Romney Suggests Good Paying Jobs Are a Measure Of Compassion

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We should measure compassion by how many people are able to get off welfare and get a good paying job." -- Mitt Romney, campaign ad

Is that so?

In my America, getting a job is not a measure of compassion. If it is, Romney implies that workers, blue collar or white, owe our employers much more than the time and labor we do in exchange for a paycheck.

In my America, getting a good paying job is something we train for, qualify for and earn out of respect for our education or experience. Getting a job is definitely a good thing and getting a GOOD paying job is the American Dream. It's opportunity driven by ambition and acquired through good ol' free enterprise. I also don't think my fellow Americans would want their jobs to be granted to them by an employer from out of compassion (such as to get off welfare), or the paycheck we've earned to be viewed as a form of charity. Again, if it is, only someone who views workers as moochers and parasites would expect to be honored as compassionate for paying good wages since it's obviously more than they deserve. Someone like Mitt Romney.

Watch it:



In a new ad narrated with those same Randian codes, Paul Ryan bloviates about a fictional government-controlled society and fabricates a false urgency that "if we act now, we can get this right." What in the world is he talking about? I've said this before. Ryan is living inside Atlas Shrugged and is trying to project our reality into Rand's personal fictional nightmare. Just because he's up front about it doesn't mean he's not certifiable nuts.

The Democurmudgeon takes aim at the Ryan ad. Check it out here.

Did Romney Blago the VP Seat To Koch Bros. For $100M?

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>>> Suggest a Caption <<<

Certainly not from the most reliable source, but I've learned long ago that the truth is always sharper than the axe.

National Memo Excerpt:
According to Stone, the billionaire Koch brothers purchased the Republican vice presidential nomination for Ryan from Romney in late July by promising to fork over an additional $100 million toward “independent expenditure” campaigning for the GOP ticket.

Any such transaction would represent a serious violation of federal election laws and perhaps other statutes, aside from the ethical and character implications for all concerned. Although Stone is not the most reputable figure, to put it mildly, he has been a Republican insider, with access to the party’s top figures, over four decades. His credentials date back to Nixon’s Committee to Reelect The President and continue through the Reagan White House, the hard-fought Bush campaigns, and the Florida fiasco in 2000, when he masterminded the “Brooks Brothers riot” that shut down the Bush-Gore recount in Miami-Dade. Peruse his site and you’ll see his greatest hits and the attention he has drawn from major publications. more>>>

In fact, I'd say the chances that Romney sold the seat are so great, they practically needed a cock-eyed story like this to pre-empt any ideas that it is even remotely true.

Tom Morello: Paul Ryan Is the Embodiment Of The Machine

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Rolling Stone Excerpt:
Paul Ryan's love of Rage Against the Machine is amusing, because he is the embodiment of the machine that our music has been raging against for two decades. Charles Manson loved the Beatles but didn't understand them. Governor Chris Christie loves Bruce Springsteen but doesn't understand him. And Paul Ryan is clueless about his favorite band, Rage Against the Machine.

Don't mistake me, I clearly see that Ryan has a whole lotta "rage" in him: A rage against women, a rage against immigrants, a rage against workers, a rage against gays, a rage against the poor, a rage against the environment. Basically the only thing he's not raging against is the privileged elite he's groveling in front of for campaign contributions. Read more>>>

I totally agree. Paul Ryan is killing in the name of doing what they told him.

Government Plays Huge Role In Janesville's Comeback

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Contrary to the Randian machinations of native son Paul Ryan, his hometown of Janesville is finding most of it's economic success through government interaction and for lack of a better word - coercion.

NPR Excerpt:
(Titled: Ryan's hometown and the route back to prosperity)

Janesville is making the same slow recovery that's typical elsewhere. City manager Eric Levitt said the city has added 1,000 jobs in the past 18 months, usually 50-to-100 at a time at existing employers. To foster that comeback, the city hasn't picked the Republican or the Democratic approach, but is using elements of both.

From the GOP: Streamlined permitting and tax cuts have aided in recruitment of new companies, including a medical technology company attracted by a tax break that could be worth as much as $9 million. The manufacturer of isotopes expects to open a new $24 million facility and employ 160 people in high-wage jobs by 2016.

From Democrats: Federal money for retraining assistance is filling classrooms at local vocational schools and colleges. At Blackhawk Technical College, welding programs that run from dawn until midnight six days a week are packed. That's helping address what city officials see as their biggest challenge: a mismatch between companies' expectations and the skills of those looking for work.

I can't imagine Janesville's city manager Eric Levitt (employee, non-elective office) would step any further into this political minefield.

