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CLEVELAND, OH -- Appearing in an economically hard-hit corner of the crucial battleground state of Ohio, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan attempted to put a softer edge on the GOP ticket’s plans to reform social programs.
In one of his only major policy speeches of the campaign, the Wisconsin congressman sought to widen the GOP ticket's appeal beyond Republicans and to Independents and Democrats -- just as President Barack Obama's campaign warns that GOP nominee Mitt Romney's proposals would wreck the social safety net and stunt upward mobility.
“Upward mobility is the central promise of life in America. But right now, America’s engines of upward mobility aren’t working the way they should,” Ryan told the crowd at Cleveland State University. “Mitt Romney and I are running because we believe that Americans are better off in a dynamic, free-enterprise-based economy that fosters economic growth, opportunity and upward mobility instead of a stagnant, government-directed economy that stifles job creation and fosters government dependency.”
Slideshow: On the Trail
The speech hit on policy more than politics, evinced by the fact that Ryan mentioned Obama's name only once in his speech.
“Mitt and I have a message that’s bigger than party. We are speaking to all Americans in this campaign,” Ryan said in front of nearly 600 people, adding, “Wherever we are in life, whether we are rich or poor, black, brown, or white, American by chance or by choice, we are one nation, rising or falling together.”
He continued: “Whatever your political party, this nation cannot afford four more years like the last four years. We need a real recovery,” Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, said with both American and Ohio flags lining the stage behind him.
The seven-term Wisconsin congressman referenced his former mentor, Jack Kemp, in the speech and said that a Romney administration, if elected, would do everything it could to help the 46 million Americans in poverty today.
“In this war on poverty, poverty is winning. We deserve better. We deserve a clear choice for a brighter future,” he said, speaking off a teleprompter.
Slideshow: Twin sons of different parties
The list of topics Ryan on which touched didn’t stop there, extending into themes he discusses regularly on the campaign trail -- but counched differently for the more formal speech. He also included standard Romney agenda items, such as "urgent" reforms of the school system, repealing Obama's health care law, and protecting religious liberties.
“Look, I am a proud Republican,” the GOP VP nominee said. “Our party does a good job of speaking to the part of the American Dream that involves taking what you’re passionate about and making a successful living from it. But part of what makes America great is that when we don’t succeed, we look out for one another through our communities. My party has a vision for making our communities stronger – but we don’t always do a good job of laying out that vision.”
Wednesday’s speech in the Buckeye State was a step toward trying to help better illustrate that vision.
"In a Cleveland speech today less than two weeks before the election, Congressman Ryan will attempt to hide the truth about Mitt Romney’s policies," responded Danny Kanner, a spokesman for the Obama campaign. "But one last-minute speech won’t be able to mask the truth: the Romney-Ryan approach would close ladders to the middle class with a budget that, according to one expert, would “likely increase poverty and inequality more than any other budget in recent times (and possibly in the nation’s history)."
The last major policy speech on the Republican side came back on Oct. 8, when Romney spoke in the battleground state of Virginia on foreign policy. Ryan’s event in Swanton, OH that day was delayed to watch his running mate’s address. Today, shortly after Ryan took the stage in Ohio, Romney started his campaign rally simultaneously in Reno, NV.
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The little pauly "Soup Kitchen Disaster" was quite telling...
After willard's 47% statement,.. they had to do something to show they actually give a sh*t about Americans at the bottom.. Americans who had fallen on hard times...
little pauly couldn't even handle a simple photo-op at a WI soup kitchen, in a laughable attempt to show that,.. "Yes we care about 100% of Americans"
He blew it... Because he's a fake... a phony. Just like willard...
It was Sal Alejo's question originally- sorry Sal, you deserve full credit. Still not expecting any takers, though.
Hey, meet me for lunch at Albania Joe's Grill?
We will eventually get a "recovery" no matter who is elected, but under a Romney/Ryan administration (and a Republican legislature) the recovery will be a long, painful and difficult road.
Austerity will bring us a weak country with low salaries, high unemployment, extreme income disparity, and ultimately, still lower demand for goods and services leading to business weakness and bankruptcies. If Romney sticks by his tax plan (and I bet he doesn't -- he will increase middle class taxes) we will have a soaring deficit that will make today's look like chump change. He will be unable to shrink the government like he pretends, so our national debt will grow exponentially, and he will do what all Republican Presidents have done since Reagan: kick the can down the road.
Republicans have never been able to deliver a small government, but they are always been willing to lie about it. They have never been able to boost middle class prosperity, but they are always willing to lie about it. What they have always been good at is relieving us of financial regulations, privacy, consumer protections, social programs for the unlucky, unfortunate and disabled, and reasonable healthcare for all in order to funnel more of the nation's wealth and power into the wallets of the rich.
