When it comes the Wisconsin recall elections, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan says it's really all about courage.
"I think courage is on the ballot," he said in an interview with Patch Friday. "What I mean by that is Governor (Scott) Walker went after some of the root causes of the structural problems in the state budget."
People might not have liked the way Walker went about budget reform, Ryan added, but going after some of the causes of the state's deficit took a lot of guts.
"The majority of local budgets are labor," the Republican congressman said. "So I think the message beyond Wisconsin is, don't try and tackle these problems. If you do, as a state legislator or a governor, this is what can happen to you."
Ryan said the goal of recall organizers is to intimidate other reformers around the country to not bother dealing with public employee pensions and benefits as they relate to their private sector counterparts.
As for how close the June 5 election will be, Ryan agrees with that say it will be a tight race. However, he firmly believes Walker will come out the winner.
"These reforms are starting to work, and people are seeing services weren't deeply cut and their property taxes went down for the first time in 12 years," said Ryan, who was in Mount Pleasant for a listening session with residents. "I talked to a school superintendent who saved over $1 million in one year because they can put out for bid for their health insurance."
School districts are hiring more teachers and local governments are lowering taxes without deep cuts to services. As time has gone on, taxpayers are seeing the savings, he added.
"The whole purpose of the recall is more popular for Walker and (opponents) are not campaigning against him on the reforms and so because of that, it's a more weaker opposition and he'll probably win, but it will be close," Ryan concluded.
If you wonder why you can't seem to get beyond following the parade with a broom and shovel, you need look no further than this kind of material.
Please, let's keep it real. Paul Ryan's mind is filled with Ayn Rand-fueled self-idealism. Like one of her one-dimensional heroes, his mind is so fixed on his idea that there is no room for self-reflection or other viewpoints. However, Ryan's realized fantasies would have dire consequences, and in the real world; not in a book lying on the bargain table at an esoteric bookstore.
It's a plan, but it's a stupid plan for anyone who isn't independently wealthy.
Compare and contrast Mr. Griswold in National Lampoon's "Vacation." He walked for miles in the unforgiving desert to help his family (who begged him to stay in the car). Two men watch him stagger past and say, "What an a--hole." Griswold finally totters, exhausted, up to a gas station, to find his car towed in and his family eating ice cream. We won't go into Ms. Rand's writing technique, but I have personally read works by children that conveyed a more believable, engaging voice, not to mention superior pace. Ms. Rand was all about compromise. She compromised her principles (or had none to begin with), first by becoming a passport bride to come to the U.S., and then compromising her marriage with adultery. If memory serves she was also an atheist. She fancied that her stubbornness on steroids concept should be named, and called it Existentialism, only to find that name was taken! So she called it Objectivism instead. Paul Ryan's hero, Ayn Rand. Yikes.
I think you nailed it right on the head... There are MANY SHADES of GRAY out there in terms of what you believe is the "right way" to live just as there are those who think they know the "right way" to provide "help" to those in need. Unfortunately, we don't have a clear cut way to measure someone in this seemingly 2 MAJOR party system. And so, we have to choose individuals who represent MOST of what we deem important in our individual quest to guide our society down "the right path". I would also add - that the constant DIVISION & FEAR among both sides of the political fence NEEDS TO stop. But our human nature to be attracted to disasters seems to prevent that from happening.
Gear, it's a recession. Reagan borrowed, Bush borrowed (and raised the debt ceiling 7 times!). All we can do is work to stop the downward slide and start inching back up, which is happening apparently everywhere but the Badger State. The best we can do next is introduce/re-establish/strengthen laws and regulations put in place after the Great Depression to keep this greed-based disaster from happening a third time. R. Denis, until the recession hit (before which I had time to read), I typically read one book per day, most recently for work-related issues. As a young person I typically read two or three or more, depending on the type. I love to read but can't tolerate poorly considered concepts, characters, pace, or sentence structure. I can read a 250 page novel in about two hours. It's all right to set down a screed, don't waste your life. My work requires me to keep abreast of developments in the field and anticipate. There is much data-rich content to read and ingest on a daily basis. Fortunately, I have good retention. You might want to revisit your use of punctuation before your next post. ; )
People's Books, if memory serves, used to be on Farwell Avenue and was known for selling controversial Marxist literature (hence "People's Books") among its other offerings. If one visits their website (as I just did), the word "Solidarity" is clearly posted. You seem to know quite a bit about this esoteric little bookstore, Alfred. Spend a lot of time there?