This however weaves nicely with my earlier post referring to Janesville as Juliaville. There's not much to argue with except I find it odd how the writer(s) split the strategy into republican and democrat programs when in truth, both growth plans for Janesville's private sector rely heavily on the helping hand and collective power of government. It is this entire concept of government and the role it plays in society that Rep. Paul Ryan wants to bring to a halt. But keep this in mind - in fiction only.

But a paradox emerges when the story's writer aligns the collectivist power of government with the republican side, and individual empowerment through education for the democrat's strategy. That alignment is absolutely accurate, but it is also the exact opposite from the popular meme distributed by homeboy Paul Ryan and his Tea Party adherents. They claim it is Obama and democrats (particularly progressives) who are stifling growth by using the power of collectivism to expand the role of government into the free markets - thereby picking winners and losers in industry and creating uncompetitive advantages. Conversely, Ryan also tries to stake claim in supporting the empowerment of individuals in order to become productive members of society, when in reality that concept is owned and practiced by democratic progressives. Almost as the writer describes.

Sadly, it is Paul Ryan who seems to be living inside the novel Atlas Shrugged, while his hometown of Janesville has to struggle with growth concepts based in reality.

Without Health Care Reform Or Budget Proposals Of Their Own, How Can Romney/Ryan Criticize President's?

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New Yorker Excerpt: (Aug. 6, 2012)
“If you’re going to criticize, you should propose,” Ryan says of his budget plan.

“I think you’re obligated to do that,” he said. “People like me who are reform-minded ignore the people who say, ‘Just criticize and don’t do anything and let’s win by default.’ That’s ridiculous.” He said he was “moving ahead without them. They don’t want to produce alternatives? That’s not going to stop me from producing an alternative.”

In the video below, Brit Hume (of all people) from Fox Cable News unintentionally busted Ryan by asking him about the Medicare "savings" he expects to produce from his budget proposal, Hume asks, "...doesn't your budget also contemplate very major savings from Medicare...[...]how much?" Because Ryan has to zero in on the word "savings" and transform it into "cuts" in order to criticize Obama while at the same time no longer identify himself with his own Medicare-cutting budget, Ryan completely stumbles, ..."the point is, we ...we ...ah, I joined the Romney ticket and what Mitt Romney is proposing to do is repeal all of Obamacare." But right there Ryan disowned himself from his own budget proposal and declared that Romney's plan is to repeal Obamacare and that's what he is also committed to doing.

In other words, despite Romney fully embracing Ryan's budget proposal during the republican primary debates, as a team, Ryan and Romney now claim they have no health care proposal or budget of their own. Paul Ryan's most singular and defining piece of legislative work no longer belongs to him and is now referred to as "the House Budget." The house owns it now.

So using Ryan's own words from the recent New Yorker interview, how can Ryan (or Romney) criticize Obama's health care reform, Medicare reforms or budget proposals - if they have none of their own? So they're left with no choice but to try to win by default. Or is this just more of Ryan's lifelong phony routine?

Watch the Ed Show below discussing bumbling Ryan's responses to Brit Hume. Yet another fine video catch from the Democurmudgeon.

Rob Zerban On Blog Talk Radio Today!

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Rob Zerban, the presumed Democratic candidate expected to face Paul Ryan for the 1st Congressional District of Wisconsin is scheduled to be a guest/host on Blog Talk Radio today at 11 AM.

BlogTalkRadio Excerpt:
Congressman Paul Ryan is vulnerable in November's election. One year ago it would not have seemed possible; with Ryan being the darling of the corporate conservatives, and powerful chair of the House Budget Committee.

Things have changed in the 1st Congressional District. Rob Zerban has stepped up to challenge Ryan, and ... more>>>

Call in to speak with the host at (347)989-1307.

RomneyCare: Tax Penalties Instill Responsibility

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USA Today Excerpt:
“Our experience also demonstrates that getting every citizen insured doesn't have to break the bank. First, we established incentives for those who were uninsured to buy insurance. Using tax penalties, as we did, or tax credits, as others have proposed, encourages "free riders" to take responsibility for themselves rather than pass their medical costs on to others. This doesn't cost the government a single dollar. Second, we helped pay for our new program by ending an old one — something government should do more often.” – Mitt Romney, March 22, 2011

Running Away From His Own Principles, Romney Fails Leadership 101.

Here's Romney again:
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED INTERVIEW)

MITT ROMNEY: It's not a tax hike. It is a fee. It is an assessment. The great majority of employers in Massachusetts are assessed this fee right now. There's a small subset that has not been assessed this fee and that subset is those who don't provide insurance to their employee.

LIASSON: So, this is what the Democrats point to as they defend themselves against the tax charge. They say health care is a character issue, a leadership issue. Romney is running away from his health care plan. The president isn't running away from his.