Romney would be the signer-in-chief willing to do the bidding of his wealthy masters. If you think income disparity is bad now, wait until you see the plutocrats of tomorrow. The Romney math will not work for you and me. It only goes one way ....
Ever been to your local friendly DMV? How about the
Social Security Administration? Ever dealt with
Veterans Affairs? HUD? Medicare, Medicaid?
Imagine going to the DMV with your kid when one of them
gets measles, or needs a vaccination. Imagine waiting in
line at Social Security with a broken leg. That is what
your health care will be like under Obamacare.
This election isn't about a president who wants to help
you and yours in a time of need. This election is all
about a Democrat Party and a president who wants you
beholding to them for every little element of your life,
from old age income disbursements, to education loans, to
when, how often and who you go to see, IF you are allowed
to see the doctor. How you go to school, where you go to
school, how long you are allowed to go to school, IF you
are allowed to go to school. When you get a pension, who
you owe for your pension, If you get a pension. A
government bureaucrat Personally in charge of every phase
of your life, from birth to death.
1984, knocking at Your door. Stalinism to the Nth degree.
Vote No for Obamanism.
Jerry,
Apparently you don't understand Obamacare. It isn't as Repubs like to call it, a government takeover. It's a way for you to still get insurance through a private provider, only at a cheaper rate as there will now be more competition. You will choose from various private insurers and can choose what you want for coverage and what you can afford. If someone can't afford it, they will receive help to cover the costs. That is all if you don't already have coverage because if you do, and you want to keep it, you can just do that. It really doesn't change how your healthcare will be administered, just provides an affordable way to pay for it for those that haven't been able to until now.
JERRY, Yes, I've been to our DMV many times. It is an extremely well run department and the people who work there happen to be extremely hard workers. I realize this does not fit your narrative of anything connected to the government operating efficiently but them's the facts pal.
Spare me the Bolshevik scare tactics. The poster boy of your party, Ronnie Ray Gun said in 1964 that Medicare would bring about the loss of all of our freedoms and cause an end to our country as we knew it. Funny thing, cause there are millions of little Republican, blue haired Grannies who just love their Medicare and woe to the politicians who mess with it. I hope your party keeps up with this tactic because it will result in a resounding defeat for the GOP in Congress.
You want the "freedom" for millions of Americans to go without decent healthcare and many of them to suffer and die prematurely. That's ain't my notion of freedom. I'll just bet that you fancy yourself a real Davy Crockett, completely self sufficient and needing nothing from "Big Government" and if you want to live that fantasy, be my guest. The vast majority of Americans don't buy into to your simplistic, romanticized notion of what American is and should be. Using your archaic mindset, we never would have advanced out of the 19th Century. There would be zero regulations on corporations, Wall Street, etc, no clean air, water or food regulations and all the rest. Please keep your miserable nightmare to yourself.
JERRY - You're getting a severe case of Romnesia, and it seems to be affecting your sense of smell, because apparently, you can't smell the BS that's coming out of your mouth. Go back to your cave, Romney left an etch-a-sketch for you to play with...
"Fuggetabouit"
Thank you, thank you, thank you,
Richard Mourdock
Sarah Palin
Donald Trump
John Snu-snu
Frank Luntz
and, Ann Colter
Your misguided ugly unfounded hatred and rhetoric all are the best examples why President Obama and the Democratic party are going to win this election! Once again; "Thank you " for all your help! :)
AMEN !!! and don't forget "shut that hole thing down" Todd Akin
Ever been to your local friendly DMV? How about the
Social Security Administration? Ever dealt with
Veterans Affairs? HUD? Medicare, Medicaid?
Imagine going to the DMV with your kid when one of them
gets measles, or needs a vaccination. Imagine waiting in
line at Social Security with a broken leg. That is what
your health care will be like under Obamacare.
This election isn't about a president who wants to help
you and yours in a time of need. This election is all
about a Democrat Party and a president who wants you
beholding to them for every little element of your life,
from old age income disbursements, to education loans, to
when, how often and who you go to see, IF you are allowed
to see the doctor. How you go to school, where you go to
school, how long you are allowed to go to school, IF you
are allowed to go to school. When you get a pension, who
you owe for your pension, If you get a pension. A
government bureaucrat Personally in charge of every phase
of your life, from birth to death.
1984, knocking at Your door. Stalinism to the Nth degree.
Vote No for Obamanism.
wet dream jerry......
Jerry, I am sure that you delusions didn't come out of thin air but from the talking point of Fox, Limbaugh, Hannity, and some other scumbags bent on destroying the country in order to defeat Obama.
Stalinism? You are in worse mental shape than most of the Repugnicans, and that takes some effort! Go back to your cellar and check your survival kit, you'll feel better.
Well, Rasputin, I'm not sure from where his delusions stemmed, but I have a guess about his sentence structure: from chatting with others AT THE DMV.
