An Associated Press article, by Jennifer Agiesta and Sonya Ross, titled: Poll: Majority harbor prejudice against blacks surmises that racial attitudes have not improved in the four years since the United States elected its first black president, as a slight majority of Americans now express prejudice toward blacks whether they recognize those feelings or not.
In all, 51 percent of Americans now express explicit anti-black attitudes, compared with 48 percent in a similar 2008 survey. When measured by an implicit racial attitudes test, the number of Americans with anti-black sentiments jumped to 56 percent, up from 49 percent during the last presidential election. In both tests, the share of Americans expressing pro-black attitudes fell.
Those views could cost President Barack Obama votes as he tries for re-election, the survey found, though the effects are mitigated by some Americans' more favorable views of blacks, yet Andra Gillespie, an Emory University political scientist, says "President Obama's election clearly didn't change those who appear to be sort of hard-wired folks with racial resentment".
Cowboys and Tea Parties Comments: There has been an over use of the race card associated any conservative view, policy stance, or proposal as being racist. In the beginning this tactics by the left certainly caused Conservatives to be very careful about phrasing everything from speches to policy, however with the race card's overuse and with conservative politicians such as Herman Cain exposing the use of the race card to scare and motivate minority voters, the impact of the race card is getting very tiresome.
Americans can certainly dislike, not vote for and even hold Obama in contempt without it being a race issue.
Recently John Sununu said words to the effect that Colin Powell is supporting Obama because he is black. I think he backed off those comments because of the racial accusations, yet 95% of Blacks vote for Obama and nobody discusses the probability that at least some of these are voting their race. It has been put forward that 11% of Americans (presumably White) would not vote for Obama simply because he is Black. Wonder how the percetnage was derived?
The bottom line is that anybody,...anybody who uses race as their determination for who gets their vote is pathetic. This goes for Whites, Blacks, Hispanics,....everyone.
Cowboys and the Tea Party political movement have a lot on common. Both believe in individual responsibility; judging a man by his actions not words; and, both are disgusted with government intrusions into our lives and particularly our God given rights.
Showing posts with label 2012 Presidential Campaign. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2012 Presidential Campaign. Show all posts
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Facts Checkers Correct Over Stimulus Jobs? No!
After the Vice Presidential debate concluded, fact checkers were all over the place with their opinions on the statements and validity of both Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan.
However, when the fact checkers use Obama Administration figures to determine the "facts" on what is said by the candidates,.....well, the credibility is reduced to say the least.
When Congressman Ryan said that Obama's stimulus did minimal is anything to help the economy, Fact Checkers came out and rebutted Ryan's comment by saying that Obama's $800+ billion stimulus created 3 million jobs. SO,....instead of rebutting the myth of 3 million jobs being created we'll look at the cost effectiveness of the stimulus,.....
So if we take what the fact checkers say as truth then the $800 billion the Federal Government spent on creating 3 million jobs comes out to $266,666.66 per job. And this is something to be proud of? Are you kidding me? This is why the fiscal competency of the Administration is non-existant and the faith ofthe American people have bottomed out.
However, when the fact checkers use Obama Administration figures to determine the "facts" on what is said by the candidates,.....well, the credibility is reduced to say the least.
When Congressman Ryan said that Obama's stimulus did minimal is anything to help the economy, Fact Checkers came out and rebutted Ryan's comment by saying that Obama's $800+ billion stimulus created 3 million jobs. SO,....instead of rebutting the myth of 3 million jobs being created we'll look at the cost effectiveness of the stimulus,.....
So if we take what the fact checkers say as truth then the $800 billion the Federal Government spent on creating 3 million jobs comes out to $266,666.66 per job. And this is something to be proud of? Are you kidding me? This is why the fiscal competency of the Administration is non-existant and the faith ofthe American people have bottomed out.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Good News for Romney
....and indeed the Nation as reports come out from all over the country that Romney is taking the lead in National polls and well as some of the battleground states:
From a internet based poll with 4,582 votes, Obama has 43% while Romney 57%.
A National Constitution Center projected electoral vote count places Romney at a 206 to 201 advantage. Of course it takes 270 electoral votes to win the election, but the good news is that Romney prevously was tallied at around 160 and Obama supposedly had 250 electoral votes locked up. So that basically leaves 131 electoral votes up for grabs, at least by Real Clear Politics’ count.
SO, why has the presidential race changed so dramatically? According to Newt Gingrich the change in polling results, attitudes, and news media coverage in the last three weeks has been as decisive as any campaign in his lifetime, and this is mostly due to the first debate between Obama and Romney where Romney absolutely stomped the President.
And this change has to also be impacted, positively for the Republicans, due to the Vice Presidential debate where Ryan did better than Biden, according to the fair polls, and also due to Romney beating Obama on the second debate.
Another factor is that the American people got to see Romney and their observations refutted the character deflammation conducted by Obama and the Democrats. For the first time in over a year I am thinking there is hope for this country.
From a internet based poll with 4,582 votes, Obama has 43% while Romney 57%.
A National Constitution Center projected electoral vote count places Romney at a 206 to 201 advantage. Of course it takes 270 electoral votes to win the election, but the good news is that Romney prevously was tallied at around 160 and Obama supposedly had 250 electoral votes locked up. So that basically leaves 131 electoral votes up for grabs, at least by Real Clear Politics’ count.
SO, why has the presidential race changed so dramatically? According to Newt Gingrich the change in polling results, attitudes, and news media coverage in the last three weeks has been as decisive as any campaign in his lifetime, and this is mostly due to the first debate between Obama and Romney where Romney absolutely stomped the President.
And this change has to also be impacted, positively for the Republicans, due to the Vice Presidential debate where Ryan did better than Biden, according to the fair polls, and also due to Romney beating Obama on the second debate.
Another factor is that the American people got to see Romney and their observations refutted the character deflammation conducted by Obama and the Democrats. For the first time in over a year I am thinking there is hope for this country.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
This Week's Political Rollup
Presidential Debate. All the cockroaches certainly came out of woodwork after Romney smashed Obama Wednesday night at the first Presidential Debate. DNC Communications Chief Brad Woodhouse said that "Romney was lying". Al Gore, a failed human being, attributed Obama "not being on a his A game" because of the altitude (less oxygen) of Denver - the debate site. The Democrats cannot debate on the facts, nor Obama's record. They rely soley on attack politics to take the voters focus away from the facts.