Then we have our own mentally challenged congressman, Paul Ryan, who argues for statism and said Obama’s health care reform law should be repealed because rights come from “nature and God,” not the government.

But Paul, why does God refuse to give North Koreans their rights?
Why does God refuse to give Saudi women their rights?
Why does God refuse to give Iranians their rights?
Why does God refuse to give his own gay children rights?

COMALite J Comment Excerpt:
20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the multinational megacorporations, and unto the hedge funds and derivatives investors, and unto the SuperPACs that they doth fund that in turn fundeth the candidates that doeth their will; that some thereby mightest “trickleth down” unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

Paul Ryan, Courageously Fake

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According to Republicans, spending in of itself creates debt, that's why repubs like Rep. Paul Ryan constantly twist the truth with, "we don't have a revenue problem, the country has a spending problem." That is the construct to which the empty-suited Ryan and the Republican Party has hitched our futures on. Most Americans know better of course, that spending in of itself does not cause debt - only borrowing causes debt. But I'll give him that, Ryan's got people second-guessing their own better intuition and values.

So how responsible is a political party that refused to pay the country's bills when it could afford? Obviously they were completely irresponsible, but they are now playing off the popular appeal of the taxed enough already crowd and locked into the Norquist "borrow only" for revenue pledge - there's no turning back. Repubs also think it's courageous to stand up and tell people lies. That's why Paul Ryan is at the top of the heap. That's why he's their star.

In the video below, Martin Bashir shoves facts in the face of Paul Ryan's comical but emotional breakdown for Ronald Reagan's "spirit" and bogus tax reform. You'll see first-hand how Paul Ryan panders and poses with Goober Pyle-like sincerity. You know the kind. Fakes.

NY Times Excerpt: (Krugman)
And the evidence for their fakery isn’t just their bad arithmetic; it’s the fact that for all their alleged deep concern over budget gaps, that concern isn’t sufficient to induce them to give up anything — anything at all — that they and their financial backers want.

Ryan tells out-in-out fairy tales with a dumb face and everyone knows it, but his backers laugh and applause anyway. Perhaps that's his appeal.

You'll also see Ryan doing what he does best as he recasts his perceived enemies with his own budget and tax policy failings. We're all familiar with the constructs of what Ryan is saying, except the names have been changed to condemn the innocent.

Another fine catch from the Democurmudgeon library. Watch it:



ADDITIONAL:
Rock Netroots - Faces of Debt

Paul Ryan's Cynical Catholic Claims

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I rarely post entire articles and never before posted a press release from a political party. But this statement by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin Communications Director Graeme Zielinski in response to claims made by Paul Ryan to justify his radical budget - was just too good to resist.

"For Paul Ryan to justify his radical budget using Catholic social teaching as an underpinning either arrives from designed error or unintended ignorance. Nobody can seriously believe that the "Church of the Poor" would make a fetish out of tax cuts for billionaire hedge fund managers who sip $350 bottles of wine at the same time destroying the social safety net advocated for by our American bishops since the end of World War I.

Many Catholics oppose the Ryan budget not in spite of our Catholic faith, but because of it. Catholics are taught that everyone, not just the rich, have a right to participate in our economic system. They also are taught that income inequality is a great threat to solidarity. Blessed John Paul cautioned against an "idolatry of wealth" that appears rampant nowadays. It can be argued that a Ryan budget that clearly gives priority to capital and the super-rich over workers and the poor alters that balance in a way that offends Catholic tradition. Blessed John Paul wrote, that, "It is the poor who have a claim to special consideration. The richer class can help itself; the poor have no resources of their own to do so. They chiefly depend on the help of the state."

Ryan justifies his budget employing Catholic teaching about "subsidiarity," which says that government should not interfere with what individuals could do themselves. Ryan seems to take this to mean that the only way to prevent this interference is to cut all government. In fact, what this means is a requirement for good government that works alongside the free market to ensure that the needs of everyone are met, with special regard for the poorest.

One need not be a Catholic to see that the Paul Ryan budget advantages the rich and powerful over working families and the poor. And it looks very much that Paul Ryan is animated by the teachings of someone in this document. That seems not to be the Catholic Church. Instead, it seems to be Ayn Rand."

Source

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Related:

Fighting Bob - Ryan Shrugged

Paul Ryan won't rest until he turns one novelist's wildest dreams into America’s nightmare.

