Robert Stacy McCain @ The Other McCain:
‘Occupy the Truth’ rally in Cleveland, Ohio, Aug. 18, 2012
Photo by Pat Dooley (Hat-tip: Instapundit)Iowahawk’s observation — “Paul Ryan represents Obama’s most horrifying nightmare: math” — is well on its way to becoming world famous, and may yet become the final epitaph on Obama’s presidency. As I remarked Thursday:
If voters can be made to focus on the numbers — including the administration’s record deficit spending and historically high unemployment — it seems unlikely that the Democrat incumbent can be re-elected. And polls indicate that the “Ryan Effect” may already be making a difference. Not only does the Romney-Ryan ticket now lead both the Gallup and Rasmussen national tracking polls, but the latest Ohio polls also indicate a bounce for the Republicans since Ryan was announced as Romney’s running mate.
The Democrat-Media Complex has expended a lot of effort trying to convince us that Mitt Romney made a bad choice, and that the selection of Paul Ryan is a mistake. But the bold truth is always better politics than a timid evasion, and telling the truth — that Obama’s policies are actually a threat to the Medicare benefits of current retirees — is what the Ryan pick is all about. Evidence of the “Ryan Effect” includes the huge enthusiastic crowds that have begun showing up at GOP rallies, includingSaturday’s unprecedented turnout at The Villages in Florida:
I have no idea how many people were there, I’ve never seen a crowd that large at any of the events I’ve attended at The Villages, and the crowd was not disappointed.
Instapundit: “These guys don’t seem to be following the script that the Dems and media had written for them.” Exactly so. One of the great secrets to clear-thinking conservatism is being able to tune out the disinformation emanating from the liberal media — and from Republicans who have internalized a negative self-image based on the liberal worldview. The idea that retirees in Florida are so ignorant and so vulnerable to the Democrats’ “Mediscare” demagoguery that they will automatically reject any attempt at entitlement reform is part of the GOP’s negative self-image that cannot be defeated unless it is directly confronted.
But that’s a pretty big IF.
Look at all of the pretty distractions!
Here!
Here!
Over here!
Looky here!
Our hope is that Americans do focus on the numbers.
Obama’s hope is something else.
” ‘Occupy the Truth’ rally in Cleveland, Ohio, Aug. 18, 2012 ” – I absolutely LOVE IT!!!
Because…the Truth never Lies!!! And you don’t have to ‘back track’ the Truth… or “cover” the Truth… or “Remember the Lies” which are being sold [by the left/MSM] as the truth…or suffer from foot in mouth syndrome… Numbers don’t lie… or BEST: Convince People of the Truth….
And you usually get a good nights sleep with the Truth…you don’t keep yourself up hoping you don’t get caught in a lie…”if” you have a conscience that is…
…but then you have Obama and his Administration… I don’t think the word “Truth” is in their Vocabulary…
Here’s the truth about Ryan—the ‘non-Keynesian guy’:
Paul Ryan Was a Vocal Advocate for Bush’s Stimulus Bills: ‘You Have to Spend a Little to Grow a Little,’ He Said in 2002
http://www.pensitoreview.com/2012/08/19/paul-ryan-in-2002-promoting-bushs-third-stimulus-bill-weve-got-to-get-the-engine-of-economic-growth-growing-again/
I guess Ryan is as big a ‘flip-flopper’ as Romney.
@Liberal1 (objectivity):
There is a big difference in the “stimulus” spending of Bush, and that of Obama’s monstrosity. Bush’s plans gave back to the consumers in a direct fashion that allowed them to decide where and how much would be spent. Obama’s plan sent money via “crony capitalism” projects that enriched no one but his ‘friends’.
Another difference is that the stimulus of Bush’s plans were not place onto the baseline budget of the federal budget, to be a continuing drain upon the citizenry year after year.
And Ryan is right. In order to make money(or gain revenue), you have to spend a little. Unfortunately, liberal/progressives, while maybe parroting that idea, do not understand it, or how it is accomplished.
Even if you accept the wildly improbable assumptions that the Ryan budget requires to work, it still wouldn’t balance the budget for 28 years. In the meantime, the national debt keeps growing.
Don’t kid yourself. This isn’t a deficit reduction budget. This is a new package of tax breaks for those already having the most wealth and the highest income, combined with a plan for disassembling the retirement, health care, educational, and assistance programs that benefit the remaining 90 percent of the population.
From The American Conservative article, The Paul Ryan Budget: Dissents Right and Center
Don’t know what part of the Romney/Ryan ticket aren’t using the Ryan Plan you don’t understand…..
Nowhere in the two articles you linked does it say that or support your claims.
If it’s not a deficit reduction budget–a statement that the Fiscal Times article would certainly support–what exactly are we left with? Large tax cuts for the wealthist, and program cuts that will negatively impact nearly everyone else.