Obama's Failed Economy. Califonia gas prices all time high. The price of gasoline hit an all time high in California of $4.61 a gallon Saturday, fueled by a reduced supply and a volatile market. There are reports of gas as high at $5.80 in many California locations.
Obama say's one thing but his policies, restrictions and his regulatory happy Adminstration is doing something else all together, and that is mortgaging our national security and lowering our standard of living by refusing to leverage our national energy assets...instead relying on importing our energy needs. Instead he throws billions of dollars, $90 billion in fact, into failed alternative energy sources owned by his campaign contributors. And we now pay twice as much for gasoline as we did when he took office.
Unemployment. The Obama Administration comes out with new unemployment numbers, just three days after his debacle on stage at the Presidential debates and 30 days before the General Election. Wow, talk about good timing. He say's the unemployment rate has dropped from 8.1% to 7.8% and of course if using this figure as "proof" that his economic principles are working. Really?
There are less people working today desite the new 7.8% unemployment rate than the lowest number of workers during the 8 year Bush Administration, why is that if Obama's policies are working?
Most economists were expecting a slight rise in the unemployment rate, so the number has raised suspicions that the White House might be cooking the books ahead of the election next month. Then we find out that actual public sector lost over 5,000 jobs and the "rise" in jobs was due to a projection of additional government jobs,.....yes, a projection.
And then Breitbart.com reports that while only 114,000 jobs were created in September--which would have translated into a rise in unemployment from 8.1% to 8.2%--the unemployment rate fell dramatically to 7.8%. That unusual drop is the fastest in nearly three decades and one reason was the rise was an upward revision of 86,000 to the July and August jobs numbers--all of which came from a 91,000 increase in the estimate of public sector jobs.
Of course, the Obama Adminstration is not including the 2.5 million people who have stopped looking for work - because there is none to be found; the 12 million who are under employed working for wages far below their education and experience level and the 8.8 million who can only find part time work.
Shame on you Obama - you promised you would be a one term President if you didn't make things better - now you have made them worse. Keep you promise and leave office.
Libyan Consulate attacks. In yet another example that Obama has taken the reputation of the U.S. to an all time low, and after trying to convince the American people that the Libyan Consulate attack was caused by a spontaneous demonstration gone violent rather than a planned, well armed terrorist attack on the anniversary of 9-11, not to mention a follow-on investigations that didn't get started for three weeks allowing Libyans and even news groups to ravage the site and scoop up classfified information,.....now e-mail's and employee reports are coming to light about the Libyan Consulate's repeated requests for additional security which was denied by Hillary's State Dept and the Obama Administration.
In fact there was a Special Forces team in Libya providing security and assessing the threat. They were removed before the 9-11 anniversary and after their repeated requests for additional security measures, which were not fulfilled.
Coming on the heels of Obama's foreign policy blunder of a giant magnitude when he received Muslim Brotherhood members to the White House and refused to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, one cannot come to any other conclusion that we do indeed have an amateur in the White House. Let's send him back to Chicago.
Obama's Failed Economy. Califonia gas prices all time high. The price of gasoline hit an all time high in California of $4.61 a gallon Saturday, fueled by a reduced supply and a volatile market. There are reports of gas as high at $5.80 in many California locations.
Obama say's one thing but his policies, restrictions and his regulatory happy Adminstration is doing something else all together, and that is mortgaging our national security and lowering our standard of living by refusing to leverage our national energy assets...instead relying on importing our energy needs. Instead he throws billions of dollars, $90 billion in fact, into failed alternative energy sources owned by his campaign contributors. And we now pay twice as much for gasoline as we did when he took office.
Unemployment. The Obama Administration comes out with new unemployment numbers, just three days after his debacle on stage at the Presidential debates and 30 days before the General Election. Wow, talk about good timing. He say's the unemployment rate has dropped from 8.1% to 7.8% and of course if using this figure as "proof" that his economic principles are working. Really?
There are less people working today desite the new 7.8% unemployment rate than the lowest number of workers during the 8 year Bush Administration, why is that if Obama's policies are working?
Most economists were expecting a slight rise in the unemployment rate, so the number has raised suspicions that the White House might be cooking the books ahead of the election next month. Then we find out that actual public sector lost over 5,000 jobs and the "rise" in jobs was due to a projection of additional government jobs,.....yes, a projection.
And then Breitbart.com reports that while only 114,000 jobs were created in September--which would have translated into a rise in unemployment from 8.1% to 8.2%--the unemployment rate fell dramatically to 7.8%. That unusual drop is the fastest in nearly three decades and one reason was the rise was an upward revision of 86,000 to the July and August jobs numbers--all of which came from a 91,000 increase in the estimate of public sector jobs.
Of course, the Obama Adminstration is not including the 2.5 million people who have stopped looking for work - because there is none to be found; the 12 million who are under employed working for wages far below their education and experience level and the 8.8 million who can only find part time work.
Shame on you Obama - you promised you would be a one term President if you didn't make things better - now you have made them worse. Keep you promise and leave office.
Libyan Consulate attacks. In yet another example that Obama has taken the reputation of the U.S. to an all time low, and after trying to convince the American people that the Libyan Consulate attack was caused by a spontaneous demonstration gone violent rather than a planned, well armed terrorist attack on the anniversary of 9-11, not to mention a follow-on investigations that didn't get started for three weeks allowing Libyans and even news groups to ravage the site and scoop up classfified information,.....now e-mail's and employee reports are coming to light about the Libyan Consulate's repeated requests for additional security which was denied by Hillary's State Dept and the Obama Administration.
In fact there was a Special Forces team in Libya providing security and assessing the threat. They were removed before the 9-11 anniversary and after their repeated requests for additional security measures, which were not fulfilled.
Coming on the heels of Obama's foreign policy blunder of a giant magnitude when he received Muslim Brotherhood members to the White House and refused to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, one cannot come to any other conclusion that we do indeed have an amateur in the White House. Let's send him back to Chicago.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Why I Changed my Vote
From the website with the same name, Why I Changed my Vote, which showcases Democrats, some prominent, some not so prominent that are changing their vote because Obama's "hope and change" became "misery and lies".
