Reject Ryan For Tomorrow's Future

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IT'S THAT TIME of the political season again and another Ryan term in Congress has passed bringing with it yet another step down in the quality of life for citizens of Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District. Rep. Paul Ryan has a well documented record of votes and legislation in Congress which directly resulted in an economic condition our area hasn’t seen since the Great Depression.

CONSIDER the following: Paul Ryan said “yes” to Texas-sized subsidies for Big Oil while saying “no” to Wisconsin Farmers. He said “no” to the MILC program. He said “no” to expanding SCHIP and his position on SeniorCare left the state of Wisconsin to prepare for the inferior Medicare Part D supplement. Only until Washington Democrats sneaked funding into a congressional bill – was SeniorCare spared from Ryan's axe.

HE WAS hand-picked by President Bush to lead the charge against Social Security and attempted to write new expansive budgetary veto powers for the executive branch. He votes along party lines 92% of the time and voted over 90% with Bush. Despite overwhelming public opinion against socializing the losses of Wall Street fat cats, Ryan “courageously” chose to ignore the desires of his district and not only voted for it, he helped steer the Bush Administration’s original 3-point plan.

HE AUTHORED a patchwork of previously rehashed ideas into a legislative novel called “Roadmap For America’s Future,” a plan dealing with OUR Social Security, OUR Medicare and OUR taxes and presented it first to the barons at the Wall Street Journal. His finger is so tightly pressed on the pulse of the economy that his eyes never saw the financial crisis coming.

NOW, I could go on and on here with nearly every single one of Ryan’s flawed positions, but for the sake of not rehashing Ryan’s entire Congressional broken record, party-line votes or mixed-up ideological nature, I’ve decided to save for last what some consider, particularly Conservatives, to be Ryan’s strong suit – his fiscal perseverance to deny workers and taxpayers in his district a fair return on their tax dollars. This I consider to be the worst betrayal of all to his constituents as Representative of the 1st Congressional District of Wisconsin.

BEGINNING IN 2005, Ryan has embarked on a mission to cut domestic spending which has resulted in a one-man crusade against his own district, shortchanging it by over $3 billion dollars in a span of just 3 years.

IN 2005, Wisconsin congressional districts received an average of $2.82 billion each in federal funds. That year, Ryan wrote only $1.54 billion in grants for his district for a cut of $1.28 billion less than average. In 2006, the district average was $2.55 billion to Ryan’s $1.66 billion for an additional shortfall of $890 million. In 2007, the average funding was $1.98 billion to Ryan’s $1.04 billion for a shortfall of $940 million, bringing the three year total to $3.11 billion less for economic development and jobs. A severe if not crushing dividend shortfall in return for our tax dollars.

IN WISCONSIN, only Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner consistently gypped his district out of more. Yet, these guys win “taxpayer” awards for this all the while failing to pass a balanced budget in Congress. Making matters worse, these annual shortfalls are in addition to the cost burden of the Iraq War on their respective districts. A war rubber stamped by Ryan costing taxpayers $10 billion a month.

THIS coincidentally, all came during a time with Ryan himself bragging that federal tax revenues have increased, counter-intuitively I might add, despite the Bush tax cuts he voted for. With federal revenues up, our Representative intuitively cut federal allocations for his own district. All the while coming at a time when the prospects for huge job losses from the Janesville GM plant weighed heavily on the western half of his district. Ryan has borrowed and spent the nation into massive debt while cutting off his people from the fruits of their own taxes. This is the betrayal.

BUT I KNOW it's not the same for everyone in the district. Life is pretty good for some of those who support and voted for Paul Ryan in the past. They only worry about things like health care because they think they’re paying for yours. They worry about taxes because they know they’re the only ones left who can afford to pay them. Yes indeedy, Social Security is not considered an absolute necessity for surviving their senior years, to these folks it’s a Wall Street investment cache illegally held by the U.S. government.

OBVIOUSLY, I’m not trying to win over those who feel burdened by the immensity of their wealth, they are in a small minority. I’m more concerned for those who have been continually voting against their own interests over the past ten years. I’m concerned for those who have refused to cut the chains of the status quo when pressured by those who want us to feel guilty for the tax paying responsibilities their wealth brings. I need to ask them – are you really better off now than two years ago – or eight years ago?

WE KNOW NOW that trickle down economics is no longer a theory - it’s a failure. Giving Ryan two more years will only allow this Washington insider to dig a deeper entrenchment. NOW is time to seize the moment and vote for our own interests - for a change.

MAKE NO MISTAKE, the 1st Congressional District of Wisconsin is at a pivotal point in its history — a difficult time that demands talented representation in Congress to renew our nation's promise and pull our disjointed district back together to meet the incredible economic challenges that lay just around the corner. After ten years of the same old failed policies and billions of dollars less, it should be evident - Paul Ryan ain’t it.