That’s not so much an opinion as a description.
@Greg:
And you clearly base that on…..absolutely nothing….as usual.
I base that on the known facts and deductive logic. You really should try it sometime. It allows you to arrive at conclusions yourself, rather than having to have someone else tell you what to think.
You don’t know what logic is and your deduction skills are exceptionally poor. You parrot leftist talking points, then say I need others to tell me what to think.
Are there medications you should be on?
I find it highly amusing that one of our resident liberal/progressives is criticizing the Ryan budget plan, which isn’t even being used by Romney/Ryan according to Nan, for not being aggressive enough in dealing with the federal budget problems. Especially so in light of Obama’s record debt addition in just three and a half years, as if Obama’s budget (What budget?) will address the problem more effectively.
That’s akin to telling the guy with the teacup trying to bail the water out of the boat to get out of the way and let the guy with the drill fix the problem.
Forbes, 8/14/2012: Paul Ryan’s Real Goal: It’s Not A Balanced Budget
You think you’re going to get something new and different with Romney/Ryan? Consider some of the people who are on Romney’s Economic Bench: Glenn Hubbard–Mr. Conflict of Interest–the architect of the Bush tax cuts, which ultimately contributed to a doubling of the national debt during good economic times; Phil Gramm, who pushed through the deregulation legislation that, among other things, repealed vital parts of the Glass-Steagall Act, set the stage for the 2007 subprime lending crisis, and eventually precipitated the 2008 global financial crisis; Kevin Hassett, the author of Dow 36,000: The New Strategy for Profiting From the Coming Rise in the Stock Market, in which he predicted in 1999 that the DJIA would inevitably increase by 4 times. (Hey! We can privatize Social Security, put our money in the stock market, and all get rich!); Michael Boskin, Chairman of Economic Advisors under Bush 1, who famously expressed the opinion that “It does not make any difference whether a country makes computer chips or potato chips.”
Mitt Romney and these people are going to guide the nation into better economic times? You have got to be kidding. This reads like a usual suspects list. They’re some of the same people whose thinking got us into the situation we were in at the end of 2008.
@Greg:
And that is the BIG lie that liberal/progressives have pushed since the economic problem started. That’s partly what got Obama elected.
Of course, they fail to mention people like Barney Franks or Christopher Dodd in that group. They fail to mention people like Maxine Waters and the conflict of interest she involved herself in. They fail to mention quite a few of the liberal/progressives who led us into the problems we have been facing as a nation. Intellectual dishonesty? No, business as usual.
@johngalt:, #12:
Right. Romney didn’t need the budget plan. He just needed a sidekick with Tea Party credibility. He’s got his own budget plan. You can trust him on that point.
Some of the points in Romney’s plan:
Cap Spending At 20 Percent Of GDP….
* Reduced from 24.3 percent last year; in line with the historical trend between 18 and 20 percent
*Close to the tax revenue generated by the economy when healthy
*Requires spending cuts of approximately $500 billion per year in 2016 assuming robust economic recovery with 4% annual growth, and reversal of irresponsible Obama-era defense cuts
Return Non-Security Discretionary Spending To Below 2008 Level
* Send Congress a bill on Day One that cuts non-security discretionary spending by 5 percent across the board
*Pass the House Republican Budget proposal, rolling back President Obama’s government expansion by capping non-security discretionary spending below 2008 levels
Build A Simpler, Smaller, Smarter Government:
* Repeal Obamacare — Savings: $95 Billion. President Obama’s costly takeover of the health care system imposes an enormous and unaffordable obligation on the federal government while intervening in a matter that should be left to the states. Mitt will begin his efforts to repeal this legislation on Day One.
*Privatize Amtrak — Savings: $1.6 Billion. Despite requirement that Amtrak operate on a for-profit basis, it continues to receive about $1.6 billion in taxpayer funds each year. Forty-one of Amtrak’s 44 routes lost money in 2008 with losses ranging from $5 to $462 per passenger.
*Reduce Subsidies For The National Endowments For The Arts And Humanities, The Corporation For Public Broadcasting, And The Legal Services Corporation — Savings: $600 Million. NEA, NEH, and CPB provide grants to supplement other sources of funding. LSC funds services mostly duplicative of those already offered by states, localities, bar associations and private organizations.
*Eliminate Title X Family Planning Funding — Savings: $300 Million. Title X subsidizes family planning programs that benefit abortion groups like Planned Parenthood.
*Reduce Foreign Aid — Savings: $100 Million. Stop borrowing money from countries that oppose America’s interests in order to give it back to them in the form of foreign aid.
*Reduce Waste And Fraud — Savings: $60 Billion. The federal government made $125 billion in improper payments last year. Cutting that amount in half through stricter enforcement and harsher penalties yields returns many times over on the investment.