Artur Davis Former Congressman (D-AL)
Rep. Artur Davis served in Congress from 2003-2011 and was co-chair for President Obama's 2008 campaign. He voted against the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), and after years of disappointment with the president's policies, Rep. Davis endorsed Gov. Romney.
Artur Davis Former Congressman (D-AL)
Rep. Artur Davis served in Congress from 2003-2011 and was co-chair for President Obama's 2008 campaign. He voted against the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), and after years of disappointment with the president's policies, Rep. Davis endorsed Gov. Romney.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Latest Obama Ad and Reactions
President Barack Obama is pitching a broad economic argument to voters ahead of next week's debate with Republican opponent Mitt Romney, buying TV time in seven battleground states to promote what he calls a "new economic patriotism."
In a two-minute ad, Obama looks into the camera as he promotes an economic plan he says will create 1 million manufacturing jobs, cut oil imports and hire thousands of new teachers. Notably, Obama does not mention his record like any other incumbent. He does not mention anything he has accomplished, because he has accomplished nothing positive. He blames Bush when he (Obama) not only had control, but over whelming control, of Congress for two years.
Obama say's he will create 1 million manufacturing jobs, but he has not met with his jobs council for what? over 9 months? One of his biggest donor's and primary jobs counselor, Jeffrey Immelt of GE, is moving jobs to China.
Obama say's he will cut oil imports,....maybe he will, maybe he won't, but it won't be because of drilling here in this country. Drilling on Federal land is down signficantly. Obama's is for more drilling but only when it supports other countries drilling with our money. So we pay for their drilling then pay again for oil imports. What a deal! And gas prices twice as high as they were when Obama took office.
Obama wants to hire more teachers. Of course he does but only if they are union teachers and in states that require Union dues to be paid. Obama does not support the Right To Work because it takes away from manditory dues to the unions which support him through campaign contributions.
This is what people on the internet are saying about Obama's latest ad:
"Frank Marshall Obama wants more time to make sure more people lose jobs and homes. Tell those clowns to keep those Marxist "FORWARD" signs they may need them to build a shelter." ~1000ja1000
"What the hell is idiot Obama talking about? He said if he could not fix things he would not seek a second term. We know this dick head is a liar but there is thousands of videos with this fool saying that. I just wonder where they find these dumb asses to show up for this fraud???" ~TheCafeVid
"We must rally around the Impeachment of Marxist Nut Frank Marshall Davis Obama." MaxOneMedia
"He says he promised to 'hear my voice', well, clearly he didn't hear my voice when he rammed through Obamacare. He didn't hear the voice of the majority of Americans, who opposed his health care plan. He rules like a king, and he doesn't give a hoot what the people think except on election day. If he's elected again, watch out. He'll be even worse in his second term. So I'll do the patriotic thing and vote for Romney in 2012. We need a change." ~ourmissboo
"First Obama has no idea what Patriotism is. Second; When he talks about hard work, he is not including millions of free loaders on welfare, He is talking to taxpayers because he is going to raise your taxes. Obama is so far from being an American, it is so clear and plain to see. He is a free loader himself. Never had a job. Do not be stupid to vote for this man. He does not care about you or your family." ~Walhei960
In a two-minute ad, Obama looks into the camera as he promotes an economic plan he says will create 1 million manufacturing jobs, cut oil imports and hire thousands of new teachers. Notably, Obama does not mention his record like any other incumbent. He does not mention anything he has accomplished, because he has accomplished nothing positive. He blames Bush when he (Obama) not only had control, but over whelming control, of Congress for two years.
Obama say's he will create 1 million manufacturing jobs, but he has not met with his jobs council for what? over 9 months? One of his biggest donor's and primary jobs counselor, Jeffrey Immelt of GE, is moving jobs to China.
Obama say's he will cut oil imports,....maybe he will, maybe he won't, but it won't be because of drilling here in this country. Drilling on Federal land is down signficantly. Obama's is for more drilling but only when it supports other countries drilling with our money. So we pay for their drilling then pay again for oil imports. What a deal! And gas prices twice as high as they were when Obama took office.
Obama wants to hire more teachers. Of course he does but only if they are union teachers and in states that require Union dues to be paid. Obama does not support the Right To Work because it takes away from manditory dues to the unions which support him through campaign contributions.
This is what people on the internet are saying about Obama's latest ad:
"Frank Marshall Obama wants more time to make sure more people lose jobs and homes. Tell those clowns to keep those Marxist "FORWARD" signs they may need them to build a shelter." ~1000ja1000
"What the hell is idiot Obama talking about? He said if he could not fix things he would not seek a second term. We know this dick head is a liar but there is thousands of videos with this fool saying that. I just wonder where they find these dumb asses to show up for this fraud???" ~TheCafeVid
"We must rally around the Impeachment of Marxist Nut Frank Marshall Davis Obama." MaxOneMedia
"He says he promised to 'hear my voice', well, clearly he didn't hear my voice when he rammed through Obamacare. He didn't hear the voice of the majority of Americans, who opposed his health care plan. He rules like a king, and he doesn't give a hoot what the people think except on election day. If he's elected again, watch out. He'll be even worse in his second term. So I'll do the patriotic thing and vote for Romney in 2012. We need a change." ~ourmissboo
"First Obama has no idea what Patriotism is. Second; When he talks about hard work, he is not including millions of free loaders on welfare, He is talking to taxpayers because he is going to raise your taxes. Obama is so far from being an American, it is so clear and plain to see. He is a free loader himself. Never had a job. Do not be stupid to vote for this man. He does not care about you or your family." ~Walhei960
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Best Primer on Obamacare
Sometimes, somebody makes a concise argument presenting undisputed facts and figures to clearly present the truth. The below video is as short and clear, not to mention factual, as you will find on obamacare and the timeline for it's implementation. I wish all AMericans, especially Seniors could see this.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Paul Ryan's Wows Nation and Convention with Speech
Paul Ryan: "College graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms"
Yahoo News reporting on the 2012 Republican Convention go to full article here however Yahoo is not the most conservative suporting on-line reporter.