Paul Krugman - The Paul Ryan phenomenon and the gullible center

Nation's Debt Skyrockets Since GOP Pledge To Norquist

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Despite previous claims that the Bush tax cuts would raise revenue, we now know the 2001 tax cuts was a half-baked attempt to starve the beast at a cost of approximately of $1.35 trillion over 10 years while the 2003 tax cut cost another $350 billion over 10 years. We also know that the cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars was pegged at $1.26 trillion through 2011 and the unfunded Medicare Part D prescription drug program stands at $272 billion so far.

We also know there are hundreds of smaller discretionary spending bills passed through Congress each year without designating any revenue raising mechanisms to pay for them.

We also knew that without offering revenue mechanisms to pay as they go, nearly all of these expenditures beyond the government's regular operational expenses were thrown on the nation's credit card. But why?

For starters, one political party in America chose to commit themselves beginning in 1986 to the "No Tax" Pledge created by lobbyist Grover Norquist of the fallaciously named Americans for Tax Reform outfit. By signing Norquist's pledge, Republicans said the wealthiest nation on earth does not have to pay it's current bills with it's own money. Why should we pay now they figure, when they have our children and grandchildren to pay for it, or at least that's what they want us to fear.

Another untold known is the Pledge was never about limiting federal spending or creating new funding methods to pay the nation's bills. To do so would have meant the acknowledgment that the federal government is competent and fiscally responsible; a concept and perception that is intolerable to the pledge's adherents and mission statement. To the contrary, Norquist’s pledge was designed to not raise the revenue necessary to pay the nation’s bills. It's sole purpose is to seed debt without ever taking responsibility for it's destructive growth in a perverse if not evil attempt to drown the U.S. Government in a bathtub. It's that simple.

It's also no coincidence Norquist's mission to “drown the federal government" runs parallel to Paul Ryan’s Randian struggle to destroy the American social compact. That Ryan repeatedly states that the current path will drown our children and grand-children in a pool of debt is consistent with Norquist's messaging narrative, however intentionally misleading.

The current Norquist path of debt was purposely designed to act as an ax on the hull of a ship stuck in place with an immovable expense anchor. Sooner or later, the hole in the hull would cause the ship to sink, while the men swinging the ax will swear it's the spending anchor and flooding waters that is sinking it.

However, if we return to Norquist's core mission statement of drowning the federal government in a bathtub, you'll soon realize that none of these evil characters actually care about reducing the deficit - ever. It's the feeling of sinking and drowning they want us to fear most - not the actual sunken ship. It's like being waterboarded.

One of their back-handed remedies to stop the waterboarding, Ryan's alternative "Path To Prosperity" budget manifesto, doesn't involve patching the hull they've axed. It instead pulls up the anchor by slashing non-security discretionary spending while ramping up tax cuts for the establishment's wealth extractors under the guise of tax reform. When you pull away the smoke and mirrors, Ryan's budgets amount to nothing more than a cruel joke holding the same goal as Norquist's pledge; to wipe out the federal government.

By far, one of the most visible examples of Norquist's influence takes place during the Bowles-Simpson Debt Commission, a mini-Congress partly made up of six Republicans and six Democrats. The Commission was doomed to fail from the start simply because half of the commission signed the Norquist Pledge.

Nation Of Change Excerpt:
Note how many deficit hawks regularly trash President Obama for not endorsing Simpson-Bowles while they continue to praise Ryan — even though Ryan voted to kill the initiative when he was a member of the commission. Here again is the double standard that benefits conservatives, proving that, contrary to establishment opinion, Obama was absolutely right not to embrace the Simpson-Bowles framework. If he had, a moderately conservative proposal would suddenly have defined the “left wing” of the debate, just because Obama endorsed it.

Yet through all of the different administrations, presidents, congresses and failed budget policies, if there's one common denominator and material cause that stood in the way of our nation's ability to balance a budget for the past 25 years, it's Grover Norquist "No Tax" pledge and those Republicans who signed it.

So I've created a little chart here, based half on arithmetic and half on intuition, that takes into account all the larger spending bills and tax cuts of the past decade and runs them in reverse back to 1986, assuming Congress would have also raised the revenue and closed tax loopholes during that time to pay for them - as if the Norquist tax pledge never existed. Without the Norquist pledge, the federal government would have paid it’s bills with minimal borrowing and we would not have the perception of a debt crisis we now have today.

Future Uncertain With Pledge-Induced Debt

The truth of the matter is; if you're concerned about the causes of the nation's debt and decline without understanding the enormous negative impact from the Norquist tax pledge, you're simply not paying attention or in denial. I also contend that Norquist's pledge-induced-debt is intentionally laying down the foundation for a superstructure of debt to eventually cause the collapse of our Constitutional government, the American social compact and the end of the U.S.A. as we know it.

One way or another, Republicans claim disaster awaits. They should know.

