That's why we want to see Ryan's tax returns too!

So what year was it that Eddie Munster's budget plan actually balanced the budget? 2040?

He made friends on both sides of the aisle? Did I read that right? Was that a typo or miss-quote?

When Willard opens his mouth he lies!

It's OK Bigben, keep on laughing out loud. Come November, be sure to stock up on extra tissue as you will need it!

Al - big ben is insane. We all know it. Just ignore him - he's out of his room on his daily walk. The men in white coats will put him back soon!

Benny, here is a Washington Times analysis of the deficit to show where it is coming from. It clearly shows President Obama has contributed far less to the national debt than the failed policies of the previous administration:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/adding-to-the-deficit-bush-vs-obama/2012/01/31/gIQAQ0kFgQ_graphic.html

Yep, time for Ryan to release his taxes. Will he release more years than Romney?

SeekingSanity

Al - big ben is insane. We all know it. Just ignore him - he's out of his room on his daily walk.

SeekingSanity

That's a good one. Ben is going into the woods now looking for a Tea Party.

Paul Ryan, definition: Heartless fake Christian.

I'm still baffled by this pick. The only reasonable explanation is Mitt was on a conference call with Karl and the Kook brothers and was told to go with Ryan or he'd be dumped at the convention for the New Jersey twinkie.

Paul Ryan "reaches across the aisle" and picks their pockets while stabbing them in the backs...............what BS.........WHAT is Romney thinking, Ryan better than Sarah???

Thank you, Mitt! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I actually like you now. You've now assured me that you can not possibly win the election and have taken a huge worry off of my shoulders. Thank you again, Mitt!

• Newt already defined Ryan -- right wing social engineering.

• Remember -- after Paul Ryan introduced his "Medicare Reform" and seniors started showing up at his town hall meetings asking far too many difficult questions -- he started CHARGING people to attend his town hall meetings. This clown is afraid to face the people in his own district. Also remember -- the Ryan budget is so bad even Republicans in the Senate tried to hide from it.

Rmoney/Ryan

Sec. of State-Bachmann, miss diplomacy

Sec. of Defense-Palin (she'll watch those sneaky Russians from her back porch)

Sec. of Treasury- Squirmin Herman Cain, 9-9-9 Baby (or is that 666?) and Goldmann Sachs

Sec. of Interior-Perry (assuming that Texas soesn't secede)

Fed Chairman- Adelbrain Adelson, "Come on into the casino folks"

Sec. of HHS-Rick Santorum

Surgeon General-Chris Christie

Sec. of Education-Ron Paul

who have I omitted?

Ron Huntsman will have to stay in China for 4 more years. He's far too sane to be in the same country as the other TP/GOP(PNAC) wackos

President Obama Sends Romney Back Into the Fetal Position With Video on the Ryan Budget

The interesting thing about Romney and Ryan's speeches this morning is that they both tried to avoid talking about what Paul Ryan is famous for. They didn't specifically mention the Ryan budget. They talked about preserving Medicare, while hoping that voters wouldn't realize that they plan to save Medicare by killing it and turning it into a voucher system.

The Obama video and Messina's statement both use Paul Ryan to tie Romney to the unpopular House, the policies of George W. Bush, the war on women, and privatizing Medicare and Social Security. It also reinforces the Obama campaign's messages about Romney's stance on the middle class, and his plan to give tax cuts for the wealthy while raising taxes on everyone else.

Instead of separating their candidate from the very unpopular congressional Republicans, the Romney campaign married them. The Romney campaign gave Democrats a message to deliver to those voters who are concerned about the Republican desire to gut Social Security and Medicare. The Ryan budget might be even more well known than Paul Ryan himself, so it a ridiculous for the Romney campaign to try to run away from the it.

http://www.politicususa.com/obama-send-romney-fetal-position-video-ryan-budget.html

==============================================

Yup, MYTH picked a game ender instead of a game changer. The Republicans are going to have to set their Voter Suppression Phasers to eleventy in order to even have a shot. I mean, when Fox News is forced to report that Obama is up 9 points over Romney, you know @!$%# is about to go down and the Romney campaign is not ready.

Soon they will all be lying on Sean Hannity's couch in a fetal position complaining about Our President and how he is kicking their azzes

Obama/Biden 2012

4 more years

Before MittWit picked Ryan, I wasn't that concerned about the election. Clueless waffeling rich scam artist vs President Obama, not a chance.

Now it has just become a comedy reality show.

Admit it MittWit, you're doing this for the network money so they can have a free comedy hour called Herman and Eddie run for the White House.

So here it be. The final recap of those who Romney was afraid to pick:

It proved NOT to be Daniels; he scared first wives, ex-wives, the first wife a second time (but living next door), oh hell, just wives in general.

It proved NOT to be Pawlenty; he scared himself.

It proved NOT to be Rubio; he scared Latinos, or at least Latinos who were brown.

It proved NOT to be Condi; she scared Mormons, or at least Mormons who were white.

It proved NOT to be Portman; he scared people who remembered Bush.

It proved NOT to be Jeb; he still IS a Bush.

It proved NOT to be Paul; he scared people who couldn't remember a dang thing.

It proved NOT to be Jindal; he scared the entire cast of The Simpsons, with the
possible exception of Apu at the Kwik-E-Mart.

It proved NOT to be Trump; he scared Mr. Burns. Who would have thought ANYONE capable of THAT?

It proved NOT to be Haley; she scared the extreme Right Wing.

It proved NOT to be Christie; he scared the entire chicken.

It proved NOT to be Ayotte; she scared men.

It proved NOT to be McDonnell; he scared women. Well, those with...you know.

It proved NOT to be Bachman; she scared the living.

It proved NOT to be Cheney; he scared the dead, as well as anyone still on a
transplant list.

It proved NOT to be Palin; thank God.

It DID prove to be someone human; presenting quite the stark contrast.

It proved to be Paul Ryan; he who scares seniors, at least those who haven't already done him the favor of dying.

In the end, Mr. Romney, in seeking to become Commander in Chief of the United States of America and symbolic leader of the entire free world, proved that he himself had been scared.

Mitt, in the end, proved himself a dime-store, bought-and-sold coward.

Mitt was afraid of the Tea Party.

Don't assume it won't be a close race -- the rightwing Haters would vote for Hitler. Also, with Medicare added to the debate, many races could now go Democrat so even folks who live in Red states or districts -- Get your ID and VOTE!

MSNBCMFE, Wow. You are absolutely right.

Seniors I guess are okay to scare. That's where we are today with the Republican Party. Seniors are expendable. Just don't scare off the Tea Party and Limbaugh and Coulter and their crowd.

Mitt Romney was given the riot act. Listen to us or else. And he caved. Again.

Senior citizens? Eh. They were just thrown aside.

Great, great post.

What a bunch of f'ing idiots.

This goes to show how insane our political system and society is right now.

Before the mid 1970's (and after 1929) If any politician had said that he was going to create jobs or make the economy better by cutting federal spending and slashing SS, Medicare and UI, the members of BOTH political parties would have said he belonged in the looney bin.

And in most places around the country any crowd of americans he spoke in front of would have laughed him off of the podium.

We didn't get out of the Great Depression by cutting federal spending or slashing programs like SS or unemployment Insurance, the opposite, we increased federal spending and we CREATED Social Security, UI etc. DURING the Depression and they helped bring us out of it.

But even New Deal spending wasn't enough to wip the Great Depression. It was only after we entered WWII and SPENT EVEN MORE (and the government completely took over the economy) that it ended and the unemployment rate returned to pre 1929 levels.

http://www.fasttrackteaching.com/ftap/Unemployment_300g15.gif

(And by the way, that brief jog upward in the unemployment around 1936-37 shown by the graph was when the FDR administration briefly STOPPED spending and started trying to lower the deficit. They quickly realized their mistake (politicians used to do that) and started spending again and unemployment went down again)

As a result of New Deal but much more WWII spending we had the biggest debt to GDP ratio in our history in 1946 (150%) and right after that two solid decades of economic boom also referred to by economists as the Golden Age of Capitalism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post–World_War_II_economic_expansion

(and I might add this boom took place with high taxes on the top income bracket: 90% during the 1950's (With a Republican Administration) and 70% during the 1960's)

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oaQrkmOxApI/Th5u8DwpNPI/AAAAAAAAOLg/mAkjL_w545E/s1600/TopTaxBracket_TaxRate.jpg

After WWII ended even business people were panicky and thought we might slip back into depression again without war time spending which is one of the reasons we had the Cold War for the next 3-4 decades. It kept federal spending high.

And don't think I'm just picking on the Republicans here. Obama and the Democrats are really right up there along side the Republicans as deficit hawks, it's just that they are more devious and clever at seeming like they are not. Obama has been cutting federal jobs and he signed an agreement with the Republicans to slash trillions from Federal Spending.

That's why Main Street is still in a Recession while Wall Street, which received and continues to receive massive federal help is soaring (until they swindle themselves and us off of a cliff again, of course, because of DE regulation).

It wasn't until the Nutty Professor (Milton Friedman) came along and started babbling about the imaginary "Free-Market" that we had this descent into madness and our present sad state.

It only takes 30-45 minutes of looking on the internet if you want to find out whats really going on (and what has gone on in the past).

Stop reading about Lindsey Lohan, the newest iPad or looking at internet porn for a few minutes and wise yourself up.

Your job, standard of living and freedoms may depend on it.

john: just a little light reading to edumacate yourself.

GOP plot is definitely un-American

http://thetandd.com/news/opinion/gop-plot-is-definitely-un-american/article_9b7b63fc-a6c2-11e1-bb29-0019bb2963f4.html

Did Republicans deliberately sabotage the economy?

http://tucsoncitizen.com/baja-democrats/2012/06/10/did-republicans-deliberately-sabotage-the-economy/

Three’s A Trend: Polls Show Voters Believe GOP Intentionally Stalling Economic Recovery

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/threes-a-trend-polls-show-voters-believe-gop-intentionally-stalling-economic-recovery.php

If the GOP DOES tip the country back into recession, their losses in Nov. will be HUGE!!! THEN Obama will be able to execute his plan, which probly be quite similar to Clinton's plan--- targeted spending increases, targeted tax increases for the well to do and wealthy and corporations. 80% of Americans support those increases.

