overjoyed to have McCain’s approval, being an expert of who and what makes a good running mate choice and all.
Romney forced VP contenders to provide ‘Several’ Years of Tax Returns?
According to news sources, Republican Tea Party (GOTP) presidential wannabe, Willard Mitt Romney requested “several” years of tax returns from his potential running mates; a fact released by a senior adviser to the campaign and one which suggests those Willard was considering were required to reveal more financial documents than he’s been willing to, and reveling yet another level of abject hypocrisy from Romney.
While talking to reporters Saturday, senior adviser Beth Myers – allegedly in charge of the VP selection process – evidently declined to specify exactly how many years of tax returns were required, saying only that “several” were requested in yet another stumbling blunder of a Romney staffer, and one that will only serve to draw renewed attention to Romney’s unwillingness to release his own tax records. To date Willard’s released one year (2010) and that’s not a complete record, as well as a so-called “estimate for his 2011 taxes”; it was Romney’s father, George who while running for the republican nomination in 1968, released 12 years of income tax records.
According to the Huffington Post, former Minnesota GOTP governor Tim Pawlenty told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Sunday’s “This Week,” that he’d submitted “a bunch of tax returns” to the Romney campaign as part of being vetted.
“Well, I don’t know the exact number, George, but I — you know, there were several years, I believe,” Pawlenty said.
Stephanopoulos didn’t let Pawlenty off so easily and further asked whether it was more than two years of returns, to which Pawlenty responded, “Well, we don’t get into the details of the vetting process, but I gave them a bunch of tax returns. I don’t remember the exact number of years.”
There’s no doubt whatsoever the choice to not release his tax records has hurt Romney’s chances in a big way, coupled with hundreds of millions squirreled away in off shore accounts it’s made him look as though he was hiding something; but to require a vice presidential pick to provide you with tax records in order to be vetted while you stubbornly refuse to provide the same to the American people – so as to be vetted – smacks of rank insincerity, double standards and duplicity and it’s very likely Willard’s going to continue paying – and paying big – for his obstinacy.
Greatest Generation gets the shaft by GOTP
They stormed the beach at Normandy, braved the cold of Bastogne, flew 25+ missions in B-17s and B-24s, raised the flag at Iwo Jima and secured for us our liberties only to be screwed by the Republican Tea Party (GOTP) when they can no longer take care of themselves.
“Thanks for your service, and sacrifice, but die already” Eric Cantor, Allen West and a host of other ungrateful conservatives seem to say by their words and deeds.
How quickly are the heroes and the heroines of our past thrown under the bus by the very people who claim to revere them and their service. It seems the GOTP Congressional Freshman class would rather cut the benefits of those who fought and bled for us than raise taxes on the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Mitt Romney and Rupert Murdoch.
Makes you feel proud doesn’t it?
Who do conservatives think are the ones being sacrificed by cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and Veteran’s benefits? Who are the ones being shoved to the side when they slash “entitlements”? It’s the ones who kept us safe; and it’s despicable, detestable, cowardly and wrong.
So, go ahead and back this pack of thugs if you must; nod your heads in agreement when Rush, Hannity, et al vilify those who are living off of “entitlements”; but just remember who they are.
If there was ever a group “entitled” to be taken care of then it’s this group. It’s the men and women who went into harm’s way in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and countless engagements throughout the Middle East and points around the globe so we could sleep secure in our beds at night. It’s the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who dared to go where lesser men like Hannity, Limbaugh, O’Reilly, Beck, Cantor, and Ryan feared to tread.
Go ahead and support their version of a “balanced budget,” and at what cost they’re willing to “balance” it.
Talk about paying someone back.
Talk about balancing the scales and rewarding those who served.
Sleep well.
House vote caused dip in Market?
Anyone else notice how the precipitous slide in the Stock Market began immediately after the Republican/Tea Party (GOTP) controlled House of Representatives held its sham-wow vote on raising the debt ceiling? It began as soon as that phoney bill went down resoundingly in flames.
To me, this says at least four things; first, not raising the debt ceiling will have monumental consequences for our economy, and in turn the world’s economy, possibly tipping us into the depression we’ve been trying to avoid.
Second, the GOTP just realized this – meaning they didn’t buy all the dire warnings before about what would happen – and now suddenly they’re as scared as everyone else and want to hold some serious discussions on raising the debt ceiling, while making real cuts in spending and not just running with Paul Ryan’s ludicrous plan.
Third, the GOTP knew that by voting not to extend the debt ceiling it would put everything on the verge, and they are demonstrating to the President – and the entire country – how willing they are to take the economy down in order to position themselves for a victory in 2012.
Fourth, it appears the GOTP is either too ignorant to know what the affects will be, or they’re just too reckless to care, and they just want their cuts. They want to force the Ryan plan, and that’s that.
On thinking the GOTP would willfully tank the economy, my father would’ve told me, “You’re giving them too much credit Butch”, and I think he’d be right. I don’t believe the entire GOTP is willing to throw the country off the cliff deliberately, but I do believe they’re willing to play with it, hoping to force the White House to its knees and give in to their demands.
In effect, the Republicans are holding us all hostage, and the President should call the Speaker and his minions to the Oval Office and he should tell them the United States does not negotiate with terrorists; because if Boehner and his thugs are holding the country’s economy hostage in order to force the Ryan plan – or any part thereof – on everyone, then that’s what they’ve become, economic terrorists.
The GOTP is taking a huge risk, and President Obama should call their bluff. Force them to refuse to raise the debt ceiling, and use his bully pulpit to make sure Americans understand what that will mean, and exactly who destroyed the economy. Make it crystal clear to everyone – well except the 37% of Americans who watch FOX PAC, and who listen to Limbaugh, Hannity, et al, that it was the far-right Tea Party playing conservatives who took us all over the edge. Seven times this same bunch of debt hating, deficit loathing, conservatives voted to raise the debt ceiling under Bush; SEVEN TIMES! But now it’s unholy and immoral to consider it? They’re hypocrites and they need to be thrown out, and thrown out big in 2012. Boehner is destined to be a one term Speaker, and he and his little group of thugs are destined to be foot notes.
