So Mitt Romney picked his Vice Presidential candidate! And it’s himself! No, wait, it’s Trapp, Track (wait, that’s a Palin I think) Tagg! He picked Tagg Romney, his own son? Oh no, it’s Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) who looks close enough to Mitt to pass as family. Yes, another attractive Young Gun straight out of Central Casting. The kind of guy all the ladies can’t stop staring at.
In case you have not heard his name yet, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, 42, is the chairman of the House Budget Committee and is the author of the “The Path to Prosperity: Restoring America’s Promise.” This is the budget proposal the GOP wanted to enact in 2012. This is the harsh cost cutting budget that had everyone talking and the republican base all excited. While Paul Ryan’s name is not yet a household one, it soon will be.
Paul Ryan is a GOP wunderkind. He’s handsome, young, has a beautiful blond wife, and has three perfect children, none of whom are old enough to become an unwed teen mom. Ryan is a health and workout maniac with a remarkable physique. He is a cheese fed, Wisconsin Conservative with roots in the same community going back generations. His smile is wide, teeth white and I’d swear there’s a twinkle in his eye. And he’s a White male. Ryan is also what many on the GOP side call a bold choice. A Conservative Christian White Male? Well, I guess the Conservative Christian White Female didn’t work out so well 4 years ago. Yea, BOLD CHOICE! He is factory delivered without a scratch!
Until you start to scratch. Ryan’s voting record in Congress has included repeated votes against spending bills, unemployment benefit extensions and most of President Obama’s agenda. He is a firm believer in keeping government at arm’s length unless you are the Defense Department or the very wealthy.
Ryan is also a staunch Pro-Life supporter. He would overturn Roe v. Wade and make all abortions illegal even in cases of rape, incest or the life of the mother. Which, by the way, is my favorite hypocrisy of the so-called Pro-Lifers. Save the unborn at any and all costs, even if it means the mother dies. So basically, he’s pro-life only for those in-utero, otherwise, he will let you die, because in his view, your life is not as important as the fetus’. Says Ryan in the Weekly Standard, “I’m as pro-life as a person gets . . . You’re not going to have a truce. Judges are going to come up. Issues come up, they’re unavoidable, and I’m never going to not vote pro-life.”
So let’s look a little more closely at Mr. Ryan’s Christian values.
Medicare for all – unless you can’t afford it. Mr. Ryan’s budget would scrap Medicare as we know it and replace it with a privatized voucher system. In theory, each person over the age of 67 (yes he wants retirement age to go up) will get a certain amount from the government in a voucher form to pay for their health care coverage. (And as we all know, insurance companies are always looking at ways to lower costs and make health coverage more affordable for consumers.) Now what happens when the $500 (this is a made up number to make a point) each senior citizen gets each month no longer covers their monthly premium because their insurance company, once again, raised their rates. Now, how will that shortfall be covered? How is a senior citizen on a fixed income going to come up with the extra thousands each year to pay for health care they cannot live without? This is especially problematic for women, who make up fifty-six percent of Medicare beneficiaries.
Paul’s anti-obesity plan: According to Emily’s List, Paul Ryan’s budget plan would have cut SNAP grants by 18%. SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) grants, also known as food stamps, has kept 3.9 million Americans (equivalent to the entire population of Oregon), including 1.7 million children, out of poverty, and allowed them to keep their families from going hungry. This plan also would have drastically cut jobs, leaving 174,000 people out of work.
Pro Life except in the case of the mother. Ryan would not allow any insurer who provides a legal medical service to get any federal or taxpayer funding. The proposed bill, which Ryan favored, would have allowed anyone involved to refuse to perform an abortion for any reason, even if the life of the woman needing the abortion was in danger. So now we have doctors who are allowed to decide who they will serve and who they will not serve. So much for the Hippocratic oath.
There is no Choice except for Ryan’s Choice. Paul Ryan voted for the Protect Life Act, which grants hospitals far-reaching powers to deny women abortion care, without any exception for emergency situations. Currently US law requires hospitals receiving federal funds to provide emergency care to anyone in need up to the point at which they can be stabilized or transferred, if the original hospital is incapable of providing the care they need. “The misnamed Protect Life Act is about allowing women to die if they need an emergency abortion,” said Meghan Rhoad, women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “It is a vicious attack on women’s rights and on the most basic right to life.”
According to another Journal Sentinel article, he “would let states decide what criminal penalties would be attached to abortions. Ryan said he’s never specifically advocated jailing women who have abortions or doctors who perform them, but added, ‘If it’s illegal, it’s illegal.'” Holy shit.
Paul Ryan prefers Unplanned Pregnancies. This ideological attack would only result in more women losing access to necessary and basic health care. One in five American women have used Planned Parenthood health services. SO once again, no cancer screenings, no STD tests, no HIV testing, so women can go screw themselves and screw their overall health. Oh and no birth control services, which makes you wonder if Ryan is a fan of TLC’s show “19 Kids and Counting.”
For more on how Rep. Ryan feels about women and our ability to make our own choices go to: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/11/1119044/-Ryan-s-radical-extremism-on-reproductive-rights
Then what Paul Ryan does want?
- Tax cuts for the top 1% – Paul Ryan’s most recent budget proposal would save those making between $20,000 and $30,000 just $246 in taxes, compared to savings of $265,011 for those who make over $1 million, according to analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. But he’ll pay for this by slashing the social safety nets for low income and working poor families.
- Un-Equal Pay for women in the work place- Ryan voted against the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
- Voted YES on $15B bailout for GM and Chrysler. – Romney wanted Detroit to go bankrupt.
- Voted NO on $60B stimulus package for jobs, infrastructure, & energy.
- Voted NO on regulating the subprime mortgage industry
- Voted NO on $40B for green public schools.
- Voted NO on tax incentives for renewable energy.
And of course he wants to be seen as a neo-con hawk by voting YES on declaring Iraq part of War on Terror with no exit date, and voting YES on approving removal of Saddam & valiant service of US troops and voting YES on authorizing military force in Iraq.
So behind the pretty face, fab body and perfect mid-west family lies a hawkish, anti-choice candidate who has consistently voted against any progressive legislation. He has presented no bold new ideas and is seemingly unconcerned about the millions of women and families and senior citizens who will be severely hurt if any of his draconian policies go through.
And like Palin, once we see behind the slick exterior, the mean spirit harboring inside the attractive shell should have all progressives and independents running for the Polls in November.