Peter Pander picked a pile of Prickly Pauly's. How many Prickly Pauly's did Peter Pander pick ?
"We are speaking to all Americans in this campaign"
Translation: To all Americans in the 53%, of course. And especially to those in the 1%, we have your back!
Ryan supported the personhood amendment and Romney is all in. Better yet, no morning after pill either. Now I do think Romney followed his faith and didn't masturbate. But Ryan- you know birth control is in the mix for his family- not yours. Just like the santorums having a third trimester abortion, you just call it an "early induced delivery" (can you say partial birth abortion)
I can see white men supporting his ticket, the rich leading the stupid. But women, are you not insulted that a rape baby is a gift from God? If you buy this crap you deserve 70 cents on the dollar. If you think this is freedom, you deserve being an indentured servant.
These blogs are finally get to the truth. I am a Democrat, because when the White has A Democrat in it I work and when it has a Republican there there is little construction going on. The truth is that the President in power has little effect if the stupid voters create a no pass in congress. The stag-mire that now exist is because voters don't use their heads. Split congress and the senate, and everything stops. Through in a bunch of pledge taking traitors to stop every thing and we all pay.
My message, stop being stupid and line up congress and the senate with the President. Get rid of the pledgers. Conflict of interest. Government terrorism.
AMEN BROTHER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TEXAS NEEDS CONSTRUCTION JOBS NOW!!!!!
We need Commercial Construction, we need infrastructure construction - roads, bridges, utilities, airports and military construction projects.
The GOP Congressmen & freshmen Tea Party Congressmen need to stop blocking American Jobs Bill, they need to pass approriations funding for largest bill possible to repair our Infrastructure. The Society of Civil Engineers has give U.S. Highways & Bridges a grade of "D", for safety sake and prevent loss of life, we need to repair our Transportation system!!!
Both Ryan and Romney have become so touchey feeley in the past few days I almost think of them as compassionate, then I recall their disturbing thoughts over the past two years and think,...."are they trying to b/s the public again? The answer is YES YES AND YES. Rope a dope isn't working. The elderly know a con artist from a block away.
How is it that so many writers on this site have the good sense to point out the truth, yet, the site articles don't?
Romney-Ryan Plan Cuts Medicaid By $1.7 Trillion: Study
A new study underscores the far-reaching consequences of Mitt Romney’s plan to slash Medicaid spending and the stark contrast between the Republican candidate and President Obama’s vision for the program.
The analysis (PDF), released Tuesday by the Urban Institute for the Kaiser Family Foundation, finds that a Medicaid program modeled on vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan’s budget blueprint, would slash the program’s funding by $1.7 trillion over 10 years.
Romney has announced his support for Ryan’s budget, and has proposed, like Ryan, to turn the program over to the states and to cap its annual spending.
The reforms would save $932 billion by repealing the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, and an additional $810 billion by converting Medicaid into a block grant for states that grows annually at the rate of inflation plus 1 percent, the Urban Institute study found. Romney has cited it as one way he would seek to bridge the budget deficit.
By contrast, Obama’s plan under the Affordable Care Act would grow funding for Medicaid and expand eligibility to provide coverage to as many as 17 million more low-income Americans.
“The proposed changes and reductions in federal financing for Medicaid under the House Budget Plan would almost certainly worsen the problem of the uninsured and strain the nation’s safety net,” the study concluded. “Medicaid’s ability to continue these many roles in the health care system would be significantly compromised under this proposal, with no obvious alternative to take its place.”
The Urban Institute study serves as a reminder that even though Medicare has been the bigger flashpoint in the presidential election, the differences between the two candidates are much starker on Medicaid, which provides needed health care to low-income families and long-term care for the elderly and disabled.
Reelecting Obama would continue the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and its Medicaid expansion. Romney’s plan to repeal the law and further reduce Medicaid’s finances, while giving states unprecedented flexibility to reorganize it, would save money by endangering coverage for millions of Americans, according to the study.
Vote For OBAMA /BIDEN 2012 - it is good for your health!!!
Romney and Ryan are doing the same thing. They were both hard***** to win the nomination but now go for the soft moderate approach to win with the general public. The guess is who are they really. After the election, you would find out as they have to show their true selves.
So Obama says what he means. Gee, any one care to guess for how long it lasts. About as long as it takes him to turn his head and contradict what he just said to the other person he was just speaking with.
So when he made this vow to the children of this nation, "what happened"
In February 2009, Democratic President Barack Obama stated:
I refuse to leave our children with a debt that they cannot repay. And that means taking responsibility right now, in this administration, for getting our spending under control.
"Remarks at the Fiscal Responsibility Summit." By Barack Obama. Government
Printing Office, February 23, 2009. http://www.gpoaccess.gov/presdocs/2009/DCPD200900102.htm
American needs to fire GOP & Tea Party freshmen congressmen who done nothing but "obstruct & delay" bringing a end to recession's impact on workforce and business.