BUT, does it occur to you that the GOP debt crisis is something we'll NEVER recover from? They "starved the beast" so they could privatize SS and Medicare and it may well turn this country into a 2nd rate country! Dont talk about the "Obama deficits" cuz that is just all BS! The FACT is that the GOP endangered the national security, financial stability and economic future of this country by DELIBERATELY creating this HUGE debt, and THAT is treason.

What is needed is the destruction of this version of the GOP because they've caused crisis after crisis, and it may take a generation of non-interference for all the problems to be fixed! Perhaps picking Ryan will be the catalyst for this!

Do you HONESTLY think if Obama wins in November, he will be able to enact SQUAT??

HELL NO. The party of "NO" will still thwart any attempt to fix the country. The minority rules of the Senate MUST STOP. The threat of a filibuster needs to be removed, or at least be overridden by a 51 vote majority.

I was thinking of Paul Ryan months ago when I wrote the below;

Conservatives get a little upset when talk turns to attacks on the middle class, society turning its back on those in need, that sort of thing. That makes a certain amount of sense. Most of the “regular folk” Conservatives I know tend to be pretty reasonable people who realize we all depend on each other to a degree but they also value spending money wisely and perhaps have some concerns over social issues. They remind me of good Republicans like Gerald Ford, Robert Ray, Nelson Rockefeller, Jim Leach…even George HW Bush. Right now like most of us they’re particularly worried about oil prices.

My concern is really more with leaders in the Conservative Movement. What do they believe? Perhaps their concerns with oil prices aren’t the same as the rest of us;

First, the Koch brothers fought efforts to give the Commodity Futures Trading

Commission more oversight over speculative trading, whereby companies can artificially

inflate prices on things such as oil, during the Wall Street reform debate. One

of the Koch companies—Koch Supply & Trading—takes part in oil and derivatives

trading. We should point out that oil speculation has reached an all-time high at the

same time gas prices continue to skyrocket.

http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/2011/04/pdf/koch_brothers.pdf

When President Obama spoke on the budget a couple of weeks ago he said a great deal that most Americans can agree with. He sees a nation of people who work together, cooperating to do great things. He sees a nation that reaches a hand to the fallen, helping them get up and regain their role as productive members of society. He sees an America in which hard work has value, no matter the work. It’s a vision that even appeals to a lot of Conservatives;

Surprise, surprise! Faced with the prospect of Medicare cuts, even tea party folks find griping about "big government" to be a lot more fun than actually shrinking it.

Seventy percent of those who identified themselves as supporters of the fiscally conservative movement in a new McClatchy-Marist poll oppose cuts to Medicaid and Medicare to solve the country's deficit woes.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-oped-0424-page-20110424,0,3425049.column

Again, Conservative leaders have a different path in mind;

On Day 2 of Glenn Beck’s weeklong series devoted to “The Plan” to save America, Beck revived one of his former pet projects: abolishing Social Security and Medicare. This time, however, Beck enlisted a couple of pals to help him sell his audience on the benefits of living without a social safety net. One guest, Chris Edwards of The Cato Institute argued that retirees would be safer without the safety net. Beck, however, revealed that his only real interest was in getting rid of the programs, not to figure out any alternatives; when he argued against Edwards’ plan, Beck admitted that he had just made up his own plan on the spot. In other words, destroying other people’s social safety net was the only part of Beck’s Plan that he had bothered to plan. As everyone sang the praises of getting young people to give up their Social Security and Medicare, nobody mentioned that the one sure benefit of getting rid of Social Security and Medicare would be to the bottom line of Beck’s and other millionaires’ tax bill.

http://www.newshounds.us/2010/04/14/mulitmillionaire_glenn_beck_tries_to_sell_you_on_giving_up_social_security_and_medicare_.php

How is it that beliefs of these Conservative Republican leaders differ so dramatically from the common sense Conservatives I’ve known all my life? As far as I can tell it’s because the reasonable Conservatives I know they come to their beliefs honestly, through a simple belief in moderation and caution. The hard core seem to be under the influence of something a little stronger;

"For over half a century," says Jennifer Burns, a recent biographer of the novelist, "(Ayn) Rand has been the ultimate gateway drug to life on the right."

http://northdenvernews.com/content/view/2272/2/

So what? What could it hurt if a novelist is popular with a particular segment of society? Certainly in America we’re all free to read as we wish, but some writings are better read and rejected than read and believed. A study of Ayn Rand uncovers a great deal to see in that light;

The philosophy, such as it was, which Rand laid out in her novels and essays was a frightful concoction of hyper-egotism, power-worship and anarcho-capitalism. She opposed all forms of welfare, unemployment insurance, support for the poor and middle-class, regulation of industry and government provision for roads or other infrastructure. She also insisted that law enforcement, defense and the courts were the only appropriate arenas for government, and that all taxation should be purely voluntary.

It certainly would appear that the GOPTP is trying to bring works of fiction into a real world that’s stubbornly more complicated than a world we write to suit our whims. Perhaps there are also clues as to why Conservatives are so insistent on working on the priorities of the wealthy elites at the exclusion of the middle class.

Her view of economics starkly divided the world into a contest between "moochers" and "producers," with the small group making up the latter generally composed of the spectacularly wealthy, the successful, and the titans of industry. The "moochers" were more or less everyone else, leading TNR's Jonathan Chait to describe Rand's thinking as a kind of inverted Marxism. Marx considered wealth creation to result solely from the labor of the masses, and viewed the owners of capital and the economic elite to be parasites feeding off that labor. Rand simply reversed that value judgment, applying the role of "parasite" to everyday working people instead. On the level of personal behavior, the heroes in Rand's novels commit borderline rape, blow up buildings, and dynamite oil fields -- actions which Rand portrays as admirable and virtuous fulfillments of the characters' personal will and desires. Her early diaries gush with admiration for William Hickman, a serial killer who raped and murdered a young girl. Hickman showed no understanding of "the necessity, meaning or importance of other people," a trait Rand apparently found quite admirable. For good measure, Rand dismissed the feminist movement as "false" and "phony," denigrated both Arabs and Native Americans as "savages" (going so far as to say the latter had no rights and that Europeans were right to take North American lands by force) and expressed horror that taxpayer money was being spent on government programs aimed at educating "subnormal children" and helping the handicapped. Needless to say, when Rand told Mike Wallace in 1953 that altruism was evil, that selfishness is a virtue, and that anyone who succumbs to weakness or frailty is unworthy of love, she meant it.

So if you ever wonder if Conservative leaders understand what it’s like to be a regular American you’re asking the wrong question. It’s not enough to know they don’t understand—they don’t even care.

BUT, does it occur to you that the GOP debt crisis is something we'll NEVER recover from? They "starved the beast" so they could privatize SS and Medicare and it may well turn this country into a 2nd rate country!

Amen. The GOP/TP burn down the house, then use the lack of a house as an excuse for their rightwing social engineering.

The premeditated obstruction by Teapublicans, particularly in the House--along with their primaries and electing far-Right crazies is going to backfire. Already we see Republicans leaving office because of the anarchy.

MrLightRail -- This is why it is so important for voters to reelect the president, and in turn give him a congress that will work together and work with him for progress.

"Ryan is solidly pro-life, pro-family, and will be an advocate for our military and our national security priorities...."

In other words

-Limited Government except when it comes to Idealistic issues, like abortion

-More Nation building even though both other efforts are failures, look out Iran

-Continuation of useless Military ops in other countries to bolster Defense industry contributions.

NICE

Hmmm... I am a moderately conservative Republican. I am becoming very disappointed in the Republican Party hierarchy’s shenanigans and impaired reasoning.

Surely, they must realize that Mr. Obama's election is the direct responsibility and fault of the Republican Party itself...

The Republican Party hung their hopes on a cranky old fart who could not remember how many houses he owns, and what's her name from Alaska. Those were two very bad, extremely poor, choices.

The same thing is going to happen this year, IF the Republican Party selects Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan as the nominees.

The Republican Party needs to get very serious, and quickly, about finding a better-qualified candidate to oppose Mr. Obama.

Willard is running around as if he has already won the nomination, prior to the convention..!! Plus, he is demonstrating exactly how goofy he is by announcing Mr. Ryan; added to his poor comments and statements such as those he made in London recently.

Willard is not a good choice. The best thing that could happen for the Republican Party is to have the convention delegates nominate a better qualified candidate, and leave Willard in the dust, wondering what happened.

Otherwise, there will be a Republican Party ticket with the belief that women should be pregnant during summer and barefoot during winter, plus favoring limiting many of women’s rights. Women better wake up and realize that.

Gosh, Ido, you mean the American people are behind Romney?

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/us/general_election_romney_vs_obama-1171.html

No, it doesn't look like it. The people are running from Etch-A-Sketch and not even FOX can make a silk purse out of that sow's ear. Maybe the electoral votes are stacking up in favor of Mitt.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/2012_elections_electoral_college_map.html

No, that doesn't look good for the GOP, either. Willard can't even take his own state, even though he was once governor!

The only rational conclusion, Ido, is that you are full of s**t and President Obama is riding to another landslide victory! Tell your teatard friends to stock up on tissues and Depends because you and your ilk are definitely going to need them the morning after Obama is reelected.

Let's at least be clear about a few things. The majority of Americans want Medicare, Social Security, Medicade and fair taxation and some sort of reasonable regulation of the Financial Industry and an end to the Empire building on our backs and the uninhibited right to vote. Every poll shows that is the truth. If there were not massive voter suppresion in the works, the election would prove it. There is only one thing to surmise from those facts, the Far Right is doing away with the democracy which is all about one man, one vote, and the majority rules.

Can anyone see any evidense of this as a fair democracy by the Far Right ideologs and their brainless folowers?

When you go to vote, assuming as an American citizen you are allowed, keep in mind all the blood and treasure that was spent to preserve this wounded Democracy. Ask yourselves, Republicans, Democrats or Independents, are you willing to give up to the self annointed ass holes trying to make us into a low wage society, The Neo Third World, where we owe everything and own nothing???????

Ed,

"Paul Ryan, definition: Heartless fake Christian."

While I understand your viewpoint, to attack Paul Ryan's actual faith is over, if not out of, bounds. Our history is full of "good" Christians, and founding fathers, who advocated policies abhorrent to liberal (and occasionally conservative) viewpoints. Think Slavery, Child Labor, corrupt Company Stores and Housing, Union Suppression Violence (especially state-sponsored), Monopolies, Government corruption and bribery, and War as a means of political or physical expansionism.