*Align Federal Employee Compensation With The Private Sector — Savings: $47 Billion. Federal compensation exceeds private sector levels by as much as 30 to 40 percent when benefits are taken into account. This must be corrected.
*Repeal The Davis-Bacon Act — Savings: $11 Billion. Davis-Bacon forces the government to pay above-market wages, insulating labor unions from competition and driving up project costs by approximately 10 percent.
*Reduce The Federal Workforce By 10 Percent Via Attrition — Savings: $4 Billion. Despite widespread layoffs in the private sector, President Obama has continued to grow the federal payrolls. The federal workforce can be reduced by 10 percent through a “1-for-2” system of attrition, thereby reducing the number of federal employees while allowing the introduction of new talent into the federal service.
*Consolidate agencies and streamline processes to cut costs and improve results in everything from energy permitting to worker retraining to trade negotiation.
@Liberal1 (objectivity): I don’t have to guess that your an idiot who hasn’t flopped but flipped. The fact remains that no matter how much you attempt to rail against Romney and Ryan you really prove your ignorance as America is faced with the failure of an 0blama presidency. It’s right in front of you and your too supid to see or admit to it. Unempmloyment was supposed to be below 6%, what happened? Don’t blame Republicans including Ryan-Romney-or Bush, just makes you look even more pathetic than you are. The deficit was to be cut in half, remember? It was 0blama who made this promise to get elected. Who wasted $780 billion with nothing to show for it? Yep you got it, 0blama. You somehow think your smart when you discuss Romney and Ryan-all you really are is a smart ass who can’t see the clearest evidence of all and that is 0blama’s failure as President.
@Greg: Brought to you by Greg the blind. 0blama said he would cut the deficit in half in his first term. He has increased it at a historical rate to an all time high. What happened Greg?? Please don’t blam Bush or the Republicans, just makes you look really pathetic. Oblama promised to bring unemployment below 6%, what happened Greg?? Once again to blam Bush or the Republicans for Oblama’s promise to get elected just makes you look more ignorant than you possibly could be. BTW, how are we coming with the proof of Reid’s accusations relevant to Romney’s taxes? Remember, you believe it so prove it. I’m still waiting.
@Greg: I trust Romney more than 0blama. We know for a fact that 0blama has lied to America. See his promises on the deficit and unemployment for starters. Oh yea, don’t for get “shovel ready projects”.
@Greg: Proof Greg, something you always fail to produce.
There are none so blind as those who will not see.
@Greg: What did you do, look in the mirror.
@Greg:
You seem to be a living example of that, Greg.
-Obama stated with passage of stimulus, that unemployment wouldn’t pass above 8%. Unemployment since then has not dropped below 8%.
-Obama has added, to this point, just 3.5 years into his term, more onto the national debt than Bush did in eight years. At the current pace, Obama, if given a second term, would double the national debt from when he took office.
-Obama claimed, with passage of Obamacare, that those of us with healthcare plans could keep our doctors and plans we already had. I am just one of the many who have had the plan I was on discontinued, with passage of Obamacare given as reasoning. I now have less coverage, at a higher cost, than I had previously.
-Obama bypassed Congress and enacted his own version of the “Dream Act”, in direct contradiction to his given powers as outlined within the Constitution.
-Obama has fiddled while Rome(the US) has been burning, admonishing others for excesses while he and his family have indulged at the expense of We, the People.
-Obama has engaged in “crony capitalism” as bad, or worse, than his predecessor, including the effective nationalization of a US auto manufacturer, inserting himself and the federal government into the bankruptcy proceedings turning accepted bankruptcy law on it’s head, as payback to the UAW for his election.
-Obama has allowed an officer in his cabinet to shirk his duties to all Americans, to the benefit of some.
-Obama has allowed that same officer to engage in actions leading to direct conflict of Obama’s sworn duties, as proscribed by the Constitution.
-Obama has engaged in class-warfare against some, including those who drive the private economy, in obvious efforts at vote-pandering, leading to suspicion and wariness of his party, and adding to the economic doldrums the US has been in for going on three years.
-Obama has allowed a group that previously was identified as related to terrorist groups within the ME, to assume control of one ME country, and that is fighting as we speak for control of another, both of which immediately surround Israel. Said group has stated previously their intent to destroy Israel.
-Obama has allowed the charges of racism to become commonplace, and the preferable charge against the opposition, whenever disagreement is observed. In so doing, Obama has allowed race relations to have taken many, many steps backwards from where we were just a few short years ago.
-Obama has taken the one outstanding accomplishment of his presidency and made it all about Obama himself.
Now, Greg, what were you saying about not seeing? Stones, glass houses. Enough said.