Every GOP congressmen voted "NO" to Pres. Obama's Stimulus Package to pull US from brink of 2nd Great Depression which occurred during Bush-Cheney watch. They voted "NO" to American Job Bill proposed by Pres. Obama! They have state they would vote down additional infrastructure investments - which would generate additional jobs, which would create more consumer demand and inturn, grow our US Economy.
Freshmen TEa Party Congressmen & GOP congressmen attempted to fashion weapon out of routine raise debt ceiling vote, to win budget concessions from Dem. congressmen & Pres. Obama. No party has used this terrorist measures before, to place the credit of the entire United States at risk, during a frigging great recession!! This idiots went on cable TV, Fox News and said no harm would occur to businesses, the govt. or its citizens if no agreement is reached by deadline. They chose not to listen to Big Bankers warning them, Wall Street warned them, our Treasurer warned them. But no they chose not to cooperate, not to vote in a timely fashion. Their ignorance of US fiscal policy, of US monetary policy forced S & P to lower for the first time in US history our credit rating. A historic event in the life of this country, a terrible financial ramification - all due to the dense / ignorant GOP congressmen & Tea Party freshmen congressmen.
Every day these GOP & Tea Party congressmen, led in part by Paul Ryan, strive to harm Pres. Obama politically by prolonging this recession with their lack of cooperation, lack of bi-partisan effort, but chose to put their political goal of retaking the White House, ahead of the good of the country.
It borders on criminal what these GOP & Tea Party congressmen have done to this country! I would put them on a slow boat to some island, where they are treated as food - the catch of day!!!! They deserve to to be roasted slowly!!!
“Look, I am a proud Republican,” the GOP VP nominee said. “Our party does a good job of speaking to the part of the American Dream that involves taking what you’re passionate about and making a successful living from it.
If only the microphone had picked up what Ryan was saying in his head: "..speaking to the part of the American dream, unless you are poor, Black, a woman, gay, disabled, nearing Social Security, or otherwise believe that human beings are more important than the money of white people. We don't much care for the lot of folks like that."
Ryan spoke to 600 people in Cleveland... really? Is that all he could pull for a "major economic speech"?
LOL
"whether we are rich or poor, black, brown, or white, American by chance or by choice, we are one nation, rising or falling together" as Ryan said.
Not really, when the 98% of Americans are earning less, increasing job loads, reducing healthcare benefits, with no concerning from the GOP-controlled Congress from which they have added more cuts to which the cuts have earned the agreement from Romney/Ryan, rising part time jobs, and lowering salary base,with the actual happenings is the widen the gap. but with the Obama Care that has lessened the burden.
The gap between the rich and the poor trying to be shortened is one of the President Obama's objectives. The retraining of the work force for the 21st century, due to the emerging technologies, is also another President Obama's goals, to prepare the new global economy and job opportunities. For the Romney/Ryan team, they just suggest cutting more funding, when the majority earning less, as if it would be the case, how can the majority of the US work force prepare the industrial adjustment for the 21st century?
As not believing both parties, either DEM or GOP, would like the majority of the work force, including their household, depending upon the Food Stamps and welfare programs, as if no one from the government level to help them and to retrain them to go back to the work force, that may be unrealistic.
Cutting funding is very unwise, as President Obama has mentioned to reinvest to the work force, to help them to be come financial independent; as a result, the FED can earn income from the work force, so called, income tax, instead of FED giving out Food Stamps and welfare funding.
Creating job opportunities and creating opportunities of financial independence for the 98% are the goals of President Obama. Please do re-elect President Obama. FORWARD please.
Ryan is counting on people being stupid and inattentive, like Ryan is himself.
Ryan Major speech? really, so call 5 Fingers plan? or Major Lyan Speech?
GOP and Mit run out of time so they will SPIN like HURICANE ISACC
will come to the MODE so call say anything just to get VOTES!!!
how the HELL we americans election come to this? we elect guys like nut Donald Trump to rule over us, so that kind oportunity are you talking about, if you rich you can run and Buy election?
Palin, Ryan,Mit and Donald Trump = same NUTS boat..guys like this will destroy america DOOM DAY for USA!!!
Brianb1956
Dude, stop drinking that Romney/Ryan/LWRNJ Kool-Aid...
You're getting a severe case of Romnesia, and it seems to be affecting your sense of smell, because apparently, you can't smell the bull$@#t that's coming out of your mouth. Better yet, go hang out a Faux news with the rest of the right wing nut jobs & worship Lyin' Ryan & Romnuts bold face lies & BS all you want, and play with your etch-a-sketches... Us liberals have the capacity to smell the BS that's being handed out by your Koch brother puppets... Too bad, so sad you don't. Obama gets my vote
"Fuggetabouit"