I find that Mr. Ryan's views, publicly stated and subject to debate, fall short of these historic abuses. However, I will gladly oppose his policies and election.

"We're going to talk about issues and a vision for America, and not drag down in the dirt... ," Romney said.

He couldn't get past the introduction without the fail, could he?

It's simple: On the right we have truth, integrity and prosperity; On the left we have lies, conniving and poverty. It only took Obama 3 1/2 years to have more people sucking on the government tit than ever before in our history. For 3 1/2 years we've heard Obama has a plan for reducing the federal debt. For 3 1/2 years we've seen nothing but record deficits. The only logical conclusion is that if love the lies, deceit, high unemployment, record deficits, and looking to the government for answers then vote Obama. On the other hand, if you remember what made this country great, and you want us to get back there with low unemployment, more personal responsibility and freedom, and a president that follows the laws then vote for Romney. The choice is clear.

Romney announced Ryan correctly. If elected, Ryan, like Cheney, will in fact, be the President. Romney wanted "Portman", would have settled for "Rubio" but was forced to take "Ryan". For those who really care to observe, this pair will reveal much underlying ugliness that is the foundation of the republican party. Basically, these two will tell us why government can only afford to safeguard the wealthy, while cutting everyone else loose to fend for themselves. Course, the money required to aid the wealthy will still be extracted from the labors of those who have been cast adrift.

SeekingSanity

Al - big ben is insane....

Ummm, sorry 'Seeking', just because somebody disagrees with YOU getting free housing, tranportation, food and childcare DOESN'T make them "insane". It's YOU that had better get ready to WORK in November!! --- Good Grief

So we have a problem here?

No....there are TONS of jobs out there. The one's that Obama promised 4 years ago...no problem.

On the right we have truth, integrity and prosperity; On the left we have lies, conniving and poverty.

Seldom have I seen so many lies in one sentence.

right = truth, integrity and prosperity

truth - where are the WMD's?

integrity - why was Bush's administration hung with the moniker "culture of corruption"?

prosperity - Officially over in 2009, the Great Recession is now generally acknowledged to be the most devastating global economic crisis since the Great Depression. As a result of the crisis, the United States lost more than 7.5 million jobs, and the unemployment rate doubled—peaking at more than 10 percent. The collapse of the housing market and subsequent equity market fluctuations delivered a one-two punch that destroyed trillions of dollars in personal wealth and made many Americans far less financially secure.

left = lies, conniving and poverty

see above - obviously you can't tell your right from your left!

Bev in Chi- town:

Eleventy.

Love it.

Stay awesome.

ee: You prove my point!

truth: Bush never said there were wmd's. He said that intelligence indicated he had them, and the rest of the world agreed, including algore, pelosi, reid, etc. And, they did find wmd's.

integrity: Only by the left. These are the same people who, somehow with a strait face, claim that Bush stole the election. Not sure how they came up with that conclusion. After all, the facts are that Bush one the initial vote. Bush won the recount. Bush won the second recount. That's 3-0. Yet, the left pursues their lies. Heck, the recount was in a very heavily dem county and the dems were doing the recount and they still couldn't come up with win. Since the dems have been taken over by socialist radicals, they've been lying constantly. The socialist media was constantly calling the economy terrible since Bush took over, yet it was humming along just fine until 2008. Bush and conservs had warned of the impending doom just about from the beginning of Bush's first term. But, Reid, Frank, Dodd and the rest of the libs in the Senate blocked all efforts to reign in the sub-prime situation, which Carter started and it was made drastically worse under Clinton. The always resorts to name calling these days. They don't have the right side of the economic issues, so they don't have anything else to rant about. Just read the posts on line and you'll see. Not sure what corruption that you are talking about. But, I imagine it's there in your imagination somewhere.

Actually, you are dead wrong about the economy that Bush left. The economy grew at a rate of 1.7% in 2008. We haven't had that good of growth since. Obama declared "we need to pass this stimulus to keep unemployment below 8%. It was at 7.2% when Obama took over. It hasn't been below 8% since then. And the real unemployment is around 17%, per the U6 figure, as opposed to the U3 figure used by the media. Oh, and remember those 163,000 jobs created in last month? Funny how Obama and his administration reported it. There's now a chink in the lib media armor. The Washington Post called the administration on it. Even the Dept. of Labor statistics reported that 1.2 million less people actually had jobs at the end of July than they did at the beginning of July. Maybe that helps to explain why, when 163,000 jobs were "created" that the unemployment rate went up from 8.2% to 8.3%. Plus, you must be pretty young. Carter left Reagan a heck of a lot worse mess, and it was all his doing. Bush, admittedly was too liberal and he didn't keep control of spending the last 2 years of his administration because Congress was controlled by dems and he didn't wield his veto pen like he should have.

And another thing. That ad about Romney being responsible for killing the guys wife. A totally despicable ad! Everything about it was a lie, except for the woman dying. It appears that it was produced with the assistance of the WH, which is against the law. Accounts indicate that the media was shown the ad in May in the WH.

As I say, the right has truth and integrity. Not the case for the left. In fact, I don't believe their has been a president who has hung around with more despicable characters over the years than Obama. There's no doubt he's a die-hard socialist and he pretty much admits it. It makes sense since that's who he hung around. The thing about socialism is that it has never worked int the history of the world. Capitalism and free-market enterprise, on the other hand, has resulted in the United States being the most prosperous nation the world has ever known. It's because of that that our poor are the richest poor in the world. And Obama, Pelosi and Reid, et. al. have been doing everything they can to destroy that. But, the people of this country are waking up and they will not allow it to happen. The fact that the economy is still in the tank was very predictable and the right have been absolutely correct about the results of Obama's policies. The left have yet to make a correct prediction. Just look at the 8% figure on unemployment.

It's good to see the rabid left losing their minds again.

Their guy adds $6 trillion in new debt, can't get unemployment below 8%, has a death list using drones to assassinate "enemies" with zero oversight, has no plan for the future other than more debt, more government and less personal freedom, and they can do nothing but complain about two guys who have an actual plan and the guts to actually pass a budget.

Who but a coward or a dimwit would vote for the incumbent?

As for the elderly, they are not nearly as dumb as the left wishes they were. Ryan comes from a liberal state and routinely wins re-election with 60% or so of the vote. Yeah, a real right wing nut. Keep talking, you just confirm your lack of knowledge.

Why just define Ryan, hell I can define both Romney and Ryan......... TWO RIGHT WING JERKS NOT FIT TO SERVE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.

"like how do we save Medicare instead of doing what the president did, which is cutting it by $700 billion -- that's what President Obama did"

This pr!ck just can't help himself, can he? He just HAS to lie to make a point. Targeting $500 Billion in Medicare savings through potential Medicare IMPROVEMENTS while guaranteeing no reduction in benefits is hardly "cutting $700 Billion". What a pure ass.

And as far as defining Ryan is concerned, Ryan's already done that years ago. His budget, labeled the "most extreme ever" by reasonable people, took a hatchet to Medicare, provided job killing tax cuts for the rich, while losing site altogether on the goal of debt reduction...

Ryan defines Romney now. If there's ONE thing positive here, at least NOW we know how Romney will govern... War, DoD, the rich will be the pets, middle America and the unfortunate the pawns, and deficits will not matter again.

And BTW, being able to add and build a spreadsheet does not mean you know a damn thing about how to recover this economy.

Mitt wants to "define" Paul Ryan? How is he going to accomplish this, if he can't really tell us what he stands for?

The "vision"of Paul Ryan is a vision that only serves the 1%. He wants to continue with the path of WAR, as if he or any of his relatives were going to go to combat.

VOTE DEMOCRAT!

Romney & Ryan are just 2 Tea Party NUTS out to RUIN America.....

John B. from Des Moines:

Your well informed writing is one of the best pieces I have ever read on a blog. Your insights into the morphing of the Republican Right is spot on. The fact that Paul Ryan required that his staff read Ayn Rand's ramblings should give anyone, with even half a brain, pause.

The "Anti-Christ" could be anyone viewed as a smiling, benevolent looking individual with a copy of a Any Rand novel held tightly at its side.

Dennis, Columbus, Ohio,

First, PLEASE take the Ohio State moniker off of your title. You are an embarrassment to the institution.

Secondly, what would YOU do if your personal household had a deficit of, say, $16 million, instead of our countries' $16 TRILLION? You would make drastic changes, TO EVERYTHING, and that is what the United States needs to do. Kill all these handouts that people are falsely taking advantage of. Instead of bitching and moaning, why don't you or the Democrats come up with a proposal? Its because they won't. Handouts is how Democrats get elected. More handouts = More votes. Debt be damned, it doesn't matter as long as they get re-elected. That's just a plain fact, and is what is wrong with America. No one is willing to make the hard decisions. Well, finally it seems, we have two candidates in the last four years that are willing to make the tough decisions-- Romney and Ryan. Two in the last four years that ARE QUALIFIED to be President and VP.

Ryan budget plan would change popular programs
By Richard Wolf

USA Today

Rep. Paul Ryan burst on to the national stage in 2008 with a white paper entitled “A Road Map for America’s Future.” In the space of four years, he has ridden it to the Republican nomination for vice president.

Ryan’s plan, revised annually as the Republican Party’s budget proposal, represents the most sweeping effort ever to change the programs of the Great Society that provide health care to nearly one in three Americans.

Medicare, the government run health insurance program for seniors that adds a person to its rolls every eight seconds, would be run largely by private insurers and would cost beneficiaries more or offer them less. The plan would start in 2023, effectively exempting those 55 and over.

Traditional Medicare would remain as an option, but critics have said that private plans would likely scoop up the healthiest seniors, driving up the costs of those left using Medicare.

Medicaid, the federal­state program covering 50 million low-income Americans, would be turned over to the states and cut by $750 billion over 10 years, forcing fewer benefits or higher copayments.

President Barack Obama’s health insurance expansion, passed in 2010 and upheld by the Supreme Court in June, would be repealed. About 30 million Americans would lose access to health care.

Ryan’s plan also calls for reducing the top individual and corporate tax rates to 25 percent from their current 35 percent levels.

The cost of Ryan’s tax cuts is $4.6 trillion over 10 years.