Related:

Random Person Creates New Pledge For Congress

The Congressional Re-Affirmation Pledge

Paul Ryan Wants To Turn Social Media Passwords Over To Your Boss

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W-T-F?!!

Wisconsin State Journal Excerpt:
Password secrecy protections: Members on Tuesday defeated, 184-236, a bid to guard the secrecy of passwords for entering social media sites such as Facebook. A yes vote was to empower the FCC to bar companies it regulates from obtaining worker passwords as a condition of employment. (HR 3309)

Voting yes: Baldwin, Kind, Moore

Voting no: Ryan, Sensenbrenner, Petri, Duffy, Ribble

Republicans are pure evil. I wish I was saying that only to demagogue them.

A Few Paul Ryan Cartoons

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Will Shadowy Doctors Group Have Hissy Fit Over Ryan's Devastating Cuts to Health care?

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In a defensive response to a political video ad last year showing a Paul Ryan-like figure throwing grandma off a cliff, a group calling themselves "AmericanDoctors4Truth," created a new video ad with a direct reference to Obama (and using his voice) throwing a senior off the cliff. The doctor's ad, (these guys are strictly non-partisan humanitarians) then takes issue with the $575 billion in savings to Medicare over the next ten years that would be used as a down payment expanding coverage to an additional 30 million Americans. The "doctors" note that, “President Obama and those Democrats who supported ObamaCare began throwing seniors off the cliff on March 30th, 2010, when they voted to cut Medicare’s budget by $575 billion.”

The problem for the doctor's group now is, Paul Ryan just offered the GOP's annual Medicare-killing budget again that not only aims to repeal Obama's signature health care reform, BUT intends on removing another estimated $205 billion in Medicare savings in addition to Obama's Medicare budget - THEN - quadruples that figure to $2.5 trillion in cuts to federal health care programs - over the coming decade, thus dwarfing the original $575 billion in federal health care cuts. Health care cuts are health care cuts and patients are patients, right?

Oh, doctors4truth, where art thou?

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but there's nothing like getting egg on your face before you throw an omelet.

A member of the doctor's group explains, “Patient-centered health care reform is the only ethical reform any health care provider should support. We are not politicians – we are doctors. We don’t treat Republicans or Democrats – we treat patients.”

Sure, they're not partisans. Oh, yeah.

Below is a nice video mash-up by the Democurmudgeon that includes the original "cliff" video and the new doctors video along with some Ed Show discussion.

Whose Side Is The DCCC On?

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It's easy to understand why the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) uses Paul Ryans' Randian class war budget manifesto to pound on GOP congressional candidates. Ryan's ideological claptrap is the gift that keeps on giving. For those obvious reasons, the DCCC has anti-Ryan Medicare Killing robocalls, emails and campaign ads running in defense of democratic House candidates nearly everywhere in the country - except for Ryan's challenger, Rob Zerban. That doesn't make sense.

Down With Tyranny rightfully takes the DCCC to task over that and issues a direct challenge to the DCCC to support Zerban with some campaign cashola. But I think there's an even bigger problem here ...

Down With Tyranny Excerpt:
For the last two weeks, the DCCC has urged candidates to found Ryan's anti-Medicare budget. That's fine. But do they do anything for Rob Zerban? Not that I've seen. And when I speak to DCCC-connected major donors, they tell me Steve Israel discourages them from donating to Zerban's campaign.

Say what?

In July of 2011 after the upset victory in upstate New York's special election, Steve Israel had this to say...

Huff post Excerpt:
"We have an excellent Democratic candidate named Rob Zerban who got into the race largely because he couldn't tolerate Paul Ryan's leadership on a plan to terminate Medicare, while funding tax cuts for big oil companies," DCCC Chair Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) told The Huffington Post in a late-night interview Tuesday. "So that's one district where the political landscape may change."

So what has changed?

If there's any truth to the "discouraging donations to Zerban" statement by DWT, and there's no reason for anyone to doubt it, Israel has some 'splainin' to do.

It's one thing to finally recognize Zerban's candidacy in the 1st Congressional District as an "emerging race," and I can even spin the idea that Ryan serves as an able stooge and gift that the Democratic Party hasn't seen in years. No problem. I can even understand some unwillingness to commit some real money right now ...although that seems to be a more indefensible position with each passing day. But to discourage donations to Ryan's challenger? Every dollar pulled away from Rob Zerban is another dollar in Ryan's pocket. That's not only just brutal, but if Israel or the DCCC are actively discouraging donations to a democratic challenger to Paul Ryan, or any viable democratic candidate,  it reeks of an unforgivable duplicity that's ...traitorous. Come on ...say it ain't so.