Paul Ryan worked on this speech for weeks. The Republican vice presidential candidate used his remarks to the 2012 Republican National Convention as an opportunity to introduce his family, promote Mitt Romney's vision for economic recovery, draw contrasts with President Barack Obama and profess the role of faith in his life. He even dropped in a quick line about Led Zeppelin, his favorite band.
Ryan tore into Obama's federal health care law that passed in 2010, the president's most prized legislative accomplishment. Ryan revived an attack from the campaign trail, accusing the president of passing the law "at the expense of the elderly" by trimming the growth in Medicare spending to pay for it.
Between the men on the Republican ticket, Ryan is perhaps the better candidate to address health care, given Romney's support for a state-based proposal with similar provisions. Ryan also made an enthusiastic appeal to young voters, attempting to tie Obama's policies to the unemployment rate among college graduates. "College graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms," Ryan said, "staring up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with life."
He went on to paint the future of Americans as an "adventureless journey," that relies on government programs from cradle to grave. At times, Ryan overstepped, appearing to blame Obama for the closing of a plant in his district that shut down before the president even took office.
When he railed against Obama's stimulus program, a massive infusion of government spending that passed in the president's first 100 days in office, Ryan neglected to mention that his own office requested that funds be directed to help businesses in his home state. As a whole, Ryan portrayed a country that isn't better off than it was four years earlier, one that moves from crisis to crisis without an end in sight. "It began with a financial crisis; it ends with a job crisis," Ryan said of Obama's first term in office. "It began with a housing crisis they alone didn't cause; it ends with a housing crisis they didn't correct."
The speech, which gave Ryan more exposure to voters than he's ever had in his public career, will likely set the tone for how Romney's campaign will use him for the rest of the fall campaign. Below are the full prepared remarks:
Mr. Chairman, delegates, and fellow citizens: I am honored by the support of this convention for vice president of the United States. I accept the duty to help lead our nation out of a jobs crisis and back to prosperity — and I know we can do this. I accept the calling of my generation to give our children the America that was given to us, with opportunity for the young and security for the old — and I know that we are ready. Our nominee is sure ready. His whole life has prepared him for this moment — to meet serious challenges in a serious way, without excuses and idle words.
After four years of getting the run-around, America needs a turnaround, and the man for the job is Governor Mitt Romney. I'm the newcomer to the campaign, so let me share a first impression. I have never seen opponents so silent about their record, and so desperate to keep their power. They've run out of ideas. Their moment came and went. Fear and division are all they've got left. With all their attack ads, the president is just throwing away money — and he's pretty experienced at that. You see, some people can't be dragged down by the usual cheap tactics, because their ability, character, and plain decency are so obvious — and ladies and gentlemen, that is Mitt Romney.
For my part, your nomination is an unexpected turn. It certainly came as news to my family, and I'd like you to meet them: My wife Janna, our daughter Liza, and our boys Charlie and Sam. The kids are happy to see their grandma, who lives in Florida. There she is — my Mom, Betty. My Dad, a small-town lawyer, was also named Paul. Until we lost him when I was 16, he was a gentle presence in my life. I like to think he'd be proud of me and my sister and brothers, because I'm sure proud of him and of where I come from, Janesville, Wisconsin. I live on the same block where I grew up. We belong to the same parish where I was baptized. Janesville is that kind of place.
The people of Wisconsin have been good to me. I've tried to live up to their trust. And now I ask those hardworking men and women, and millions like them across America, to join our cause and get this country working again. When Governor Romney asked me to join the ticket, I said, "Let's get this done" — and that is exactly, what we're going to do. President Barack Obama came to office during an economic crisis, as he has reminded us a time or two. Those were very tough days, and any fair measure of his record has to take that into account.
My home state voted for President Obama. When he talked about change, many people liked the sound of it, especially in Janesville, where we were about to lose a major factory. A lot of guys I went to high school with worked at that GM plant. Right there at that plant, candidate Obama said: "I believe that if our government is there to support you … this plant will be here for another hundred years." That's what he said in 2008. Well, as it turned out, that plant didn't last another year. It is locked up and empty to this day.
And that's how it is in so many towns today, where the recovery that was promised is nowhere in sight. Right now, 23 million men and women are struggling to find work. Twenty-three million people, unemployed or underemployed. Nearly one in six Americans is living in poverty. Millions of young Americans have graduated from college during the Obama presidency, ready to use their gifts and get moving in life. Half of them can't find the work they studied for, or any work at all. So here's the question: Without a change in leadership, why would the next four years be any different from the last four years?
The first troubling sign came with the stimulus. It was President Obama's first and best shot at fixing the economy, at a time when he got everything he wanted under one-party rule. It cost $831 billion — the largest one-time expenditure ever by our federal government. It went to companies like Solyndra, with their gold-plated connections, subsidized jobs, and make-believe markets. The stimulus was a case of political patronage, corporate welfare, and cronyism at their worst.
You, the working men and women of this country, were cut out of the deal. What did the taxpayers get out of the Obama stimulus? More debt. That money wasn't just spent and wasted — it was borrowed, spent, and wasted. Maybe the greatest waste of all was time. Here we were, faced with a massive job crisis — so deep that if everyone out of work stood in single file, that unemployment line would stretch the length of the entire American continent.
You would think that any president, whatever his party, would make job creation, and nothing else, his first order of economic business. But this president didn't do that. Instead, we got a long, divisive, all-or-nothing attempt to put the federal government in charge of health care. Obamacare comes to more than two thousand pages of rules, mandates, taxes, fees, and fines that have no place in a free country. The president has declared that the debate over government-controlled health care is over. That will come as news to the millions of Americans who will elect Mitt Romney so we can repeal Obamacare.
And the biggest, coldest power play of all in Obamacare came at the expense of the elderly. You see, even with all the hidden taxes to pay for the health care takeover, even with new taxes on nearly a million small businesses, the planners in Washington still didn't have enough money. They needed more. They needed hundreds of billions more. So, they just took it all away from Medicare. Seven hundred and sixteen billion dollars, funneled out of Medicare by President Obama. An obligation we have to our parents and grandparents is being sacrificed, all to pay for a new entitlement we didn't even ask for.