Romney/Ryan are not people who are going to fight for me. These two individuals do not understand the world that seniors live in. Seniors do not want their children's lives to regress - Seniors want their children to be better off tomorrow than they are today. If these two are elected - that will not happen!

A Retired Conservative

alan920,

Comment #2.52

I am very proud to represent The Ohio State University.

Household budgets like State budgets cannot be like Federal budgets and any comparison is ill informed. You appear lack of understanding of how Sovereign Nations can deal with budget shortfalls and debt.

It was Paul Ryan that voted for all those unfunded programs that got our country in so much trouble and let to the $1.5 trillion budget deficit that President Obama inherited with the Bush FY2009 budget.

To believe that the Democrats want people to depend on government is just wrong !!!!

Shirley Ujest,

Listen; Medicare is GOING BANKRUPT. You need to ask yourself and your children, do you want to have NOTHING when it does go bankrupt or something if it is restructured. Also, Ryans plan, as you state above, does not change Medicare benefits for people who are over 55 years old. So, if you fall into that category, you have nothing to worry about. The plan would be lessened for those under 55, because WE CANNOT AFFORD MORE. Comprende? Your children are going to have to learn how to SAVE and INVEST their money, perhaps not have too many children they cannot afford would help. People need to be more responsible and NOT rely on government so much. If your children want more coverage than Medicare provides, then buy an add-on policy.

Obamacare is a scam and is going to cost at least twice as much as they said, because they LIED about it. Tell me, why on earth would Congress pass a bill that none of them read? That is just the epitome of stupidity. Now this travesty, Obamacare, is going to drive doctors out of business because they just can't take any more regulation. Regulations were bad enough BEFORE Obamacare for doctors. It will be worse with Obamacare. Just ask your doctor.

As far as corporate tax rates going to 25% from 35%: Currently the USA has the HIGHEST corporate tax rate in the world. That is making US companies send jobs overseas and is costing us billions in tax revenue per year. It should probably be changed to much less than 25%. Unemployment would go down drastically as many of those jobs would come back, the exodus of jobs would stop, and total tax revenue would actually probably go up.

alan290................

You made an inaccurate statement and follow it up by stating that it is fact (Handouts is how Democrats get elected. More handouts = More votes. Debt be damned, it doesn't matter as long as they get re-elected. That's just a plain fact)

Your statement is similar to many from the GNOP side. You make false statement, inaccurate statements and take things out of context, then try to say that these statements are facts.

You, like so many from the GNOP side seem to feel that everybody (or the vast majority) of people who have used some sort of financial government assistance such as Medicare, Medicaid or funds for something as basic as food are doing so by choice. False. While there will always be those who may abuse the system, just as there are those who choose to break the law in any other way, I would suspect that the numbers are extremely low. Furthermore, you make it sound as if only a person voting for a democrat is using or has used some sort of government financial assistance. An absurd notion. This may come as a shock to you, but not all republican voters are wealthy. But why a hard working person would want to support a group so bent on only supporting the wealthy is still questionable.

But what is your answer Alan? Should we just wipe out Medicare/Medicaid/and all other forms of assistance to our citizens? After all, there are an abundant number of good quality jobs out there just for the taking; right Alan? What happens to you if you found yourself out of work Monday morning? Honestly. While you may believe that all you have to do is apply somewhere else that afternoon and be working again on Tuesday, you would be in for a great eye opening experience. When people with doctorate degrees are standing in lines with those who failed to finish high school to apply for a job, your chances of finding decent sustainable income would be exceptionally limited at best. But maybe you could speak with one of your republican friends running the company if they might offer a decent wage for full time work with benefits. Currently that is almost a thing of the past with many employers. That is why they are shelving jobs in the U.S. and employing people in China and other parts of the world. The new corporate America only wants to hire temporary or part time help at minimum wage without benefits. See how long you can survive on those terms Alan.

alan 290,

There are many ways to fix our social programs without privatizing them. We could increase the age for eligibility. We could pay in about 1-1.5% more. Those are just two easy solutions. Everything does not have to be run by the private sector. The private sector is in it for profits not we the people.

We could have a lot more funds for social programs if we didn't spend more on Defense than almost the rest of the world combined. While most countries spend about 4-7% of their tax money on Defense we spend nearly 25%.

They keep talking about SSI as an entitlement. I paid into it and if the money had not been mismanaged there would have been no shortage. Both sides of congress have had their hands in the till with no payback on the "loans". If the GOP gets their way the biggest winners would be the corporations who would not contribute at all and would love to go back to the days when there was no overtime pay and no benefits.

Ryan's budget offerings is interesting...he is making claims of cuting the nations debt..while his votes while in congress placed him voting for each cost increase in this nations debt. Wonder where his thoughts were then ? As for cutting social security..it was suppose to be a stand alone item when first drawn up and put in place..it is congress who changed it..and then spent the excess money in it. Everyone needs to realize that millionaires in congress have no rel clue as to what the middle class and poor are having to do in this economy..it does not effect them at all. AS for Romney..why all the screts about his business record when he is making his claims of that being the reason he should be president...same with his tax records..he is running for an office..making claims he is not backing up and even lying about...and folks think he will be better than Obama....Obama can do little with a congress that is split...no one in congress was elected to have it all their way..yet the republicnas want it all their way only...it is time for term limits, whether or not congressional reps like it or not. The one sided bickering by both parties has to end before this nation falls further than it already has .

Congress has ruined the postal service by making it do what no other company in this country is forced to do..and that is fund its retirement for years in advance of thos who may never draw it..or who are not even hired as yet.

"We're going to talk about issues and a vision for America, and not drag down in the dirt... ," Romney said.

He couldn't get past the introduction without the fail, could he?

Like the next president of the US "Barack America"?

truth: Bush never said there were wmd's.

A lie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMStCHtUNeY

and the rest of the world agreed, including algore, pelosi, reid, etc.

The rest of the world was lied to by Bush and his staff and congress was given doctored CIA documents to make their case appear stronger. Here is a link to a report from The National Security Archive that contains the following passage with regard to a CIA white paper that had been given to Bush in comparison to the same reports that were later altered before being given to congress and the press, "A comparison of the CIA draft white paper with its publicly released edition shows that all the changes made were in the nature of strengthening its charges against Iraq by inserting additional alarming claims, in the manner of an advocacy, or public relations document. The draft and final papers show no evidence of intelligence analysis applied to the information contained."

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB254/index.htm

And, they did find wmd's.

FactCheck says no.

http://www.factcheck.org/2008/02/no-wmds-in-iraq/

The CIA says no.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7634313/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/t/cias-final-report-no-wmd-found-iraq/#.UCfOSp1lQpE

Karl Rove says no.

http://www.therightperspective.org/2010/03/03/rove-admits-no-wmd-found-in-iraq/

The facts are against you, witchrunner. You are fabricating lies simply to support your insane fantasies.

I like Ryan,

I read the Ryan Budget, he proposed saving medicare 'as is' + adding back the 700 million, PPACA took out of it, for anyone 50 years of age or older. The rationale, "they planned their retirement on medicare as it is now and can't adjust this late in the game". To pay for their medicare for the rest of their lives, everyone else needs to accept a Medicare voucher System, where you choose you own health plan from a list of private insurers, based on whatever criteria are important to you...

Yeah, those under 50 will never get the current version of medicare, but since Medicare's 15 years, max, from being bankrupt, no on would have it any way by then. At least in the Ryan plan, those most vulnerable (people over 50), are protected... Democrats on the other hand are selfish and melicious, they would rather no one have medicare, then protect the elderly who'll be left with nothing....

andrew,

Ryan's budget starts with $700 billion that was taken out as his base – he adds nothing back into the program.

Romney said he would add the money back in but the money isn’t there for him to put back in if he does the other cuts he promised.

Ryan is opposed to Obamacare and Medicare and -- well care in general.

Dennis,

Ryan's budget ignores PPACA, so it's base includes the 700 Million PPACA diverts from medicare to other PPACA related programs... In english, he adds it back to medicare.

Amy,

Paul Ryan and GOP congressionals bought Ayn Rand hook, line and sinker and said so. Ryan made his staffers read all her books. He may try to deny it now, but he has done so for YEARS, and declared pubicly that Rand is his posthumous mentor.

What the Ryans and Norquists may not realize about Ayn Rand, is that she was fleeing Russia when she came to America.

Most likely Ayn Rand's obsession with laissez-faire, free market total control economic was her reaction to that Russia = it was total control.

Once in America, Rand advocated a world that is equal oppressive; Oppression and control of Americans by large corporations, and their bought and paid for stooges in the government.

Backhouse - Good post..

"...a Republican Senator told me that Mitch McConnell has told his conference that ‘We’re not doing anything, we won’t make a single move between now and the election, because any move could be risky, and all of the @!$%# is sliding down on President Obama.’

So, they’re not going to do anything, they’ve talked about this very clearly among themselves. Tommy Christopher Business Insider June 12, 2012

Ryan is part of that GOP obstructionist cabal that astutely understood that any improvement in the US economy was bad for the GOP.

To reinvent him as a bipartisan negotiator is preposterous.

Interesting Backhouse. The one thing about Republicans is that they always need a hero and then latch on to this person for years and years. The kicker is that 9 x out of 10, their hero ends up being a complete jacka$$.

Pat,

If the Any Rand/Milton Friedman "free-market" economic theories had been correct, the USA would be overflowing in milk and honey in 2012!

The corporate right, who STILL worship at the feet of Rand/Friedman/Reagan, have blocked our economic recovery for the last 3.5 years.

The President has to work around these traitors - in order to rescue Americans from the worst economic recession in 60 years. Yet, even with all the right wing obstruction - the President has kept us from tanking, like Europe is doing.

GOP/Romney/Ryan have no ethics.

Ayn Rand was a hypocritical author that couldn't live up to the standards she espoused. As stated by her own lawyers, she applied for and took medicare and social security under the name of Ann O'Conner (her husband's name was Frank O'Conner).

Matthew-2771918 -- Agreed -- Ayn Rand wrote FICTION and I suspect some of the time she was on drugs.

McFreaky Ryan is easy enough to define: another chickenhawk woman-hater who'd rather start a war with Iran than take care of business on the home front. Yum, yum, more trainwreck Dubya economics, anybody?

For those just tuning in...