Ed Schultz or Rachel Maddow should have Israel or Wasserman-Schultz appear on their show to clarify their position and issue their official endorsement for the 1st CD of Wisconsin and back it up with a check.

I'm not purposely trying to make it too difficult for the democrats at the DCCC, but it's either Paul Ryan or Rob Zerban.

Are you kidding me?

Comment From Hullabaloo:
No, it's not "one or the other." But the reason they don't want to fight Ryan is because they would rather keep him around to raise money for the surrender in the battle against privatising Medicare. Without Ryan, there is no one to force them to do what they want to do but what they don't want to be seen as wanting to do. -- yournamehere

Suicide Victim Connected With Ryan's Office

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Very sad indeed. It's always disturbing to hear about someone so distraught with life and hopelessness that they find the only solution is to end it. Such was apparently the case of the person who decided to shoot himself at the front of Rep. Paul Ryan's office in Janesville.

Although Ryan's staff claimed to not have any previous contact with the victim, Mark Kromrey of Janesville, the most recent news brief by the Janesville Gazette Staff reported that he did have correspondence with the congressman when he sent a letter to Paul Ryan in 2010 indicating he might kill himself near Ryan’s office. In 2011, Kromrey interacted again with the congressman over dealings about a lawsuit he filed against the FBI. Details of these interactions with Ryan remain guarded. This is Ryan's hometown.

According to an earlier report, Kromrey carried a note asking that he did not want to be resuscitated, which seems to be an unnecessary request considering he planned to take his own life at the office doorstep of the aloof and callous congressman.

Thankfully however, there are some compassionate and caring individuals still in this world as at least two people from inside the mall came to Kromrey's aid. Despite their heroic efforts, the man passed away at a local hospital.

R.I.P.

Coincidentally, the victim and the congressman are the same age - 42 years old.

WKOW - Suicide outside Congressman Ryan's Janesville office

Paul Ryan On Values: If It's Legal It's Moral

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No, it's not one my photoshops. The Faux News cable crew celebrated the moneyed politician's birthday on Sunday with a cake decorated with a giant dollar sign! How appropos! What? No Chateau d'Yquem? Hee-hee. Video of celebration here

Speaking of noble rot, in defense of vulture capitalism Ryan suggested that anything corporations do is moral as long as they follow the law.

"We need to defend the morality of a system in America that says you are free to take risks, to make money, to create jobs and to do it however you want to so long as it's legal."
-- Paul Ryan

Legality trumps morality -- this from the "values" crowd.

Crook and Liars Comment:
You forget they don't just follow the laws, they pay for those laws that they want to follow, that they know will enrich them while those laws impoverish everyone else. Mitt Romney and Bain capital were the assholes who paid for deregulation so that they could exploit the chaos that ensued, basically a criminal conspiracy from start to finish.

This is what you call Psychopath Inc

Paul Ryan Pushing For Tax Hikes On The Middle-Class

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Politiscoop Excerpt: (Sept. 2011)
MADISON-Paul Ryan, author of the plan to end Medicare, went on Fox News this weekend to advocate for tax hikes on the middle class.

Ryan, proponent of tax cuts for billionaires, opposes payroll tax cuts for middle class workers and told his Fox News cheerleaders that it was "class warfare" to suggest his advocacy for only the richest Americans was unfair.

Huff Post Excerpt:
(Sept. 2011)
He also said he opposes the president's proposal to require millionaires to pay the same tax rate as the middle class, known as the Buffett plan. "Class warfare might make for good politics, but it makes for rotten economics," Ryan said.

Quote
"If Paul Ryan wants to claim class warfare, we certainly know which class he's signed up to serve." -- Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate

Paul Ryan Picks Up Coveted Award

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Madison Cap Times bestows Ryan with "Scam Artist of the Year!" Not much room to add to this one...

Cap Times Excerpt:

Paul Ryan is a hustler. The Republican congressman from Janesville has gotten very good at fooling political and media elites into thinking that his schemes to steer federal money into the accounts of Wall Street speculators (by taking steps to privatize Social Security) and for-profit insurance companies (by turning Medicare and Medicaid into voucher programs) would balance budgets or in some other way improve the circumstances of working families.

But Ryan’s having a harder time fooling Americans who take fiscal matters and the future of the republic seriously.

...The fact is that millions of Americans are actively protesting against the political corruption that floods corporate cash into the campaign accounts of pliable congressmen like Paul Ryan. The American people are furious with the pay-to-play politics that has tipped the balance in Washington away from the best interests of people in communities such as Janesville and toward the special interests on Wall Street.

Get more here>>>

Too Much Computer Leads To Bad Computer

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Too much government inherently leads to bad government because there’s more of it to exploit and corrupt, according to Paul Ryan.