The greatest threat to Medicare is Obamacare, and we're going to stop it. In Congress, when they take out the heavy books and wall charts about Medicare, my thoughts go back to a house on Garfield Street in Janesville. My wonderful grandma, Janet, had Alzheimer's and moved in with Mom and me. Though she felt lost at times, we did all the little things that made her feel loved. We had help from Medicare, and it was there, just like it's there for my Mom today. Medicare is a promise, and we will honor it.
A Romney-Ryan administration will protect and strengthen Medicare, for my Mom's generation, for my generation, and for my kids and yours. So our opponents can consider themselves on notice. In this election, on this issue, the usual posturing on the Left isn't going to work. Mitt Romney and I know the difference between protecting a program, and raiding it. Ladies and gentlemen, our nation needs this debate. We want this debate. We will win this debate.
Obamacare, as much as anything else, explains why a presidency that began with such anticipation now comes to such a disappointing close. It began with a financial crisis; it ends with a job crisis. It began with a housing crisis they alone didn't cause; it ends with a housing crisis they didn't correct. It began with a perfect Triple-A credit rating for the United States; it ends with a downgraded America. It all started off with stirring speeches, Greek columns, the thrill of something new.
Now all that's left is a presidency adrift, surviving on slogans that already seem tired, grasping at a moment that has already passed, like a ship trying to sail on yesterday's wind.
President Obama was asked not long ago to reflect on any mistakes he might have made. He said, well, "I haven't communicated enough." He said his job is to "tell a story to the American people" — as if that's the whole problem here? He needs to talk more, and we need to be better listeners?
Ladies and gentlemen, these past four years we have suffered no shortage of words in the White House. What's missing is leadership in the White House. And the story that Barack Obama does tell, forever shifting blame to the last administration, is getting old. The man assumed office almost four years ago — isn't it about time he assumed responsibility? In this generation, a defining responsibility of government is to steer our nation clear of a debt crisis while there is still time.
Back in 2008, candidate Obama called a $10 trillion national debt "unpatriotic" — serious talk from what looked to be a serious reformer. Yet by his own decisions, President Obama has added more debt than any other president before him, and more than all the troubled governments of Europe combined. One president, one term, $5 trillion in new debt.
He created a bipartisan debt commission. They came back with an urgent report. He thanked them, sent them on their way, and then did exactly nothing. Republicans stepped up with good-faith reforms and solutions equal to the problems. How did the president respond? By doing nothing — nothing except to dodge and demagogue the issue. So here we are, $16 trillion in debt and still he does nothing.
In Europe, massive debts have put entire governments at risk of collapse, and still he does nothing. And all we have heard from this president and his team are attacks on anyone who dares to point out the obvious. They have no answer to this simple reality: We need to stop spending money we don't have.
My Dad used to say to me: "Son. You have a choice: You can be part of the problem, or you can be part of the solution." The present administration has made its choices. And Mitt Romney and I have made ours:
Before the math and the momentum overwhelm us all, we are going to solve this nation's economic problems. And I'm going to level with you: We don't have that much time. But if we are serious, and smart, and we lead, we can do this. After four years of government trying to divide up the wealth, we will get America creating wealth again. With tax fairness and regulatory reform, we'll put government back on the side of the men and women who create jobs, and the men and women who need jobs.
My Mom started a small business, and I've seen what it takes. Mom was 50 when my Dad died. She got on a bus every weekday for years, and rode 40 miles each morning to Madison. She earned a new degree and learned new skills to start her small business. It wasn't just a new livelihood. It was a new life. And it transformed my Mom from a widow in grief to a small businesswoman whose happiness wasn't just in the past. Her work gave her hope. It made our family proud. And to this day, my Mom is my role model.
Behind every small business, there's a story worth knowing. All the corner shops in our towns and cities, the restaurants, cleaners, gyms, hair salons, hardware stores — these didn't come out of nowhere. A lot of heart goes into each one. And if small businesspeople say they made it on their own, all they are saying is that nobody else worked seven days a week in their place. Nobody showed up in their place to open the door at five in the morning. Nobody did their thinking, and worrying, and sweating for them.
After all that work, and in a bad economy, it sure doesn't help to hear from their president that government gets the credit. What they deserve to hear is the truth: Yes, you did build that. We have a plan for a stronger middle class, with the goal of generating 12 million new jobs over the next four years. In a clean break from the Obama years, and frankly from the years before this president, we will keep federal spending at 20 percent of GDP, or less. That is enough.
The choice is whether to put hard limits on economic growth, or hard limits on the size of government, and we choose to limit government. I learned a good deal about economics, and about America, from the author of the Reagan tax reforms — the great Jack Kemp. What gave Jack that incredible enthusiasm was his belief in the possibilities of free people, in the power of free enterprise and strong communities to overcome poverty and despair. We need that same optimism right now. And in our dealings with other nations, a Romney-Ryan administration will speak with confidence and clarity.
Wherever men and women rise up for their own freedom, they will know that the American president is on their side. Instead of managing American decline, leaving allies to doubt us and adversaries to test us, we will act in the conviction that the United States is still the greatest force for peace and liberty that this world has ever known.
President Obama is the kind of politician who puts promises on the record, and then calls that the record. But we are four years into this presidency. The issue is not the economy as Barack Obama inherited it, not the economy as he envisions it, but this economy as we are living it. College graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with life. Everyone who feels stuck in the Obama economy is right to focus on the here and now. And I hope you understand this too, if you're feeling left out or passed by: You have not failed, your leaders have failed you.
None of us have to settle for the best this administration offers — a dull, adventureless journey from one entitlement to the next, a government-planned life, a country where everything is free but us. Listen to the way we're spoken to already, as if everyone is stuck in some class or station in life, victims of circumstances beyond our control, with government there to help us cope with our fate.
It's the exact opposite of everything I learned growing up in Wisconsin, or at college in Ohio. When I was waiting tables, washing dishes, or mowing lawns for money, I never thought of myself as stuck in some station in life. I was on my own path, my own journey, an American journey where I could think for myself, decide for myself, define happiness for myself. That's what we do in this country. That's the American Dream. That's freedom, and I'll take it any day over the supervision and sanctimony of the central planners.