The latest adaptation of “A Nightmare on Easy Street,” a classic film noir produced especially for Republicans, written and directed by the American People:

President Obama is re-elected handily in November. The Democrats also reach a
super-majority in the Senate and recapture the House.

Now the fun begins.

Hillary Clinton tenders her resignation as Secretary of State in early December,
effective at noon on Inauguration Day in January, 2013.

President Obama nominates popular and highly-regarded former U.N. Ambassador and ex-Governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson to succeed Hillary at the State Department.

Eric Holder quietly resigns as Attorney General a few months into 2013, neutralizing the animus of the Right regarding Fast and Furious while at the same time effectively neutering chief inquisitor Darrel Issa himself, an act for which Holder is awarded the Medal of Freedom.

President Obama nominates New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to replace departing Attorney General Holder, effectively opening the door for Hillary to run for and win the Governorship of her home state, New York. With her election to the New York statehouse, Hillary fills the only remaining gap in her resume, that of Chief Executive of a large mid-Atlantic state, providing her with the day-to-day managerial expertise which so many claim is essential to any legitimate
national candidate possessing presidential aspirations.

As Governor of New York, Hillary leads the way for the wholesale statewide
implementation of the Affordable Care Act, establishing a paradigm for other
states across the nation while simultaneously fulfilling her lifelong dream,
begun as First Lady in 1992, of providing affordable quality health care to a
beleaguered populace.

Having comfortably and strategically distanced herself from the day-to-day operations of the ground-breaking Obama Presidency, Hillary positions herself for her own run for the Oval Office in 2016.

Secretary of State Richardson is positioned to accept the nomination of his party as Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate in 2016, thereby blunting the allure of
GOP presidential nominee Chris Christie [“I’m not an actual bully!”] selecting
either Marco Rubio [“I’m not an actual Mormon!”] or Ted Cruz [“I’m not an
actual member of La Raza Unida!”] as running mate to a growing number of
staunchly Roman Catholic Hispanic voters while at the same time energizing the
Democratic base across the western states.

Upon their historic victory, powered in no small part by the unanticipated emergence of a coalition of bipartisan women voters who see in Hillary’s candidacy their greatest near-term opportunity to shatter once and for all the glass ceiling inside the Oval Office, President Hillary Clinton now leads the way for the nationwide implementation of the Affordable Care Act, laying the groundwork for what will become within her second term the ultimate prize of single-payer in the form of Medicare-for-All.

Upon the anticipated death of an aging Justice Scalia or the unanticipated but
largely welcomed institutionalization of either Justice Thomas or Justice Alito
within her Presidency, President Clinton sets another historic precedent by
placing in nomination the name of a humbled and grateful former President
Barack Hussein Obama as Justice on the Supreme Court, the first American to
have served in each of the three branches of the federal government,
effectively restoring a Center-Left majority which upholds and affirms
Medicare-for-All, and while so doing publishes the most succinct majority opinion
in the history of American jurisprudence, invoking the age-old populist axiom:
“It’s Constitutional, Bitches!”

President Clinton and Vice-President Richardson serve through 2024, by which time the United States of America has succeeded in colonizing Mars under Space Admiral and diamond-mining chief engineer Newt Gingrich, his pointy-eared
War-on-Science Officer Rick Santorum, and a litany of psuedo-intellectual
junior communications officers from FOX NEWS Channel and AM Talk Radio, all
competing for the attention of Chief Petty[ness] Officer Sarah Palin [“I can
see Jupiter from my house!”] under the watchful pointy-fingered glare of Chief
[in]Security Officer Jan Brewer [“Eye-Scans, please!”], each selected by
President Clinton for the undeniable ‘Win-Win’ potential of the appointments.
Ultra-conservatives engage en masse in the time-tested Republican immigration
reform program of voluntary interplanetary self-deportation.

In their first transmission from the appropriately named ‘Red Planet,’ an
overworked Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ron Paul is overheard complaining “Damn
it, Newt, I’m a Doctor not a bricklayer!”

Fade to black.

[No animals were injured in the production of this Right Wing nightmare, although Romney’s dog Seamus was last seen strapped to the outside of Curiosity XIII, theoretically enjoying the ride]

Ayn Rand acolytes like Ryan are quite similar to any other form of cult driven True Believers; they are sociopaths who depend on the cult credo of choice as a substitute for Self. They are both Selfless and maximally selfish at the same time. It is an incredibly dangerous and destructive form of personality disorder.

If Ryan were living in the 1930's he would have been a model for a certain strain of people who sought to remake the destiny of mankind through a narrow and ruthless application of forced "tough love" on those he considered weak and an impediment to the superman individual. He would have been proud to wear the perfectly fitting uniform over his disciplined physique as he implemented his austere policies on an undisciplined populace naive to the extent his disease.

All cults of the "individual" are operate under a false premise. Ayn Rand's science fiction narrative was based on that same false premise. They believe that the individual is the pinnacle of evolution and that tribes and societies are simply the spring board from which the individual must divorce themselves in order to achieve their cosmic destiny. It is egoism run amok.

Individuals are wholly a creation of the group and cannot come into existence without it, nor can they operate successfully without it.

As I noted in a previous post:

The individual doesn't exist except by way of the group. That is what makes the Randian/Libertarian premise false. Without collective effort the individual never arises. That human animal has no accumulated cultural knowledge, no language, no location in history. It is through the group that these things occur.

Individuals as we think of them are a relatively modern invention and we have yet to determine their final proper role in the tension created between the individual and the collective. It is not a case of one being more important than the other or one deserving a greater allegiance than the other, it is a balancing act. The US constitution does a pretty good job of it, and succeeds primarily because it is flexible, amendable and subject to interpretation with each succeeding generation.

Aside from that initial libertarian ideal and premise of the sanctity of the individual, very few Libertarians have the resources, skills or balls to leave the civilization they constantly berate for the way it is seen to limit individual freedoms and strike out on their own.

Paul Ryan and his policies are a recapitulation of the same errors in thinking that necessitated WWII.

Do not be fooled by his apparent friendly demeanor nor his quasi-rational arguments, both are a ruse and cover for a deep seated hatred for the common man. He admires and strives to be a member of an elite convinced they can change the course of human destiny by bringing into reality the false and ruthless ideas of a long dead science fiction author whom herself, failed to live up to her own imagined ideals.

Romney cannot define Ryan, Ryan has already done that for those paying any attention.

Good luck with that.

This is the chief dilemma of the article's headline. How does Romney redefine Ryan, a six-term Congressman, former Republican nomination candidate, and darling of the Tea Party for at least the last four years.

We now see a campaign similar to that of Alexander the Great against Darius III. After Alexander had out-manuevered the Persians (wholly defeating them) both armies became embroiled in a man-to-man struggle for the baggage train (half the wealth of the Persian Empire), allowing Darius to escape. I see this election as revolving as much around Ryan as Romney, which may allow Mitt to escape for a 2016 retry. I fear that Paul Ryan may not fare as well.

You do realize the problems with our economy have nothing to do with the national debt, right? The national debt is a concern, but it has nothing to do with our current problems. We have DECADES of failed policies from the right and the left which have brought us to this point.

In order to gain power, the right and the left get the majority of people to get lost in debating issues which have nothing to do with our current situation. They have their agendas and both are bought by big money. NEITHER side cares about the average American, they simply do what the powerful, big money people want them to do.

Most Americans are too stupid to realize this, and they blame the other side for all our problems. They cherry pick an issue, a vote, or a policy, or whatever to justify why their side is right and the other side is wrong. They divide the nation to pick a side and their 'team' is always right and the other 'team' is the one to blame. This is how they become powerful and wealthy.

We are facing the worst economy since the Great Depression, this fact is pretty much accepted by both sides of the aisle. There isn't a magic bullet to fix this, and this is something that cannot be fixed overnight. BOTH sides are WRONG on this debate and BOTH sides are to be blamed for what go us here.

Lack of regulation, lack of fiscal discipline, lack of forward thinking, etc are the problems. Neither side is willing to make the real changes necessary to fix this mess. Clinton had some terrible policies to deregulate. Bush reduced taxes, got us into two wars, and added a costly prescription policy. Obama has done nothing to correct the problems that face this nation. If we are to have an honest discussion about policy and our spending, no one is innocent here. Obama did not create $15 trillion dollars of debt, he simply kept bad policies on the books which have led us to this point -- and i fully blame him for his decisions, but there is no denying that Bush is the worst President in modern times. There is no denying both sides of the aisle reduced regulation which led to this downturn. There is no denying that after this financial meltdown, there has been no new regulation to keep this from happening. We have not put the people responsible for this mess in jail. We have not done anything to keep this from happening again.

Banks are too big, government under all Presidents in recent years, participate in crony capitalism. Companies are making record profits, the rich are sitting on more cash than any point in history. We continue to send our jobs overseas and nothing changes. Tax rates will not change this. People care about the bottom line and nothing else. We have become a society of 'I's' and don't care what happens to everyone else.

If we don't recognize the real problems and offer real solutions, we will continue on this downward spiral. Blaming the other side of the aisle has gotten us no where. The politicians and the rich continue to benefit from the dysfunctional government and policies which have brought us to this point -- this will continue until there is nothing left of this great country.

Wake up and realize that your political affiliation is not right, and your are being played by the big money of this country which is bleeding us to death. SS and MC are NOT entitlements, they are real programs in which Americans have paid into, but the corrupt government has taken these proceeds and have misappropriated these funds as they see fit. Our Health care costs and insurance have gotten out of hand to the benefit of big Pharm, and big insurance companies. Everyone is paying for the greed of the few truly wealthy.

MSNBCMFE:

I laughed 'til I cried and then almost urinated upon myself in rollicking gales of hilarity. Wish I could spend $9.99 on the video.

Just wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

ForePlinger - How did Paul Ryan become a mutimillionare in 14 years in Congress - when he got his degree on his dead dad's SS#

25th most most millionare in Congress - with a company that digs ditches

Wow - I've got a few ditches

Plus in Paul Ryan's budget he gives another $165,000 to his family

Using Ayn Rand as his role model proves how shallow Ryan's intellect truly is. I think this guy has been faking it his entire adult life playing the Republican game of "OK boss, how do you want me to vote". He's just another bought and paid for GOP fraud in an $2000.00 suit.