I've heard Ryan's big bad government speech several times before. It's the same old story and projections about how government naturally corrupts because crony capitalists always gravitate to where power is concentrated, etc., etc. But Ryan doesn’t see the obvious paradox, that by shrinking government for no other reason than to make it smaller, he would concentrate power in even fewer hands. We’re seeing this on a local scale in Wisconsin with county boards being whittled down from 30 supervisors to 7, 9 or 11. Fewer supervisors to influence makes it easier for those who naturally gravitate to power, but it also means more duties and more power in fewer hands.

I get a better understanding of his delinquent logic through my computer analogy. If Paul Ryan had a powerful 1000 trigabyte computer that became unstable after it was infected by a nasty virus, he'd scrap the entire computer and replace it with a much smaller one because there would be fewer trigabytes and registry keys to exploit and corrupt next time the system got infected, rather than legislate a remedy to remove and destroy the infection in order to restore the efficient 1000 trigabyte system. So, according to Paul Ryan and Tea Party ideologues - It's the size of government, not the alien corruption wreaking havoc inside that's the destabilizing problem.

That's a scary concept.

Watch Paul Ryan in his own words talk about the size of government and then make untrue and presumptuously skewed statements toward Barney Frank about the function of military. After being dismantled by Frank and Reich, Ryan then scrambles for the class war strawman saying how dangerous it is to talk about class division. He clearly does not play well with others:

"I never heard a poor person complain that it was dangerous to talk about economic equality" -- Rep. Barney Frank

Also, more pespective and videos on this story over the size of government at the Democurmudgeon.

Having Some Fun With Time and Their "Prophet"

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After I read the first page of Time Magazine's The Prophet, I had to scroll back up to make sure it was Time magazine and not some beta version of a Web based Mad magazine, in no disrespect to Mad magazine.

First thing I thought was, where in the world did they get their information from? The editorial staff of Ryan's hometown Janesville Gazette? The rest of the fluff and fill appears to be regurgitated generalizations from Ryan's public resume and GOP party talking points. God help us. There was no mention of Ryan's rubber stamping of $6 trillion in national deficits during the Bush era. No mention of spending billions on wars without paying for them. No mention of Ryan wanting tax cuts to lessen projected surpluses and no mention of wanting tax cuts to lessen projected deficits. And, the big kahuna of them all, no mention of Ryan's inspiration and reason to enter public office in the first place - Ayn Rand. I guess that's all too negative. His history that is.

Before reading Time's article, I left open the chance that there might be some redeeming quality about Paul Ryan. You know, that somehow they could articulate that possibility in their summary when choosing him among runner-ups in their highly pretentious "Person of the Year" gimmick. But after reading their summary, I now have to wonder whether they were paid a commission to rank him and write the profile because afterall, we are now in an era of corporate media and Ryan does have some big name billionaires in his contribution corner who will do anything to protect their interests.

So lets get this off the ground, it begins...

Time Excerpt:
Here's a curious fact: in a year of political gridlock, when Congress could get nothing done — not even pass a budget — the most influential American politician was House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan.

Let's revisit that curious fact. That during a time of political gridlock when Congress could get nothing done, Paul Ryan was the most influential politician. See any correlation there? You think by chance he had something to do with it all? By chance? Hey, no argument here but, why not give him the "gridlocker" of the year award instead?

Time then brings up when Newt Gingrich denounced Ryan's proposal as "right-wing social engineering."

But it was Ryan who watched with satisfaction as his fellow Republicans forced Gingrich to eat his words...

Is that how Ryan felt? A very strange statement indeed.

But this is a hot topic right now. We all know what happened after they made Gingrich eat his words. Soon afterwards, Gingrich's popularity began to steadily climb and looked almost unbeatable ...until they all caught on and ditched Ryan from the topics of the GOP presidential debates.

I might be the only political blogger (forgive me if I'm wrong) who linked Newt Gingrich's ascent to GOP presidential front-runner status when GOP skeletons like bluster-pus John Sununu (former New Hampshire Gov) came out of the crypt defending Ryan against Gingrich over the "Right-wing social engineering" comment. I surmised that if they continue to use Ryan's toxic proposals on the national stage to draw a contrast against Gingrich, Newtie would probably capture 50% of the GOP support base and become unstoppable in the GOP primary. I was right, but they also caught on.

Some bloggers on the Left and Right confidently insisted Romney didn’t make Gingrich’s "mistake." Instead, Romney wholeheartedly embraced Ryan’s plan ...only to find his polling numbers plummet. The fact is, Paul Ryan and his proposals are so politically toxic that they had to eventually ditch him to defend him. Ryan too saw the handwriting on the wall and found himself cravenly scrambling to "Newter" his Kill Medicare proposal to provide political cover for himself and his duped party members.

