Mitt Romney has chosen Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate.
His campaign announced the pick Saturday morning, dubbing the two "America's Comeback Team."
The two made their first appearance on the USS Wisconsin, a retired World War II battleship, in Norfolk, Virginia Saturday morning.
Romney's campaign also released a biography of Ryan. Here are some of the facts:
- Ryan is in his seventh term in Congress representing Wisconsin’s 1st District.
- He is Chairman of the House Budget Committee.
- He also serves on the House Ways and Means Committee.
- Ryan, 42, is married to Janna Little. They have three children and live in Janesville, Wisconsin.
- Prior to running for Congress, Ryan served as an aide to Republican Senators Robert Kasten Jr. and Sam Brownback, former U.S. Rep. and Vice Presidential Candidate Jack Kemp, and as a speechwriter for Education Secretary William Bennett.
- Ryan is a graduate of Joseph A. Craig High School in Janesville and earned degrees in economics and political science from Miami University in Ohio.
Etch-a-Sketch Romney and selfishness worshiping Ryan. Yes, good pick, Willard.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2012/may/16/obama-budget-defeated-99-0-senate/ If he had adopted some other ideas across party lines, or even ideas from his own party, perhaps he would have gotten at least one vote. Other presidents have passed budgets, why can't Obama?, It's 3 years and counting...... Time for Romney and Ryan to bring back some unity......
ABC News: May 16, 2012 6:48pm “House and Senate Unanimously Reject Obama Budgets — Or Do They?” http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/house-and-senate-unanimously-reject-obama-budgets-or-do-they/ Step 1: Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Miss., introduced a budget amendment REPRESENTING the president’s budget request; the Sessions amendment was voted down 99-0. (You can read it here - http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112sconres41pcs/pdf/BILLS-112sconres41pcs.pdf.) A similar effort from Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-SC, was rejected in the House 414-0. Literally, their docs were outlines with titles and lists of numbers only. NO details, no anything. Sessions’ legislation: 56 pgs, actual Obama budget: 1,900 pages long. Even if you agree with the with lists of numbers, anything at all could be placed in the details later – good, bad or whatever. Thus, impossible for ANYONE to vote for. To be continued -
Step 2: Sessions tells press that it was “stunning” that no one voted for the Obama budget. Saying: “A sitting president of the United States, seeking reelection, can’t lay out a plan that will gain a single vote in the House or Senate for the financial future of America? It speaks volumes”. Cue: Right-wing TV, blogs and radio eat it up!! In a May 18, 2012 interview, even Mitt Romney admits that the slim amendment didn't actually match Mr. Obama's budget document, which ran thousands of pages. Results of this craven political stunt: Manipulating the Democratic process, the Media and Voting Public? Done. Taxpayer money and time wasted in the process: way too much. Jobs created in the process: 0. I think THIS is what speaks volumes. PS – The Washington Times is well-known for its hard right ideology as well as poor record of following even basic journalistic standards like fact-checking. Lee - please stop posting propaganda - it does not move the conversation forward.
The answer to this waste of voting power, etc, as you put it, is for Obama to take a break from campaigning and actually do some work that a president is supposed to do, per the law, which is submit a Federal Budget that will garner some votes. By submitting nothing, or letting others submit clones, again as you imply, does not relieve Obama of the responsibility to do his job, which he has not done for at least 3 years. What is stopping Obama from doing his job? Too much golf??? Leever, you can sit on your couch and let others run your life, that is your choice and right. Greg, is there any link to your insurance company and Obamacare? Special favors, considerations??? As an insurance 'expert' , this should be a simple response of 'yes or no'.
Obama not willing to compromise? Some of the harshest criticism of Obama has been that he caves/compromises too easily, and STARTS his negotiating baseline where the Dems want to end up - like starting negotiations on a house price, with exactly your bottom line. He started negotiations for ACA AFTER throwing the public option out, greatly reducing leverage. Moreover, Obama put ALL entitlement programs on the table for the "Big Deal" in last year's debt ceiling debacle. Believe it or not, I"ve spent most my life as a conservative R, so I know that the deal that was up including huge cuts to entitlements (R's usually drool over that) and a decent revenue/cuts ratio (and precisely what the ratings agencies were looking for). This was a deal that ANY Republican in the last 40 years would snap up, and take as a big win for the R side (like Gingrich 1996). But, no deal. For me, that was when I realized that the R's had no intention of doing ANYTHING to advance the economy, or tackle debt until they had their shot at the White House. A sad and disappointing day for me.
Can you see why those who comment on Patch have a hard time taking you seriously?