Hey Karen, least you forget, the day the Democrats took over was not January 22nd, 2009 it was actually January 3rd, 2007, the day the Democrats took over the House of Representatives and the Senate, at the very start of the 110th Congress.

The Democratic Party controlled a majority in both chambers for the first time since the end of the 103rd Congress in 1995. For those who are listening to the liberals propagating the fallacy that everything is "Bush's Fault", think about this: January 3rd, 2007, the day the Democrats took over the Senate and the Congress:
The DOW Jones closed at 12,621.77
The GDP for the previous quarter was 3.5%
The Unemployment rate was 4.6%
George Bush's Economic policies SET A RECORD of 52 STRAIGHT MONTHS of JOB CREATION!

Remember that day...
January 3rd, 2007 was the day that Barney Frank took over the House Financial Services Committee and Chris Dodd took over the Senate Banking Committee.
The economic meltdown that happened 15 months later was in what part of the economy?

BANKING AND FINANCIAL SERVICES!
THANK YOU DEMOCRATS (especially Barney) for taking us from 13,000 DOW, 3.5 GDP and 4.6% Unemployment...to this CRISIS by (among MANY other things) dumping 5-6 TRILLION Dollars of toxic loans on the economy from YOUR Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac FIASCOS!

BTW: Bush asked Congress 17 TIMES to stop Fannie & Freddie -starting in 2001 because it was financially risky for the US economy. Barney blocked it and called it a "Chicken Little Philosophy" (and the sky did fall!)

And who took the THIRD highest pay-off from Fannie Mae AND Freddie Mac?

OBAMA

And who fought against reform of Fannie and Freddie?
OBAMA and the Democrat Congress, especially BARNEY!!!!

So when someone tries to blame Bush......

REMEMBER JANUARY 3rd, 2007.... THE DAY THE DEMOCRATS TOOK OVER!

Stefan, Hartford -- Oh puleeze. Aside from the usual lack of acknowledging record abuse of the filibuster and that the Dems only had a filibuster-proof Super Majority for about nine months (from the time Al Franken was sworn in until Ted Kennedy passed away)...

President Obama has created more jobs in his first term so far--despite Teapublican obstructionism--than Dubya did during both of his terms combined. The 30-40 years destruction due to Reaganomics, and the Lost Decade (2001-2011) due to GOP/Bush-era policies and the Wall Street Gone Wild and Too Big To Fail meltdown will permanently damage an entire generation.

We will not go back!

Bush asked Congress 17 TIMES to stop Fannie & Freddie -starting in 2001 because it was financially risky for the US economy. Barney blocked it and called it a "Chicken Little Philosophy" (and the sky did fall!)

Hmmm, that's not the way Mike Oxley remembers it. You know, Mike Oxley, Ohio Republican, chairman of the Committee on Financial Services, House sponsor of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and hardly a flaming liberal.

"The critics have forgotten that the House passed a GSE reform bill in 2005 that could well have prevented the current crisis," says Mr Oxley.

He fumes about the criticism of his House colleagues. “All the handwringing and bedwetting is going on without remembering how the House stepped up on this,” he says. “What did we get from the White House? We got a one-finger salute.”

The House bill, the 2005 Federal Housing Finance Reform Act, would have created a stronger regulator with new powers to increase capital at Fannie and Freddie, to limit their portfolios and to deal with the possibility of receivership.

Mr Oxley reached out to Barney Frank, then the ranking Democrat on the committee and now its chairman, to secure support on the other side of the aisle. But after winning bipartisan support in the House, where the bill passed by 331 to 90 votes, the legislation lacked a champion in the Senate and faced hostility from the Bush administration.

Adamant that the only solution to the problems posed by Fannie and Freddie was their privatisation, the White House attacked the bill.

“We missed a golden opportunity that would have avoided a lot of the problems we’re facing now, if we hadn’t had such a firm ideological position at the White House and the Treasury and the Fed,” Mr Oxley says.

Google it - it is all over the web. Try "one finger salute" White House. It will show up.

Far from blocking legislation to control GRE's Barney Frank reached across the aisle and tried to craft legislation to oversee them before it was too late. But Bush was not interested in reining in Fannie and Freddie - they were helping too much with his "American Dream Downpayment Initiative" - you know, where any warm body was deserving of a low- or no-downpayment loan regardless of their ability to pay for it. Far from asking Congress 17 times to stop Fannie and Freddie Bush made sure that no legislation overseeing GRE's would ever pass.

It wasn't until after Republicans lost control of Congress that anything meaningful was done:

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act was enacted on July 30, 2008. HERA created the Federal Housing Finance Agency as the successor agency to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight and the Federal Housing Finance Board. (The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight had been established in 1992 to regulate the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

EEngineer, are you trying to confuse the Right wing with facts?

Stefan, any response to EEngineer? I found his post to be quite enlightening, I will save it for future reference, thank you EEngineer.

EEngineer,

Great post!

It is the housing collaspe that still keeps people in limbo. And the effect on local taxes is part of the snowball effect in counties across the country.

Stefan,

Let's not also forget that TARP1 was GW's handout of $800billion (we don't know the real amount for reasons that will become apparent) to banks with: no public (or possibly goverment) recordsas to who got how nuch, why they got the funds, no expectation of repayment, or what conditions may have been placed on those funds. This took place in December 2008, well before Obama's presidency. Yes, Obama approved of TARP1, but he had no standing to influence that decision. And yes, Obama had TARP2; but with records of who received what AND repayment plans with securities taken.

Please, you guys that are going to extremes on the length of comments, give us a break. We all know that you are only copying and pasting from other forums. Have you ever noticed the number of likes your get? Now very many uh.....

kkwilson -

sorry, let me dumb that down for ya!

Bush asked Congress 17 TIMES to stop Fannie & Freddie -starting in 2001 because it was financially risky for the US economy. Barney blocked it and called it a "Chicken Little Philosophy"

Liar!

Oh, I didn't like the feel of that! I feel so, so... Republican!

We should start with having the rich pay their fair share, then cut defense spending, then raise the cap on FICA-withholding to at least $250k, then end subsidies for Big Oil and ending corporate welfare, and of course all the loopholes Romney and Ryan enjoy with the Cayman Islands representing about $700 billion dollars of lost revenue (on par with the stimulus), and pretty soon it would all add up to balancing the budget.

Enough with "free stuff" for the rich and Big Business. Romney/Ryan -- They aren't in it for you.

The post office is due to go bankrupt so what do they do, require them to have 70 years of retirement money on hand. Nice business sense the congress has.

Medicaire, Medicaid, Social Security, Oil depletion have all been forecasted to die soon. That never happens, but we run around with our hair on fire saying it will.

Remove the cap on Social Security and FICA. That will INSTANTLY make both programs solvent LONG INTO THE FUTURE.

But, Lord Norquist will not permit this.

The GOP has been "warning" everyone for the past 80 years that social security is going to bankrupt the Nation yet their dire "warnings" never materialize. The fear that Social Security is going to bankrupt America is ridiculous. According to your post the Social Security program is funded for 14 more years. Name one other Federal Program that is funded for the next fourteen years? You may not realize how Social Security works but it is paid in advance during the career of an employee that typically lasts about forty years. Even the longest lived people only draw on the system for about fifteen years. It is designed to not go bankrupt and, frankly, I trust FDR and the people who worked for him way more than any GOP politician especially the liar and CROOK Rom;ney and the kid ryan. The GOP has been trying to scare the Nation that Social Security was going to bankrupt us yet they are always wrong and never correct in over eighty years. These are the very same arguments made against Social Security since its inception and every year since. Where I live that makes the GOP wrong.

BarbaraNY,

Others have responded with relevent suggestions to policy change or potential reasons that no change is reaaly needed.

I suggest a wholly different tact for Obama. Stand fast that NO action will be taken. As we examine the Romney or Ryan strategies, they both envisage reductions in benefits and the ultimate privatisation of the system using chits from an essentially bankrupt system. Their plans might "reward" someone with 10 years of payroll taxes $2500-3500 on close to $20k paid in. But, like GW, they never discuss where the non-available cash to finance this buy-out will come from.

That is their weakness.

Romney's views don't differ with anyone's, ever.

IMHO --

regarding the post office: the reason they have to put so much money aside for their workers' pension plan is due to the fascist republicans' desire for the PO to fail. the republican congress passed a law requiring the PO to put this money aside. after the PO becomes totally bankrupt the services provided by the PO will be taken over by private companies. the game plan of the fascist republicans is to privatize EVERYTHING that has a government stamp on it. that way their corporate buddies can make even more money while providing mediocre services to the public. check out the arizona situation regarding their prison system.

Barbara in New York - sorry the fallacy is that both programs will be bankrupt

The real fallacy is that the Pentagon cannot have their toys anymore

Sorry boys we don't need destroyers - we don't need tanks - 1300 sitting on a field somewhere - we need smart - seals- we need drones - we know need a smart army

Excellent Americans First. See, the thing about the GOP voters is that they have no memory for the smaller details in life. They are told on the radio and Fox what to think, and presto, that's what they think.

Its very funny that the Tax Cheat Corporate Raider Willard Romney thinks he can make something up entirely out of thin air and thinks the Citizens of this Nation will roll over and accept it.

The Citizens know that the Monster Paul "Kill Medicare" Ryan wants to not only end Medicare but Social Security also. Infact the Monster Paul "Declare war on everyone but the Billionares and Trillionares" Ryan wants to end ANY help for the poor, seniors Middle Class Small Business and Disabled.

Its time to send this Monster and his Tax Cheating Master back to Wisconsin defeated.

In 2012 Vote for Obama he cares and fights for the Middle Class, Disabled, Seniors, Small Businesses and the poor Citizens.

And let the Corporate Raider's Plumbers attacks begin!!!

And thats my opinion.

Romney and Ryan; release your tax returns!

Magnum Serpentine -- Agreed. Romney and Ryan represent the worst characteristics of our broken systems.

And Ryan's education at Miami of OH was paid for by the very federal program he wants to eliminate (Social Security). His father died when he was 16, so SS payments would have been sent to him until he graduated from college (not until he was 18 as noted in the bio on wikipedia.) Talk about a hypocrite!!!

anti-trust proponent

And Ryan's education at Miami of OH was paid for by the very federal program he wants to eliminate (Social Security). His father died when he was 16, so SS payments would have been sent to him until he graduated from college (not until he was 18 as noted in the bio on wikipedia

"MYTH"Romney and Ryan both used Daddy's money to get ahead. MYTH USED daddy's money to gut US companies; Ryan lived on dad's SS.