Social programs are not the place to make the cuts. It might seem like a solution in the short term, but has the potential to have serious consequences in the future. My solution is to do some budget modeling exercises. Freeze programs as possible (no new programs, don't stop construction, etc. already in progress), end the Bush tax cuts that have done little but provide capital for job offshoring, estimate costs/revenue/social impact for two years (factoring in lower costs for military). Etc. I'm certain Ryan didn't do this with his social deconstruction project--I mean "budget,"--I don't recall Ayn Rand having any of her goofball heroes engage in this sort of exercise. Also, since Paul Ryan can look forward to a comfy retirement and benefits funded by we the taxpayer, what does he care if he's wrong? (At least Rand's heroes take responsibility for their own actions.) If political maneuvering and pandering to special interests could just take a rest for awhile a great deal of progress could be made in a very short amount of time. Alas.
In 2001 Bush inherited the Clinton recession caused by the collapse of the tech bubble and then the 9/11 attacks intended to paralyze our economy. After passing the bi-partisan tax reform package the economy experienced nearly six years of uninterrupted growth averaging 2.7 percent annual GDP and adding 8 million total jobs. Remember the good old days of democrats complaining about a "jobless recovery" because unemployment was still 6 percent in 2003? The democrat's easy money housing programs produced the financial crises that "collapsed" the economy but Obama's failed 1970's Keynesian policies have us trapped in a period of relentless economic decline. Paul Ryan is one of the few voices for painful but necessary fiscal sanity. Obama and the senate democrats have the country accelerating to impact and all poor Bren can think about is Ayn Rand (and ALEC.)
It is not heroic and courageous to take contributions from wealthy oligarchs and parrot their wishes. Anybody could do that, given a lack of a conscience..
Romney-Ryan Budget - Rash and Irresponsible Sunday, 06 May 2012 08:42 Inventor of Romney-Ryan Budget Concept Says Implementing Premium Support Now Would Be "Rash and Irresponsible" MADISON - Noted economist Henry Aaron, a co-creator of the "premium support" concept central to the Mitt Romney-Paul Ryan budget plan that would end Medicare as we know it, is now stating that the Romney-Ryan budget "won't work. As detailed in a new report from The Huffington Post, Aaron testified before the House Ways and Means Committee last week, stating, "I've changed my mind" about the concept of premium support. Aaron also slammed the Romney-Ryan budget for failing to adequately regulate health insurance offerings and how they are sold, stating that the health insurance market under such a plan would be "deplorably inefficient" with serious consequences for the Medicare population. Aaron however praised President Obama's successful Affordable Care Act for taking steps to preserve Medicare and advocated for the full implementation of the Act as the best way to control rising health care costs. "Medical professionals, the faith community and now even the inventor of the central concept of the Romney-Ryan budget have come forward to say that this budget that ends Medicare as we know it is wrong for America,...
It would need a respected politician from each side like former senator Alan Simpson and perhaps democrat Erskine Bowles to do the politically delicate work of recommending cuts in defense and discretionary spending. Theoretically, cuts in benefits for Social Security and Medicare could be considered. If the Obama administration has any leadership potential or political courage this would be a historic opportunity to save Social Security and Medicare for future generations while putting the country on solid financial ground before we lose our AAA credit rating or those crazy republicans like Paul Ryan come up with their own plan.
Blue Gal/Fran @bluegal Sorry, Romney-defenders, I don't vote for candidates who hide $3M in Swiss Bank Accounts. #LastWord 8h Sasha Sasha @sasha031 Mitt Romney: Mitt Romney Declines to Correct Crazy Woman Accusing Obama of 'Treason' - @Gawker http://gawker.com/5908371/mitt-romney-declines-to-correct-crazy-woman-accusing-obama-of-treason