Likewise, my statement about Obama ditching universal coverage prior to ACA negotiations was a comment on negotiating styles (NOT endorsing universal coverage). His style, at times, appeared to have been a naive approach to negotiating. For bi-partisan compromise and good legislation to happen, you need two sides negotiating in good faith, showing up with a little "give" for each side. Preferably with neither side too dug in, or too willing to give up at first challenge. *Although I have liked some of the policy out of such think tanks. Such as: - The Health Equity and Access Reform Today Act of 1993, put forth by Chaffee (R)-RI text here: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d103:23:./temp/~bdKtBJ:: , which was - born out of conservative The Heritage Foundation. - Later enacted by Gov. Romney (R) -MA in Massachusetts health care insurance reform law, St. 2006, c.58. - It is nearly identical to what you disparagingly call "Obamacare" and what some of those same conservatives who sponsored those bills now call "an abomination to the Constitution."
Bush "vacationed" primarily at his ranch, as did Regan. They were out of Washington but otherwise it was business as usual. Obama vacations in Hawaii, Vail, Martha's Vineyard, and Spain. The travel and security costs are higher, and less work is done. The most fair comparison in recent history would be comparing Obama and Clinton - Clinton took less than half the vacation time that Obama did. Obama also played more rounds of golf in his first two years than Bush did in eight. This is without even going into Michelle's vacations & separate travel arrangements so she can leave a few hours earlier than Barak.
RE: your "fair comparison" - Here's an analysis from CBS News of first 3 years of recent POTUS's: http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-18563_162-20093801.html "There has been criticism of the president's vacation at this time. But how does the number of vacation days the president has spent compare to his predecessors? CBS Radio's Mark Knoller has kept track of presidential vacations for years and supplied the data. So far, President Obama has taken 61 vacation days after 31 months in office. At this point in their presidencies, George W. Bush had spent 180 days at his ranch where his staff often joined him for meetings. And Ronald Reagan had taken 112 vacation days at his ranch. Among recent presidents, Bill Clinton took the least time off -- 28 days. To be fair, a presidential vacation away from the White House is not the same as a vacation for the average person. The president is still in contact with his advisers and on call for any emergency." And, previous POTUS's passed budgets with Congresses who weren't devoted to a #1 goal: "Make Obama a one-term president" (per Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell) Have a nice weekend -
I thought that was last year's angst and rants from the conservatives from obsessing over Obama's lapels to being upset with the President talking to students . America is a dark place now of late. I happen to visit a sports bar during the Olympics and I walked into American fans trashing our Basketball Team with foreigners .. It was sad and disappointing to observe this behavior. I do expect soon to get a boatload of racist emails about the president and his family from pictures which portray them as apes to other vile comments etc. After 9-11 the mantra was United We Stand...what happended???? Is our legacy of racism in our country that deep and pathological??? WTF
Time on their ranches working vs. time kicking back in Hawaii aren't comparable. Whether Obama was on call or not, he clearly wasn't doing his job - unemployment is sky high, the economy is in the pits, and he hasn't passed a budget! Democrats control the Senate and they controlled the House for the first two years, this isn't about congress, it's about Obama - who has clearly failed.
Quite often for me as a Black American the issue of race is often brought to my doorstep .Why??
And racial legacy? One of the bloodiest wars in the history of the Unites States was the civil war - 365,000 citizens died to win a war against slavery.
Yes you are correct our nation is also the soil where 2 domestic holocausts have occurred but what does race have to do with my comments about the ACA?? Why did you ask me a racial question? I have not ask you a racial question on this site?
1. EOE means they favor less qualified "minority" candidates over more qualified white ones - not sure how, as a black man, you are complaining about this. I was born and raised in Pontiac where, being white, I was the minority. I do not receive any special treatment for this and in fact I am discriminated against by "equal opportunity" employers due to my race. 2. You brought up race in this thread, not me, not Lee, not anybody else - you did. 3. Lee said Coleman Young was part of the reason he left Detroit. He was an incompetent leader who spent twenty years running Detroit into the ground and calling everybody who opposed him racists - much like you are doing. 4. Please explain what you mean by "2 domestic holocausts have occurred" 5. Race has nothing to do with the ACA, which in turn has nothing to do with Romney choosing Ryan as his running mate - I don't know why you brought up either of them. 6. I asked why you kept bringing up race out of nowhere. It is the same as if you brought up donuts - I have nothing at all against donuts, but they are completely irrelevant to this news story, just the same as race is. I fully expect several "lol lol lol" and "wtf?" remarks in response to this post, along with zero actual responses.