ROFL

i am so glad that you all are just as annoyed by republican lies and non-strategies as i am....this guy ryan... what was mitt thinking[does he think at all?]....it absolutely thrills me to watch this undoing of two guys who really need to be undone and thrown back to wherever they came from. obama and biden look better and better as the other guys look" worser and worser "...or is it dumb and dumber?

keep talking, america...it is through dialogue that solutions are found and unity is forged.

didi/colorado, I hope you stick around. We are passionate about this election and seeing to it that MittWitt and his money gone. The Republicans refused to invest in America so we aren't investing in them.

They're not the only ones who can say NO.

• Paul Ryan is a hail Mary pass for Romney just like Palin was a Hail Mary pass for McCain. But in McCain's case -- the pass was simply incomplete. Romney's Hail Mary pass is going to be intercepted and run back for a touchdown. By choosing Ryan, Romney just handed Florida to President Obama and assured his reelection. President Obama can now lose Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin, Colorado and every other swing state and still reach the necessary 270 votes needed to win.

Creepy though Ryan is, don't ever, ever underestimate the stupidity of the American people. For a whole bunch of voters, it's enough that Ryan is white and yammers on about Jesus.

Remember, the GOP buys into Paul Ryan's plan. The GOP has no heart. The GOP has no national loyalty. They would rather the USA crumbles to dust than assist President Obama in getting the economic recovery going.

TP/GOP want a smaller government so it will fit up your vagina.

Wrong headline. S/b 'Romney tries to define Ryan before defining himself.'

IMHO,

You omitted "small enough that it wouldn't be noticed," but would leave you with an unwanted pregnancy 'hangover' for which NO medical procedure is legally available.

Just consider it the gift that keeps giving, or the "non-TROJAN@" offensive.

Palin had a bigger penis.

Palin was easier on my eyes.

Palin is hard on the ears. No shrill rambling syntax for me. I don't even know how FAUX Noise tolerates her. I'll giver her credit for not endorsing Romney, though I'll bet it's the Mormon thing...

TruePatriot,

Even a pig will avoid truly rancid meat or veggies.

I suspect that Sarah thinks she is young enough and can get better exposure (and coaching) by waiting another 4-8 years.

Shockedand... - yes Miss Mittsy supported them before she was against them - which she is now because Mitts says so. You know how that works. But, check back tomorrow - a lot can change in 24 hours, and usually does with Mitts.

Obama/Biden 2012

It will be entertaining to watch the socially intolerant/fiscally ignorant Ryan try to keep up with Miss Mittsy's daily back-flips...with something other than "Yeah...What he said..."

I hope the press asks those questions and keeps asking until they get a real answer.

The Shyster/Miser ticket -- How does this pick expand appeal? Hispanics, women, gays, young voters, older voters, blue-collar workers -- This doesn't even help in a swing state. Will it help get out the base who were already going to get vote due to hatred alone?

This is what happens when a candidate has no core and panders out of fear of the far-Right fringe.

While we're at it, let's get rid of the senators and congressmen who support the Ryan budget. They put us at risk that some popular shylock will lie his way to the presidency and then take away universal medical care and retirement that we are all paying into.

nah, she let him feed it.

Obama 2012

nah, what comes out of Ryan's mouth resembles what come from the horse................NO SS, Medicare or birth control for YOU....but reduced taxes for my rich friends.....that's the christian way in his catholic upbringing I guess

This is what Grover had to say about the horses head...

“We are not auditioning for fearless leader,” Grover Norquist told conservatives at the CPAC convention in February. “We don’t need a president to tell us in what direction to go. We know what direction to go. We want the Ryan budget. … We just need a president to sign this stuff. We don’t need someone to think it up or design it. The leadership now for the modern conservative movement for the next 20 years will be coming out of the House and the Senate.”

Norquist went on: “Pick a Republican with enough working digits to handle a pen to become president of the United States. This is a change for Republicans: the House and Senate doing the work with the president signing bills. His job is to be captain of the team, to sign the legislation that has already been prepared.”

This is your GOP...

Shockedanddisgusted

Redefine Ryan. How can any of us get the image of him being chased down the street by a crowd of nuns with rulers out of our heads?

Shocked

What about the time Ryan was chased down the street and had to sneek out the back door and take a police from the Seniors chanting "Hands off My Medicare" for real?

I ♥ed it. We will not pay for Ryan's budget and his crisis.

Don't let the elections be stolen by RepubliCons voter suppression scheme!

...snicker...Nuns and elderly people chasing him through the streets. It's like a scene from Benny Hill!!!

"...and on the lighter side of the news, VP hopeful Paul Ryan was briefly hospitalized today after being wopped upside the head by an 80 year old woman wielding an oxygen tank..."

You can't pay to have this made up! ROFLMAO

And when we are $25 TRILLION in debt with Obama's deficits and the real costs of Obamacare kick in four years if Obama gets re-elected, China will say see ya and Medicare and a lot of other programs will be a thing of the past! You won't like paying 100% of your medical costs. Now you libs want to soak the rich with taxes! Do you care that the top 10% already pay 70% of the income taxes collected? Do you realize that the tax hike Obama is proposing would only net $890 billion in ten years, not even enough to pay for Obama's yearly deficit he projects for the next number of years? I would find liberal scare tactics and lies about Ryan's budget hilarious, but the effect of more deficit spending in DC and more social programs without correction of our debt is going to destroy our nation. I watch the DNC's ad of Ryan pushing Grandma over the cliff and know reality is Obama pushing everyone over the cliff. Our government now borrows 40% of the money it spends from foreign nations. Sooner or later, our lenders will pull the switch and the money will be gone. That would mean more than 40% of our services GONE at a minimum! France is now proposing to tax away 75% of their richest citizens income and the rich are fleeing the country. Unless you libs have a money tree, get ready for anarchy when people have their federal government checks taken away!

Romney only SAYS he wants to talk about the issues. But as soon as the media starts to ask him questions, then his *business experience* or his tax returns or details of his 59-point plan to make the rich richer and the poor poorer are off limits.

No, you can't talk about Bain Capital, and you can't talk about Romney paying less than a 13.9% tax rate, you can't talk about Romneycare, and you can't talk about his private life -- heck you can't even talk about his groceries and hardware.

Romney hoped to be the generic Republican who would win based on the economy and Haters. This is why he has recently shifted to old lies and dog whistles about supposed "welfare queens" and "war on religion" that have never existed.

Romney has never had an original thought of his own. He has stated many times that he would just hire folks to do the work for him. Apparently Romney was calling Paul Ryan all the time for ideas.

But as many in the media have pointed out, the problem is with the top of the ticket, so it won't matter who is VP.

also True Patriot - we need to get rid of the Grover Norquists and anyone who signs a pledge to a lobbyist before the Constitution should be gone - no ifs or bouts - you lift your right hand to defend the Constitution and you have already signed a pledge to another you are gone

• Hey Matthew -- what kind of medical insurance do you think you can get for $6500 when you turn 65? That's what Ryan wants you to do -- go out and find something for $6500 a year. I switched jobs 10 years ago when I was 56. The COBRA for me alone was $1200 per month. Do the math Ryan -- that's $14,400 per year and that was 10 years ago when I was younger. Yes -- we need to fix Medicare -- but not this way.

Charlie. Please can you make the letters somewhat larger and more bold? I can hardly read it.

Charlie, I'm not disagreeing with you on this. I know what Rep. Ryan's bill said and I disagree with it.

Charlie, I'm not disagreeing with you on this.

Oh -- I know you're not. I just wanted to point out the absurdity of the Ryan "fix" for Medicare.

Fixing Medicare for Paul Ryan is eliminating it altogether. Those of you that think that just because you are young and do not need medicare -yet- are feeling "patriotic" by voting for this maggot Ryan, think again.

How much does it cost to go to the hospital? The last time that I visited an emergency room, I got billed $ 1000.00 for it. -a half hour visit- The hospital is charging everybody the fee of those that are uninsured. President Obama made this disappear with the mandate.

Now, not only they want to dismantle the health care reform, but they want to give you a "voucher" of $6,5000 if you are a senior citizen to go and F yourself and die, if you can't afford the 100,000 bypass surgery or the thousands of dollars that A SIMPLE PROCEDURE will cost you.

Someone needs to tell Paul Ryan that 6,5000 won't get you on the door on any hospital if you have a life threatening emergency.

To him and all the "Christians" from the GOP you are only trash. As long as Mitt and him are lining their pockets, who cares?

Years ago when my company went bankrupt I lost my promised medical insurance and was offered COBRA it would have taken all but twenty or so dollars of my big $500 retirement I had for 31 years of hard labor and if my wife was still living they would have sent me a bill monthly instead of my pension for several hundred dollars__great plan indeed Wonder what the ceo of the company pocketed after claiming bankruptcy ?

Its what the GOP doesn't need Actually ITS WHAT THE UNITED STATES DOESN"T NEED

Lee County, Fl. came out with 1 possible voter fraud incident, not confirmed, but 1 maybe after all the attempted ethnic cleansings of the voter rolls. We Floridians need to get rid of Rick Scott, and the rest of the state republicans that passed this onerous law. Rubio good lock-step trooper has to go too.

Obama 2012

Stealing the election is the only way the Republicans can win.

Voting Machines, and now expelling people from the rolls, and enacting Voter ID laws just before the election.

I can understand Republicans liking their candidate.

But to get behind a party that wants to deny another American a right to vote?

How can you sleep at night?

how @!$%#ING DARE YOU REPUBLICANS CALL YOURSELVES PATRIOTS!

I feel the same way CountrySimple. I looked at that crowd today waving the flag and I thought to myself - these people don't care about our democracy. If they did, they would never have shown up for that campaign rally. I had to turn it off.

Ann Romney and her sons standing there, all smiles at the two candidates who are sell outs to every single working class American, senior citizen and child.

While voter suppression is taking place.

Unbelievably cruel people.

skyparrot, so glad as a Floridian you are paying attention to what's going on. Please please fight back.

