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Ed Andrieski / AP
Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis speaks at a campaign stop at Walker Manufacturing in Fort Collins, Colo., Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Congressman Paul Ryan had a simple message for those gathered to hear him speak at America the Beautiful Park: A Mitt Romney administration would support America’s military.
“Mitt Romney and I want to be very clear with you. We value and respect your mission here and we believe in and support missile defense, and missile defense is necessary to keep us safe and we will not allow that to go through,” the Republican vice presidential nominee said. “To the soldiers in Fort Carson to the airmen at Peterson and Schriever Air Force Base and to those cadets at the Air Force Academy: We respect you, we appreciate you and we will back you because we need you. We need your support. We need what you do.”
Slideshow: On the campaign trail
Ryan, speaking just down the street from the Air Force Academy, talked about the joy and hope it brings him to appoint students to the various military academies around the country as a seven-term congressman.
“It is one of the greatest experiences because every year I get to sit down and to see these young men and these women and it gives you so much hope that there is such a great future for us because we are still raising such quality people here. I have had such an honor to appoint young men and women to the Air Force Academy here; I still get postcards and pictures and Christmas cards. This is a gem. This is one of the greatest things we do in this country,” he said.
The Wisconsin congressman also hit President Barack Obama for his “devastating defense cuts” to the military, something Ryan has talked about numerous times on the trail but made this very personal appeal for the first time here in the Centennial State.
“Of all the things that Mitt Romney and I differ, disagree with President Obama -- we need a strong military. We believe in peace through strength. We believe that when America’s military is strong, America is safer. This is so critical to our way of life, to our peace, to our security, to our democracy, to our prosperity,” he said during the outdoor rally that drew nearly 1,500 people.
“And these defense cuts that he is promising, these devastating defense cuts that he is promising not only undermine our peace, not only undermine our security, they compromise jobs right here.”
While Ryan campaigned in the battleground state of Colorado, Romney wrapped up a three-day Ohio bus tour with just 41 days before voters head to the polls in November.
The month of October will include debates leading up to the Nov. 6th election – the first one takes place on Oct. 3 in Denver.
Ryan was asked about Romney’s readiness to “take it to Obama.”
“Absolutely,” Ryan said. “But one little difference between then and now. President Obama has a record and President Obama has a record and a string of broken promises.”
The GOP vice presidential nominee is scheduled to spend the next several days focusing heavily on fundraising. Ryan heads to Tennessee, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York City to raise money through the weekend.
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Republicans' claimed concern for their grandchildrens' financial future apparently does not extend to all the money they want to borrow from China to start more wars. Fear and greed are competing with each other in the small brains of the Republican base, but Ryan knows it's fear that usually wins out, and hate trumps all.
The military are the kinds of brainwashed trash that would turn on us if ordered to. The military should be disbanded. We can and should have heavily armed civilians so if we need an army of volunteers then it can be assembled from amongst the people.
The military is a future threat from the police state/dictatorship.
Polka, you're a fool and a traitor. How dare you insult those who are willing to sacrifice their health or lives defending your sorry ass.
As your handle implies, be honest. At what point is a military too big? Why do you need to continue growing our military when we outspend every other nation on this planet combined?
Is all of that money not turning out the proper results, just like the argument against funding education? If so then we need to stop putting in money without any return in results.
We need, as a world, to start moving away from this whole war ideology. The only way we are every going to attain peace is by first removing the concept of war from the general population of the planet.
Not sure how to accomplish that but a one world Government may be a step. That would be forty to fifty years down the road. Military disarmament would probably be a requirement though in that process.
Peace though excessive military power is not peace, people just will not screw with you because you have a bigger stick, not because they would never think of going to war with you. The two concepts are fundamentally different. Peace through actual understanding is always more rewarding and fulfilling then beating someone into submission.
We HAVE a strong Military. We could cut military spending in half and STILL have a strong military. There is so much waste going on, its just ridiculous. All they have to do is cut out the waste and spend the money more wisely and they would save a ton.
Then imagine how much we could save if we started that cutting and saving with the other 81% of the Federal budget.
The bogey man is coming. We have got to be the most paranoid people in history. Terrorists don't have to do anything other than run their mouths and we spend billions on more security. We can destroy the world thousands of times over yet we act like doom is always immanent. Our government has done a wonderful job along with the Military industrial complex in the fear mongering department. All through my life the government has attempted to scare me with one country or another and we keep spending. The Iranians are the latest bogeyman. If you listen to the rhetoric they are all homicidal maniacs waiting to blow themselves up well there are plenty of explosives tn the world and I don't see Iranians blowing up on every street corner. For a people who are supposed to be suicidal they sure have been around a lot longer than us.
If these liars sincerely want a strong military and want to start wars, they should do a few things to prove it. First, if there is a war, they should join up to fight it. Ryan certainly hasn't. And, Romney, during Vietnam went off on a "mission trip" to France and played on the beaches while 58,000 brave service men and women died serving us. Secondly, they should fight for the veterans who come back from war. Instead, coward Republicans who will not even reveal their names, have stopped two key bills in Congress that would help veterans. One, a jobs program for veterans and another to provide cost of living adjustments for disabled veterans. But, as Romney has described them to his rich supporters, these are the 47% who live off the government and don't take responsibility for their own lives. Yeah. Right. Ryan and all who support these right-wing leeches are parasites. They don't give one whiff about the military except for using them as a backdrop for their political rantings. And, they aren't patriotic or they would stop insulting 47% of the population and would start paying their fair share of taxes instead of using off-shore secret accounts to hide their money. If something smells like a skunk, there is probably a skunk lurking nearby. And this smells like a skunk.