Soon after the republican party dropped Ryan and his Kill Medicare proposal from the national GOP debates, the obvious happened next. Establishment webloids like Politico giddily started writing Gingrich's obituary. Hey, it's the end of Newt-mentum! Other GOP presidential contenders caught on quickly about the negative effects of the Ryan factor and went through detox immediately. Suddenly, they all want to focus on their one common enemy - Barack Obama. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

Just two days ago, this USA Today article described how GOP criticism of Gingrich continues to mount. However, it's also very telling that in their attacks against him, Ryan's name and his GOP cornerstone proposals are not mentioned even once.

But now, Paul "progressives are a cancer" Ryan has enlisted Democratic Senator Ron Wyden among his victims in an effort to stop the free fall. Think. If Ryan's original budget plan is so good and the cornerstone of Republican policy, why would he suddenly want to change it? Why hide all that award winning success? It's the Holy Grail, right? But why wasn't Romney the front-runner soon after embracing it? My other point here is these establishment politicos and MSM outlets (phony non-partisans) seriously believe Ryan's ideological class war budget proposal will be the political conversation of the 2012 presidential debates. It's still possible, but NOT if Paul Ryan can help it.

Ryan's strange pariah-like popularity is now in free fall, and with a serious democratic contender challenging him on the district home front, he is running in fear and twisting in the winds to remain on the government dole. Don't forget that he's got billionaires seeking their salvation behind him, so the only thing left for him to do is draw in sympathetic democratic dupes to help form a bi-partisan support group for the GOP's cornerstone legislation, proposals that even top GOP presidential candidates had to ditch in order to save. Sen. Ron Wyden should be ashamed of himself for participating in Ryan's senior baiting Medicare killing phony make-over.

Time Excerpt:
What Ryan had this year was the courage to look the future in the eye. It is a seer's work to glimpse around the corner and sound an alarm. And in a democratic republic, it is the job of voters to choose a path away from danger. Ryan would say that all he has done is sound the alarm.

Did Ryan sound the alarm? Let's turn to 2008 when he first introduced his right-wing engineered class war proposal "Roadmap for America's Future." In August of that year, Ryan took questions at an African American Community forum held in Racine, Wisconsin, and in the middle of the forum, he was asked about Racine’s economy. The congressman said he thought the economy will remain in trouble, but that the answer goes back to fuel. He suggested lowering gas prices and reducing inflation as ways to fix the country’s apparent recession. Again, this forecast from The Prophet Paul came just one month before the housing market crashed and Wall Street imploded. He was clueless, partisan and pandering, just like he is today.

Time Excerpt:
He brought an ugly issue out of the foggy realm of think tanks and blue-ribbon panels and dropped it into the middle of the national debate in time to define the next presidential election.

Great. So it was Ryan who courageously brought it out, ...to define the next presidential election. Are you sure?

"I don't think there's anything courageous," Obama charged, "about asking for sacrifice from those who can least afford it." It was at about that moment, Ryan realized, that he and his plan had become a central issue in the 2012 elections. "That's when the lightbulb went off," Ryan explains. "They were constructing a political plan."

Of course! When Obama speaks the truth in one quick and easy to understand sentence, Ryan builds a conspiracy, "they were constructing a political plan" to make his plan a central issue in the 2012 elections. But we thought Ryan already made his plan the central theme for 2012...courageously I should add.

But I'm confused now. If a Democrat brings an ugly issue out from the foggy realm of our political landscape and drops it into the middle of the national debate, it's a political plot - a conspiracy. But when Ryan does it, it's courage? So, tell me. Was making Ryan's budget proposal a central issue in the 2012 elections Ryan's idea or Obama's? Is it an act of demagoguery and a conspiracy, or an act of courage? Does any of this matter? You bet it does ...for one, Ryan's recent announcement with Wyden gutted the establishment media who have been fawning over Ryan's "courage." They are now left with egg on their faces.

Time Excerpt:
And in a democratic republic, it is the job of voters to choose a path away from danger. Ryan would say that all he has done is sound the alarm.

No doubt, that is what the humble prophet would say. Of course he wouldn't want you to know that he was also the arsonist before he sounded the alarm. That's frivolous non-relevant information and we certainly don't want to confuse the voters when they try to pick the arsonist out from a group of suspects dripping in petrol and sulfur. But that Paul Ryan, "he's the guy," is how Adrian Monk would put it.

The Prophet Paul Ryan. Youze guys are a real hoot. But what could possibly be the sequel to that? The Catholic Church issuing him a "Compassion in Christ" award for his social legislation defending the poor and the weak? That would not surprise me all now.