Pat Boston MA. -- Well of course rightwingers would be waving the flag, because they are only patriotic in symbolic ways (so fascist) -- Did they sing along with Mitt? As for Ann, she is one of those rich women with no taste in clothes. At least Cindy McCain started to tone it down.

Do either Mitt or Ann have parents still living? Maybe that's why they don't care about the elderly. The Obama's are very much about their parents.

skyparrot,

Rick Scott, wasn't he involved with Healthcare South.

Odd how someone SO wrapped up in the medical field could end up as Governor of the State with the OLDEST and most medically dependent population. Also odd is how the same state is working to assure that those citizens, regardless of mental state, cannot vote.

Rick Scott wants to get rid of Seniors in Florida by supressing votes, and supporting Paul Ryan's "plan"

Scott was the head of the Columbia Hospitals that robbed Medica with over billing and at the hearing he pled the 5th 17 times .. He tried to do away with all our not for profit hospitals as soon as he became governor so he could get richer. The Florida Republicans did have a some what decent candidate that was defeated by the crooked Scott. Why is it Florida has more unemployment than the national unemployment its been under the Republican rule for years so we shouldn't have any unemploed in the state. Eight years of it under a Bush who stole the election for his brother, of course any high unemployment is the fault of the democrats in Washington but if its a low unemployment state its the work of the Republican Governors

Wow, Fed up, what a stunning article. Truly stunning. Thank you for posting it.

Pat Boston MA.

You are welcome

When you two are finished kissing: Liberals have no clue as to just what a cesspool this country would become under socialism... It's already halfway there. We're 16 trillion in debt and racing toward oblivion, yet you believe socialism is the answer... Welfare! Take from the Rich! More food stamps! Free! Free! Free! for everyone. Look at Russia! Take a peek at what's happening in Europe. And yet you blindly support Odumbo, the slickest charlatan since
Ponzi, who: makes promises he cannot keep; forms allegiances we do not want; spends money we do not have; lies to the country each time he opens his Marxist mouth; uses the Alinski rules for Radicals as his campaign strategy; and distorts and contorts the use of Executive decree to employ his profoundly subversive strategy.

You really want that sick communist back in the WH? It's about the economy children!

Tony, 16 trillion due to an UNFUNDED WAR by Bush!, Medicare part D, pushed BY BUSH. Billions upon Billions of our tax dollars squandered by Bush/Cheney to Halliburton, and the rest of the Military/Industrial complex.

Hell, I don't even think you would know a Socialist if one bit you. Go crawl back and suck on Daddy Limbaugh's teat. Hopefully, some of the OxyContin in his milk will settle you down.

Tony: Marxist? You have no clue. Look up the word socialism. You will see that we are neither. We could learn a thing or two. Do not look at Russia, why not look at the Scandinavian countries or Israel? Didn't you see Romney's praising Israel's (socialized) health system? He did not know what he was saying and looked stupid and uninformed. You see, using words without thinking, Fox News style, is not a good way to make a point. You are welcome.

Barry would sell Michelle & both kids to keep the White House.....

Tony D: tsk, tsk

Read this and tell me what part of this is Obama's Marxist ideology:

The mobility effect refers to a basic asymmetry of globalization: the difference between internationally mobile capital and immobile labor.

When capital becomes internationally mobile, countries begin to compete for it. They do this by offering improved profitability compared with other countries, for example, by cutting corporate tax rates, easing regulations, tolerating pollution, or ignoring labor standards.

In the ensuing competition among governments, capital benefits from a "race to the bottom," in which governments engage in a downward spiral of taxation and regulation in order to try to keep one step ahead of other countries.

All countries lose in the end, since all end up losing the tax revenues and regulations needed to manage the economy.

The biggest loser ends up being internationally immobile labor, which is likely to face higher taxation to compensate for the loss of taxation on capital

Jeffrey Sachs, The Price of Civilization, 2011.

We are already on a race to the bottom due to corporate hegemony, outsourcing, bankster fraud, trickle down, widenindg wealth gap, stagnant income for the middle class and small government tea bag mentality. Remember when Cheney and his hand up me puppet were asserting that "deficits don't matter," to justify not one, but two unfunded wars?

Or do they somehow only begin to matter when Obama is in the White House? Let's have a tiny bit of consistency.....

Obama/Biden 2012

What in the world is wrong with Americans marching shoulder to shoulder in a display of a little Socialist Solidarity to a better future that includes all?

Isn't that a better way for a Country to go into the future than an "every man for himself" vision of those who can afford it comfortably cruising there in an air-conditioned Escalante, breezing by the struggling masses who did NOT get their first bite of food from a Silver Spoon?

Thanks for the post "Fed up". And "Tony" your right on! It IS about the economy! Also, Tony, you're the child to think the extreme right has the plan to move this country forward and not back to what got us into this mess! The GOP stopped everything the President tried to do to help the economy while they did nothing, just so they could try to make the President a one term elect.

What baffled me is why Ryan. If the GOP wanted to get the Presidency so badly why you put such an extreme right candidate as vice. Then I read Fed Up's post and now, I understand. It's all about the tea party's control. It's Rove, Grover, Koch and Cheney. There are others I'm sure but those guys I know are in there. If they wanted control they got with that and they lost any chance at the Presidency.

Now we need to do one more thing. We need to vote every GOP incumbent out of office this November! Every single one of them.

Fed up,

While you are analyzing images... That was the battleship USS Wisconsin as the background. Plans initially made in the early 1930's, but shelved for the Second London Naval Treaty of 1936. Construction actually began in Jan. 1941 when money started flowing (perhaps too late) for military preparedness. As is happens, it took over two years to complete the ship. As a member of the four ship IOWA-class, the 'Wisconsin' served from 1943 through 1997, with periodic moth-ballings. Three of the ships considered museums, (the Iowa, New Jersey and Wisconsin) and the 'Missouri' is now considered a national monument. All are decomissioned, but the condition of 'Missouri's display is that she be maintained in deployable state.

Hey Bill Marvell - I had two uncles serve in WW11 - one on the Pt boats - another on the Bataan Death march - my gorgeous uncle on the Bataan march was seventeen years old lied to get a job and they drafted him- he was a gorgeous blonde man and the last photo of him was carrying a bunch of bananas

I was five when the army came to my grandmothers house and told her he died of malaria of the brain and was buried in a common grave - really

My grandmother as you would call her as a witch - she had and a vision of her son when he died - he was shot

Now my other uncle brought back pictures of his best friends heads being blown off

Isn't war wonderful and what it does to our wonderful men ?

MisterWonderful

It's good to see the rabid left losing their minds again.

Their guy adds $6 trillion in new debt,

Which would have been much higher under a Romney administration... let the banks fail, let the auto industry fail, f@#k the poor because he's "not worried about them", and more war, not less... a bigger free-fall of the economy with no new support for those the GOP failed economy wiped out... nice.

can't get unemployment below 8%,

True enough... again where would a McCain or Romney be about now? Since they wouldn't have organized a stimulus to stop the economic free-fall, it's hard to imagine. 8% is what we get when every shread of energy coming from the right is spent on stopping this administration and "making him fail".

has a death list using drones to assassinate "enemies" with zero oversight,

Well I guess drone attacks don't support the Republican bought and paid-for war building machine, but it is quite effective, isn't it? And "oversight"? Kiss my ass. No Republican president would agree to any such oversight either. You just can't stand not having control.

has no plan for the future other than more debt,

He stated his plan a million times... some people just weren't listening and still aren't. Just two main points to make here: 1) Tax cuts for the rich encourage the rich to REMOVE money from our economy and is counter-productive to recovery, and 2) Recovering our economy is forefront and when it happens, the debt will retire... any other attack on debt now will hamper recovery (like the drastic state and local budget cuts are doing RIGHT NOW).

more government and less personal freedom,

Obama's spending increases have proven to be the lowest since and including Reagan and your garbage about your personal freedom losses are just that... garbage. We lost more personal freedom under Bush than historians could have ever imagined... and besides, you tell me how clamping down on birth control, necessary abortions, and gay rights INCREASES our personal freedoms. This notion comes from idiots.

and they can do nothing but complain about two guys who have an actual plan and the guts to actually pass a budget.

It takes no guts to pass "red meat". It takes guts to be reasonable and non-partisan and "the grownup in the room" at a time of great rancor and vitriol... not exactly what Ryan OR Romney have done, is it? Their "actual plan" f@#ks most of us in favor of the rich while doing NOTHING to recover this economy or to improve this country.

Who but a coward or a dimwit would vote for the incumbent?

I would.

Fed Up,

Having pondered David Frum's narrative, it occurred to me that our nation may be facing yet another more insidious threat through Romney's candidacy, but from an altogether different source than the Tea Party or Grover Norquist or the traditional uber-conservatives Republican base.

Agendas and control? Sounds a lot like the modus operandi of a highly-politicized
theological secret society called Latter Day Saints, which I would argue has a
far better chance of exerting influence and exercising control over a victorious President Romney than any ‘stars-in-his-eyes’ boy scout from some small town in Wisconsin.

In fact, once in office, Ryan likely would be relegated to running interference for
Romney with Congress, and especially with those annoying congressional
secularists.

Can you imagine, then, an Oval Office left free to fashion policy not so much in
consultation with traditional stakeholders as it would be with church elders,
absolutists all, from faraway Salt Lake City?

California’s hateful Proposition 8, for example, financed to the tune of millions of dollars from across state lines, primarily from the Mormon Church in Utah.

It is absolutely IMPERATIVE, then, that Romney not be given a pass on this topic.

We as a nation can still remain true to American ideals regarding individual religious liberty while challenging whether any candidate for President will commit to valuing constitutional law over religious precepts, with special regard to the precepts of Mormonism, which by and large are quietly, effectively, and
purposefully hidden from our view.

The truth is, keeping this issue alive insures that each of our uniquely American
political freedoms, as well as our similarly-protected individual religious
preferences, remain sacrosanct.

I would rather have influence from LDS than Karl Marx! Obama is full throttle towards a cliff and $6 trillion more in debt plus the trillions ObamaCare will cost will have us at $25 trillion in four years. Think China will keep finacing us? Not without the keys to all our technology and Washinton DC. I am more worried about secularists like you than any religious influence on our government!

Romney could have put up Frank the Dog Catcher and I would still vote for the Non-Obama. But this definitely be a test of ideology's and which way Americans want to go.