Ryan Budget Would Hurt Vets?
Over the years Republicans have always wrapped themselves in the flag, and sung patriotic songs, and praised the soldiers, marines, airmen and sailors while sending them off to war, but then stabbed them in the back when they came home. The so-called “rising star”, Congressman Paul Ryan (GOTP) WI has decided that his “Path to Prosperity” will be paved with tax cuts for the wealthy while also cutting Veteran’s programs.
Ryan’s “alleged” budget plan sets the 2012 VA budget at $128 billion, down $4.2 billion from the department’s proposed $132.2 billion plan and then bumps it up to $129 billion in 2013.
Ryan, who is not a veteran, has decided it’s OK to screw those who served while he couldn’t be bothered. His cuts – if ever enacted, which thank God will never happen – would pummel the VA while it prepares to deal with providing services to 2.2 million Afghanistan and Iraq veterans, 210,000 of whom are unemployed while another 107,000 veterans of all wars are homeless, according to a recent report by the advocacy group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
Ryan is the face of the new Republican Party the GOTP, say nice things about loving America, and supporting the troops, give a hug and stick them in the ribs. Time for Military Families and Veterans to wake up and understand the GOTP is not your friend. The GOTP doesn’t care about you or your families, and this budget proves it. WAKE UP!
Cut spending, but raise taxes on the wealthy?
So, who’s calling for $4 trillion in long-term deficit cuts while giving a blistering attack on Republican Tea Party (GOTP) plans for taxes, Medicare and Medicaid? The President of these United States, that’s who.
President Obama said spending cuts are OK, but they have to be tied to higher taxes on the wealthiest Americans with an end to Bush-era tax cuts for the top 2%.
“We have to live within our means, reduce our deficit and get back on a path that will allow us to pay down our debt,” President Obama said. “And we have to do it in a way that protects the recovery, and protects the investments we need to grow, create jobs and win the future.”
The President called out the GOTP saying, they want to “end Medicare as we know it,” and extend tax cuts for the wealthy while demanding 33 million seniors pay more for health care.
“That’s not right, and it’s not going to happen as long as I am president,” he vowed.
So-called Representative Paul Ryan, GOTP, the point man for the House Republican Tea Party budget, was invited to the speech, mistakenly thinking the administration was “extending an olive branch”.
“Instead, what we got was a speech that was excessively partisan, dramatically inaccurate and hopelessly inadequate to addressing our country’s pressing fiscal challenges,” Ryan said. “What we heard today was not fiscal leadership from our commander in chief. What we heard today was a political broadside from our campaigner in chief.”
Yeah, OK Eddie Munster, whatever; it’s time for you to realize your fifteen minutes of fame was over a long time ago. You can’t seriously think America was just going to bend over while you and your chums on the far right gutted the poor, the elderly, and everyone else who doesn’t earn millions a year? Earth to Eddie … hello?
Now what about the President’s call for $4 trillion in cuts? He said $2 trillion should come from spending, $1 trillion from taxes – yes Eddie he said taxes – including ending Bush-era tax breaks for the wealthy, and the rest recouped from lower interest payments on the national debt.
What will be cut? To start, military spending would be reduced by $400 billion through 2023, domestic programs would absorb $770 billion in cuts and mandatory programs such as agricultural subsidies another $360 billion, an additional $480 billion would be saved from Medicare, which of course provides health care to an estimated 33 million seniors, and from Medicaid, a state-federal program covering lower-income families and which is set for a huge expansion under the health care program Obama signed into law last year.
What about Social Security?! Right wing nut jobs are screaming. The President said that Social Security is neither in a crisis nor “a driver of our near-term deficit problems.” He did however say that he supports unspecified steps to strengthen it for the long term, but ruled out any attempt to privatize it.
What about Republican Tea Party proposals to end traditional Medicare for anyone currently under 55, and to give the states near-total control over Medicaid?
For Medicare, the President said, “It says instead of guaranteed health care, you will get a voucher. And if that voucher isn’t worth enough to buy insurance, tough luck — you’re on your own.”
He added that the so-called Republican Tea Party budget could cost 50 million Americans health care coverage, including grandparents needing nursing home care, children with autism and kids “with disabilities so severe that they require 24-hour care. These are the Americans we’d be telling to fend for themselves.”
“Well”, think many on the far right, “If they can’t afford heath care, than perhaps they had better just die and decrease the surplus population.” This group of Republicans is so busy cow towing to the Tea Party, the group which thinks people like Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann are viable presidential candidates, that they have become drunk on right wing extremism. They have lost whatever souls they once possessed.
The President made a point of placing the blame for the nation’s debt and deficit where it squarely lies, recounting how it all started rolling downhill in 2000, “we increased spending dramatically for two wars and an expensive prescription drug programs, but we didn’t pay for any of this new spending. Instead, we made the problem worse with trillions of dollars in unpaid-for tax cuts.” A very clear reference to policies pursued by President George W. Bush and the Republicans who controlled Congress for six of his eight years in office.
Thank you Mr. President for having the courage to say what needs to be said; for sounding Presidential, and for being the progressive leader we all knew you could be. It’s time for the far right Tea Party Republicans to reel back on their heels and understand that the rest of us are not drinking whatever brand of Kool-aid they’ve been drinking. You have put them on notice, and if they continue charging down this path they will soon see the Congress switch not only back to the left, but to the left in an overwhelming majority.
The Liberty Tree 