Ryan Union Comments Outrageous

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The Janesville Gazette received some very good letters recently about Rep. Paul Ryan’s congressional exploits and comments. This one about labor unions however, received a rebuttal response in the paper.

JG Letter Excerpt:
When he compared proud, American union card carriers with Saddam Hussein's terrorist minions, he slapped the people of his district, the state of Wisconsin and the United States as a whole right across the face. –- letter writer (proud union member)

I searched the Web looking for quotes about this but couldn’t find any. It sounds like Ryan though any way you read it or hear it. Now here’s a key excerpt from the rebuttal letter in Saturday’s paper.

JG Letter Excerpt:
Under Saddam, if you wanted a job in Iraq, you had to join the Ba’ath Party. Ryan tried to explain the requirements in a way that residents of southern Wisconsin would understand that joining the party was an innocent way to help your family and improve your living standards, like joining a union. -- letter writer (Ryan defender)

Where do we start on this one? Do Wisconsin residents really connect with the Ba’ath Party of Saddam Hussein? Do workers join unions as an innocent way to improve their lives but in reality it’s not THAT innocent and …..its not an improvement? Are the requirements to join an American labor union the same requirements to join in with Saddam Hussein? But wait, this gets even better because the writer implies Ryan is a strong union supporter.

JG Letter Excerpt:
Obviously, (the proud union supporter) isn’t aware of Ryan’s past and present support of unions or doesn’t care.

* Rated 7% by the AFL-CIO, indicating an anti-union voting record. (Dec 2003)

I’m sure some unions contribute to Ryan’s campaign chest but these organizations for the most part contribute to politicians in both parties to some level or degree. Another good reason why private contributions to political campaigns should be banned.

Journal Sentinel Excerpt:
The American Conservative Union gave his 2005 voting record a 96 percent approval rating. The liberal Americans for Democratic Action gave him 0.

The American Conservative Union approves of Paul Ryan!!!

But lets forget things like mere facts and his voting record and assume Ryan is obviously pro-union and supports organized labor like this writer suggests. So obviously, if Ryan thinks that highly of labor unions, does that mean Ryan then thinks Saddam’s Ba’ath Party is just as wonderful? Any way you spin it or slice it, drawing parallels between the Ba’ath Party and labor unions is a cheap shot and a slap in the face to all of his constituents including his supporters. If you think for a minute he spoke of unions in a good light, then you must think he thinks the Ba'ath Party is just as swell.

Now that's irony.