By themselves, the failures of one administration are not a mandate for a new administration. A challenger must stand on his own merits. He must be ready and worthy to serve in the office of president. We're a full generation apart, Governor Romney and I. And, in some ways, we're a little different. There are the songs on his iPod, which I've heard on the campaign bus and on many hotel elevators. He actually urged me to play some of these songs at campaign rallies. I said, I hope it's not a deal-breaker Mitt, but my playlist starts with AC/DC, and ends with Zeppelin. A generation apart. That makes us different, but not in any of the things that matter.
Mitt Romney and I both grew up in the heartland, and we know what places like Wisconsin and Michigan look like when times are good, when people are working, when families are doing more than just getting by. And we both know it can be that way again. We've had very different careers — mine mainly in public service, his mostly in the private sector. He helped start businesses and turn around failing ones. By the way, being successful in business — that's a good thing.
Mitt has not only succeeded, but succeeded where others could not. He turned around the Olympics at a time when a great institution was collapsing under the weight of bad management, overspending, and corruption — sounds familiar, doesn't it?
He was the Republican governor of a state where almost nine in ten legislators are Democrats, and yet he balanced the budget without raising taxes. Unemployment went down, household incomes went up, and Massachusetts, under Mitt Romney, saw its credit rating upgraded. Mitt and I also go to different churches. But in any church, the best kind of preaching is done by example. And I've been watching that example. The man who will accept your nomination tomorrow is prayerful and faithful and honorable. Not only a defender of marriage, he offers an example of marriage at its best. Not only a fine businessman, he's a fine man, worthy of leading this optimistic and good-hearted country.
Our different faiths come together in the same moral creed. We believe that in every life there is goodness; for every person, there is hope. Each one of us was made for a reason, bearing the image and likeness of the Lord of Life. We have responsibilities, one to another — we do not each face the world alone. And the greatest of all responsibilities, is that of the strong to protect the weak. The truest measure of any society is how it treats those who cannot defend or care for themselves.
Each of these great moral ideas is essential to democratic government — to the rule of law, to life in a humane and decent society. They are the moral creed of our country, as powerful in our time, as on the day of America's founding. They are self-evident and unchanging, and sometimes, even presidents need reminding, that our rights come from nature and God, not from government. The founding generation secured those rights for us, and in every generation since, the best among us have defended our freedoms. They are protecting us right now. We honor them and all our veterans, and we thank them.
The right that makes all the difference now, is the right to choose our own leaders. And you are entitled to the clearest possible choice, because the time for choosing is drawing near. So here is our pledge. We will not duck the tough issues, we will lead. We will not spend four years blaming others, we will take responsibility. We will not try to replace our founding principles, we will reapply our founding principles. The work ahead will be hard. These times demand the best of us — all of us, but we can do this. Together, we can do this. We can get this country working again. We can get this economy growing again. We can make the safety net safe again. We can do this.
Whatever your political party, let's come together for the sake of our country. Join Mitt Romney and me. Let's give this effort everything we have. Let's see this through all the way. Let's get this done.
Yahoo News reporting on the 2012 Republican Convention go to full article here however Yahoo is not the most conservative suporting on-line reporter.
Paul Ryan worked on this speech for weeks. The Republican vice presidential candidate used his remarks to the 2012 Republican National Convention as an opportunity to introduce his family, promote Mitt Romney's vision for economic recovery, draw contrasts with President Barack Obama and profess the role of faith in his life. He even dropped in a quick line about Led Zeppelin, his favorite band.
Ryan tore into Obama's federal health care law that passed in 2010, the president's most prized legislative accomplishment. Ryan revived an attack from the campaign trail, accusing the president of passing the law "at the expense of the elderly" by trimming the growth in Medicare spending to pay for it.
Between the men on the Republican ticket, Ryan is perhaps the better candidate to address health care, given Romney's support for a state-based proposal with similar provisions. Ryan also made an enthusiastic appeal to young voters, attempting to tie Obama's policies to the unemployment rate among college graduates. "College graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms," Ryan said, "staring up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with life."
He went on to paint the future of Americans as an "adventureless journey," that relies on government programs from cradle to grave. At times, Ryan overstepped, appearing to blame Obama for the closing of a plant in his district that shut down before the president even took office.
When he railed against Obama's stimulus program, a massive infusion of government spending that passed in the president's first 100 days in office, Ryan neglected to mention that his own office requested that funds be directed to help businesses in his home state. As a whole, Ryan portrayed a country that isn't better off than it was four years earlier, one that moves from crisis to crisis without an end in sight. "It began with a financial crisis; it ends with a job crisis," Ryan said of Obama's first term in office. "It began with a housing crisis they alone didn't cause; it ends with a housing crisis they didn't correct."
The speech, which gave Ryan more exposure to voters than he's ever had in his public career, will likely set the tone for how Romney's campaign will use him for the rest of the fall campaign. Below are the full prepared remarks:
Mr. Chairman, delegates, and fellow citizens: I am honored by the support of this convention for vice president of the United States. I accept the duty to help lead our nation out of a jobs crisis and back to prosperity — and I know we can do this. I accept the calling of my generation to give our children the America that was given to us, with opportunity for the young and security for the old — and I know that we are ready. Our nominee is sure ready. His whole life has prepared him for this moment — to meet serious challenges in a serious way, without excuses and idle words.
After four years of getting the run-around, America needs a turnaround, and the man for the job is Governor Mitt Romney. I'm the newcomer to the campaign, so let me share a first impression. I have never seen opponents so silent about their record, and so desperate to keep their power. They've run out of ideas. Their moment came and went. Fear and division are all they've got left. With all their attack ads, the president is just throwing away money — and he's pretty experienced at that. You see, some people can't be dragged down by the usual cheap tactics, because their ability, character, and plain decency are so obvious — and ladies and gentlemen, that is Mitt Romney.
For my part, your nomination is an unexpected turn. It certainly came as news to my family, and I'd like you to meet them: My wife Janna, our daughter Liza, and our boys Charlie and Sam. The kids are happy to see their grandma, who lives in Florida. There she is — my Mom, Betty. My Dad, a small-town lawyer, was also named Paul. Until we lost him when I was 16, he was a gentle presence in my life. I like to think he'd be proud of me and my sister and brothers, because I'm sure proud of him and of where I come from, Janesville, Wisconsin. I live on the same block where I grew up. We belong to the same parish where I was baptized. Janesville is that kind of place.