Wow revealing reply.. You have lots of anger inside you Let me reply: - EOE was a result of white employers discriminatory employment practices it was tragic our nation's had to create laws to compell people to be fair etc - I have never called anyone a racist on this site - I was born in Detroit and suffered racial discrimination from employers in and outside the city -No one person is responsible for the decay of an American city - I never inserted race into my comments about ACA - I do not eat donuts - In our nation the ethic cleansing and removal of native Americans to reservations and slavery are documented legacies of our domestic holocausts - Humor is good in the presence of ignorance so is profanity via WTF To be continued ...
- The EOE was created by politicians to win minority votes. - You haven't called anybody in particular a racist, but you bring up race where it is irrelevant to the news stories - I'm sorry to hear that and I don't think there should be discrimination against anybody due to race, unfortunately the EOE just reverses the discrimination based on false assumptions (that whites are the majority... they aren't in a lot of places, as a child I had no idea that whites were the majority in this country and I was regularly discriminated against for being white) - I agree that it's not entirely his fault that Detroit is in the shape it is, but I can't think of one other person who played a bigger part - Too many comments to read through, but you did bring up the ACA and race - Donuts are delicious, so I am very sorry to hear that. Please tell me you at least eat pie and cake? - I don't think slavery was a holocaust - which is defined as "destruction or murder on a mass scale" - I am not ignorant. I do not know everything, but I'm always open to learning. Please feel free to educate rather than insult. - Profanity is not good
Look again at the headline up top, Greg and JH. This article and comment thread, which began six days ago and stayed more or less on topic 'til this afternoon, is about the Republican ticket and the presidential campaign. It's not about your formative years in Pontiac and Detroit. It's not about equal employment opportunity, remedies for historical past bias or discrimination of any kind. Please stop bickering. It's tiresome and getting offensive. Thanks.
I agree, racism is not a good thing, my first employer was black, ran an auto repair shop, and I grew used to initially being given the 'crud' jobs as most everyone else working there was black. I did find a niche. I rebuilt something no longer found on cars, 'carburettors', and did it well, which is why I enjoyed the job, and , eventually, everyone mellowed out. My roommate at college was a black man, one of the smartest guys I have ever known except that he wanted to major in polysci. That leads to a question which relates to my Mayor Young comment. Why are the ten worst cities, according to polls etc all Democratic, and have minority populations for the most part? This is not a recent trend. See link. http://www.goall.com/article/the-10-most-dangerous-cities-in-america-all-have-non-white-majority-populations-and-run-by-democrats.html Detroit has been run by the Dems since 1962, and it is practically bankrupt. Former mayor Kilpatrick, (did you know him too Greg?) hired his football cronies and tried to scam vendors, myself included since we are still considered a Detroit business, due to the warehouse. A quote package from the city always had prominently displayed, contribute to the 'children's education fund' , which was a scam run by Kwamie's wife. No contribution = no work. I didn't bid since they took forever, if at all, to pay anyway. What does this have to do with Romney Ryan? They certainly can't do worse than Dems.
IMO you are quite angry and frustrated but just one man's opinion of course - EOE unfortunately just like our civil rights laws were an outcome of a racist private sector which long before the civil rights acts had plenty of time and opportunities to measure people on thief merit instead of their hue. Civil Rights laws are not a model of a progressive culture but evidence of a failed society which had to force whites in our nation to respect the basic humanity and dignity of it's fellow citizens. - There is no such fact called reverse discrimination that is a defensive and reactionary - I can think of many others who play a destructive role in the decay of Detroit from Patterson to real estate agents to religious leaders and laws which sanctioned economic racism - I love pies and cakes and cookies -With regard to holocaust definitions Cleary slavery and ethnic cleansing apply the time line is not material nor the type of carnage - I find profanity quite instructive and functional. I have learn to understand that even hate speech has a measure of value and utility - I have posted anyone was ignorant on this site only that some of the comments have been including candidly some of yours like for example your definition of EOE but I am quite sure I have also posted some ignorant comments such is the nature of discourse especially on topics like race and politics. From my perspective candid and authentic exchanges are worth it
2. The first American slave owner was a freed indentured servant named Anthony Johnson, a black man. 3. There are many races and nationalities that have been discriminated against in our society. ALL of which is wrong and should be looked upon as such by all people. Greg- I'm not in any way trying to make the plight upon slaves sound any less horrible than it was. It is a unbearable dark time in our nation's history and never should have happened. No one person should own another (regardless of who they are). That being said. No matter how much we debate back and forth regarding slavery and racial discrimination, we will get nowhere. Yes, racism still exists. So does sexism, agism and other ways of discriminating against other people. None of which are right. But Alan is right, that's not what this board is about, and it is starting to become quite a bit nasty.