The people of Wisconsin have been good to me. I've tried to live up to their trust. And now I ask those hardworking men and women, and millions like them across America, to join our cause and get this country working again. When Governor Romney asked me to join the ticket, I said, "Let's get this done" — and that is exactly, what we're going to do. President Barack Obama came to office during an economic crisis, as he has reminded us a time or two. Those were very tough days, and any fair measure of his record has to take that into account.
My home state voted for President Obama. When he talked about change, many people liked the sound of it, especially in Janesville, where we were about to lose a major factory. A lot of guys I went to high school with worked at that GM plant. Right there at that plant, candidate Obama said: "I believe that if our government is there to support you … this plant will be here for another hundred years." That's what he said in 2008. Well, as it turned out, that plant didn't last another year. It is locked up and empty to this day.
And that's how it is in so many towns today, where the recovery that was promised is nowhere in sight. Right now, 23 million men and women are struggling to find work. Twenty-three million people, unemployed or underemployed. Nearly one in six Americans is living in poverty. Millions of young Americans have graduated from college during the Obama presidency, ready to use their gifts and get moving in life. Half of them can't find the work they studied for, or any work at all. So here's the question: Without a change in leadership, why would the next four years be any different from the last four years?
The first troubling sign came with the stimulus. It was President Obama's first and best shot at fixing the economy, at a time when he got everything he wanted under one-party rule. It cost $831 billion — the largest one-time expenditure ever by our federal government. It went to companies like Solyndra, with their gold-plated connections, subsidized jobs, and make-believe markets. The stimulus was a case of political patronage, corporate welfare, and cronyism at their worst.
You, the working men and women of this country, were cut out of the deal. What did the taxpayers get out of the Obama stimulus? More debt. That money wasn't just spent and wasted — it was borrowed, spent, and wasted. Maybe the greatest waste of all was time. Here we were, faced with a massive job crisis — so deep that if everyone out of work stood in single file, that unemployment line would stretch the length of the entire American continent.
You would think that any president, whatever his party, would make job creation, and nothing else, his first order of economic business. But this president didn't do that. Instead, we got a long, divisive, all-or-nothing attempt to put the federal government in charge of health care. Obamacare comes to more than two thousand pages of rules, mandates, taxes, fees, and fines that have no place in a free country. The president has declared that the debate over government-controlled health care is over. That will come as news to the millions of Americans who will elect Mitt Romney so we can repeal Obamacare.
And the biggest, coldest power play of all in Obamacare came at the expense of the elderly. You see, even with all the hidden taxes to pay for the health care takeover, even with new taxes on nearly a million small businesses, the planners in Washington still didn't have enough money. They needed more. They needed hundreds of billions more. So, they just took it all away from Medicare. Seven hundred and sixteen billion dollars, funneled out of Medicare by President Obama. An obligation we have to our parents and grandparents is being sacrificed, all to pay for a new entitlement we didn't even ask for.
The greatest threat to Medicare is Obamacare, and we're going to stop it. In Congress, when they take out the heavy books and wall charts about Medicare, my thoughts go back to a house on Garfield Street in Janesville. My wonderful grandma, Janet, had Alzheimer's and moved in with Mom and me. Though she felt lost at times, we did all the little things that made her feel loved. We had help from Medicare, and it was there, just like it's there for my Mom today. Medicare is a promise, and we will honor it.
A Romney-Ryan administration will protect and strengthen Medicare, for my Mom's generation, for my generation, and for my kids and yours. So our opponents can consider themselves on notice. In this election, on this issue, the usual posturing on the Left isn't going to work. Mitt Romney and I know the difference between protecting a program, and raiding it. Ladies and gentlemen, our nation needs this debate. We want this debate. We will win this debate.
Obamacare, as much as anything else, explains why a presidency that began with such anticipation now comes to such a disappointing close. It began with a financial crisis; it ends with a job crisis. It began with a housing crisis they alone didn't cause; it ends with a housing crisis they didn't correct. It began with a perfect Triple-A credit rating for the United States; it ends with a downgraded America. It all started off with stirring speeches, Greek columns, the thrill of something new.
Now all that's left is a presidency adrift, surviving on slogans that already seem tired, grasping at a moment that has already passed, like a ship trying to sail on yesterday's wind.
President Obama was asked not long ago to reflect on any mistakes he might have made. He said, well, "I haven't communicated enough." He said his job is to "tell a story to the American people" — as if that's the whole problem here? He needs to talk more, and we need to be better listeners?
Ladies and gentlemen, these past four years we have suffered no shortage of words in the White House. What's missing is leadership in the White House. And the story that Barack Obama does tell, forever shifting blame to the last administration, is getting old. The man assumed office almost four years ago — isn't it about time he assumed responsibility? In this generation, a defining responsibility of government is to steer our nation clear of a debt crisis while there is still time.
Back in 2008, candidate Obama called a $10 trillion national debt "unpatriotic" — serious talk from what looked to be a serious reformer. Yet by his own decisions, President Obama has added more debt than any other president before him, and more than all the troubled governments of Europe combined. One president, one term, $5 trillion in new debt.
He created a bipartisan debt commission. They came back with an urgent report. He thanked them, sent them on their way, and then did exactly nothing. Republicans stepped up with good-faith reforms and solutions equal to the problems. How did the president respond? By doing nothing — nothing except to dodge and demagogue the issue. So here we are, $16 trillion in debt and still he does nothing.
In Europe, massive debts have put entire governments at risk of collapse, and still he does nothing. And all we have heard from this president and his team are attacks on anyone who dares to point out the obvious. They have no answer to this simple reality: We need to stop spending money we don't have.
My Dad used to say to me: "Son. You have a choice: You can be part of the problem, or you can be part of the solution." The present administration has made its choices. And Mitt Romney and I have made ours:
Before the math and the momentum overwhelm us all, we are going to solve this nation's economic problems. And I'm going to level with you: We don't have that much time. But if we are serious, and smart, and we lead, we can do this. After four years of government trying to divide up the wealth, we will get America creating wealth again. With tax fairness and regulatory reform, we'll put government back on the side of the men and women who create jobs, and the men and women who need jobs.
My Mom started a small business, and I've seen what it takes. Mom was 50 when my Dad died. She got on a bus every weekday for years, and rode 40 miles each morning to Madison. She earned a new degree and learned new skills to start her small business. It wasn't just a new livelihood. It was a new life. And it transformed my Mom from a widow in grief to a small businesswoman whose happiness wasn't just in the past. Her work gave her hope. It made our family proud. And to this day, my Mom is my role model.
Behind every small business, there's a story worth knowing. All the corner shops in our towns and cities, the restaurants, cleaners, gyms, hair salons, hardware stores — these didn't come out of nowhere. A lot of heart goes into each one. And if small businesspeople say they made it on their own, all they are saying is that nobody else worked seven days a week in their place. Nobody showed up in their place to open the door at five in the morning. Nobody did their thinking, and worrying, and sweating for them.
After all that work, and in a bad economy, it sure doesn't help to hear from their president that government gets the credit. What they deserve to hear is the truth: Yes, you did build that. We have a plan for a stronger middle class, with the goal of generating 12 million new jobs over the next four years. In a clean break from the Obama years, and frankly from the years before this president, we will keep federal spending at 20 percent of GDP, or less. That is enough.
The choice is whether to put hard limits on economic growth, or hard limits on the size of government, and we choose to limit government. I learned a good deal about economics, and about America, from the author of the Reagan tax reforms — the great Jack Kemp. What gave Jack that incredible enthusiasm was his belief in the possibilities of free people, in the power of free enterprise and strong communities to overcome poverty and despair. We need that same optimism right now. And in our dealings with other nations, a Romney-Ryan administration will speak with confidence and clarity.
Wherever men and women rise up for their own freedom, they will know that the American president is on their side. Instead of managing American decline, leaving allies to doubt us and adversaries to test us, we will act in the conviction that the United States is still the greatest force for peace and liberty that this world has ever known.
President Obama is the kind of politician who puts promises on the record, and then calls that the record. But we are four years into this presidency. The issue is not the economy as Barack Obama inherited it, not the economy as he envisions it, but this economy as we are living it. College graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with life. Everyone who feels stuck in the Obama economy is right to focus on the here and now. And I hope you understand this too, if you're feeling left out or passed by: You have not failed, your leaders have failed you.
None of us have to settle for the best this administration offers — a dull, adventureless journey from one entitlement to the next, a government-planned life, a country where everything is free but us. Listen to the way we're spoken to already, as if everyone is stuck in some class or station in life, victims of circumstances beyond our control, with government there to help us cope with our fate.
It's the exact opposite of everything I learned growing up in Wisconsin, or at college in Ohio. When I was waiting tables, washing dishes, or mowing lawns for money, I never thought of myself as stuck in some station in life. I was on my own path, my own journey, an American journey where I could think for myself, decide for myself, define happiness for myself. That's what we do in this country. That's the American Dream. That's freedom, and I'll take it any day over the supervision and sanctimony of the central planners.
By themselves, the failures of one administration are not a mandate for a new administration. A challenger must stand on his own merits. He must be ready and worthy to serve in the office of president. We're a full generation apart, Governor Romney and I. And, in some ways, we're a little different. There are the songs on his iPod, which I've heard on the campaign bus and on many hotel elevators. He actually urged me to play some of these songs at campaign rallies. I said, I hope it's not a deal-breaker Mitt, but my playlist starts with AC/DC, and ends with Zeppelin. A generation apart. That makes us different, but not in any of the things that matter.
Mitt Romney and I both grew up in the heartland, and we know what places like Wisconsin and Michigan look like when times are good, when people are working, when families are doing more than just getting by. And we both know it can be that way again. We've had very different careers — mine mainly in public service, his mostly in the private sector. He helped start businesses and turn around failing ones. By the way, being successful in business — that's a good thing.
Mitt has not only succeeded, but succeeded where others could not. He turned around the Olympics at a time when a great institution was collapsing under the weight of bad management, overspending, and corruption — sounds familiar, doesn't it?
He was the Republican governor of a state where almost nine in ten legislators are Democrats, and yet he balanced the budget without raising taxes. Unemployment went down, household incomes went up, and Massachusetts, under Mitt Romney, saw its credit rating upgraded. Mitt and I also go to different churches. But in any church, the best kind of preaching is done by example. And I've been watching that example. The man who will accept your nomination tomorrow is prayerful and faithful and honorable. Not only a defender of marriage, he offers an example of marriage at its best. Not only a fine businessman, he's a fine man, worthy of leading this optimistic and good-hearted country.
Our different faiths come together in the same moral creed. We believe that in every life there is goodness; for every person, there is hope. Each one of us was made for a reason, bearing the image and likeness of the Lord of Life. We have responsibilities, one to another — we do not each face the world alone. And the greatest of all responsibilities, is that of the strong to protect the weak. The truest measure of any society is how it treats those who cannot defend or care for themselves.
Each of these great moral ideas is essential to democratic government — to the rule of law, to life in a humane and decent society. They are the moral creed of our country, as powerful in our time, as on the day of America's founding. They are self-evident and unchanging, and sometimes, even presidents need reminding, that our rights come from nature and God, not from government. The founding generation secured those rights for us, and in every generation since, the best among us have defended our freedoms. They are protecting us right now. We honor them and all our veterans, and we thank them.
The right that makes all the difference now, is the right to choose our own leaders. And you are entitled to the clearest possible choice, because the time for choosing is drawing near. So here is our pledge. We will not duck the tough issues, we will lead. We will not spend four years blaming others, we will take responsibility. We will not try to replace our founding principles, we will reapply our founding principles. The work ahead will be hard. These times demand the best of us — all of us, but we can do this. Together, we can do this. We can get this country working again. We can get this economy growing again. We can make the safety net safe again. We can do this.
Whatever your political party, let's come together for the sake of our country. Join Mitt Romney and me. Let's give this effort everything we have. Let's see this through all the way. Let's get this done.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
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