Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney intends to name Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his vice presidential running mate for the fall campaign, party officials said early Saturday, turning to the architect of a conservative and intensely controversial long-term budget plan to remake Medicare and cut trillions in federal spending.
These officials said a formal announcement was set for Norfolk, Va., as the newly minted Republican ticket begins a bus tour through four battleground states in as many days. They spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to disclose the decision.
In a statement issued Friday night, Romney's campaign said only that the running mate would be present at 9 a.m. EDT at the Nauticus Museum. The USS Wisconsin is berthed there offering a hint about Ryan's selection.
Ryan's selection as well as Romney's own nomination will be ratified by delegates to the Republican National Convention that begins on Aug. 27 in Tampa, Fla.
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden will be nominated for a second term at the Democratic convention the following week.
At 42, Ryan is a generation younger than the 65-year-old Romney.
His conservative credentials are highly regarded by fellow Republican House members, while numerous polls found that Romney's own were suspect among the party's core supporters during the primaries of winter and spring.
#2
a good pick: humble, mature, and smart. Basically the Anti-Biden
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2012 8:45 Comments ||
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#3
It is about the economy. I wish Ryan could have a debate with Obummer. Obummer doesn't have a clue about the economy. Hasn't even had a budget for the first term. Ryan would eat him up.
#4
If the Obummer isn't available, perhaps Ryan could debate Mugabe, Showerhead Zuma, Jesse Jackson, Sharpton, Mandella, or Tutu. They all share the same philosophy.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/11/2012 9:46 Comments ||
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#7
Champ will ask Biden to step aside, promising him some other ceremonial spot somewhere for his dotage (which began 20 years ago). Axelrod, Plouffe and Jarrett have to know that Ryan will eat Biden alive in a debate just as he'd wax Champ as John QC says.
Question is who the replacement will be. I don't think it's Hillary; she's done with elections and particularly done with Champ. I wonder if he'd go for Elizabeth Warren; she's ideologically sympatico but she has an unfortunate problem of lying about herself (which makes her a perfect match for Obama).
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/11/2012 9:49 Comments ||
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#8
Yep, the Champ will have to trump Willard's VP pick and we know who he's ready to slam into the breech. Question is now, will she take it?
#9
..if the usual opportunistic Clinton's learned anything, it was how measure the direction of the wind to avoid being dragged down with all the other mindless zealots [witness 'Welfare Reform'] to ruin future political options.
#10
I think it is an excellent choice, and because of his humble yet engaging speaking style, and his expertise, the entire national conversation will be pulled back to the compelling truth about the economy and the disaster of the O'Bumble stewardship.
#12
I tend to think Bambi's too vain to admit a mistake (Biden) and will ride that train over the cliff. (I have a vision of a 4-4-0 woodburner, Bambi and Biden in the cab and as it plunges over the side, the lettering on the tender says 'ACME.')
#14
Last election I preferred Palin over all the rest on either ticket; now I prefer Ryan.
Like Steve White, I think Biden will retire, however I suspect party forces will induce Hillary to step in - and I sure that ticket would be unbeatable. That would however put Zero's life in a lot of danger - Hillary is not the 'life insurance' policy Cheney (or even Biden) was, but more like a death assurance policy. Not (necessarily) because of her ruthless ambition, but because she has a lot of irrational fans.
#15
Wow. Just wow. Romney's just proven to us that he gets it; that he understands the overall Tea Party message and is willing to associate himself with it. After this pick, I'm moving my November Ricky-Ometer election prognosticator needle to "guardedly optimistic."
But stand the f*** by, as we used to say in the navy...we all know damn well that the Obamedia has reams of pre-written, focus-grouped attack material prepared for use against Ryan. When I was a kid, I lived in a suburb of Dayton, Ohio, and our house sometimes got overflown at really low altitude by B-52s in the Wright-Pat AFB landing pattern. Those 8 engines would shake the house, rattle the crockery and make any conversation other than "shouted at the top of your lungs" impossible. That noise level is a mouse's whisper compared to the hub-to-hub artillery barrage that's about to be unleashed on Ryan and his family, all the way down to the wife, the little kids and the pet goldfish. The bastards are going to try to Palinize him, make no mistake about it; and I worry that Team Mittens isn't prepared for the shitstorm that's coming their way.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
08/11/2012 11:21 Comments ||
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#16
Hillary is not the 'life insurance' policy Cheney (or even Biden) was...
I respectfully disagree that Hillary's fans are irrational enough to want to assassinate political opponents - Obamaniac true-believers are a whole 'nother story. If he picked Hillary as his running mate, I think the Clay-Footed Messiah would be looking more for (1) a means of keeping demoralized not-quite-so-far-left Dems from staying home in November and (2) impeachment insurance in case the Trunks take both houses of Congress.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
08/11/2012 11:41 Comments ||
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#17
#15 A personal injury attorney here in town used to run a billboard ad that had nothing but his picture and the question "Got your check yet?" That is basically Champ's campaign slogan, and picking Ryan sort of plays into that. The attack is going to be that Ryan's budget proposal will stop your check and steal food out of the mouth of little Nell the flower girl (along with any personal trash they can dig up.)
So it's going to be a heck of a fight. But Romney just showed me that he is the possessor of super-solid brass balls, and is willing to fight the battle that needs fighting. At $5 trillion the debt was something to worry about. At $17 trillion it's an existential threat.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/11/2012 12:16 Comments ||
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#18
Hot double-damn!
I've got dibs on the popcorn concession for the Vice Presidential debate. :-D
Posted by: Barbara ||
08/11/2012 12:25 Comments ||
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#19
Palinize him, make no mistake about it; and I worry that Team Mittens isn't prepared for the shitstorm that's coming their way.
Posted by Ricky bin Ricardo
#20
Romney could have chosen someone boring and safe, like Santorum. He however, chose someone the left is already in knots over because he is showing that the feeding trough days are coming to an end. Ryan is the visual representation and leader of the movement to end dhimocratic power.
Now Romney has chosen Ryan and looks to have embraced that fight and is making it the central pillar of his campaign.
I was going to vote for Romney because he wasn't Obama. Now I'm going to vote for the full ticket.
Good choice Romney, but man are the full targets of the left's hate are on your back. This will get ugly.
#21
Hate to rain on anyone's parade, but I think Romney is politically tone-deaf. Ryan has a plan that targets Social Security (many of whose recipients tend to vote for the GOP) and has a laundry list of other things that the Democrats can use as ammo against the Romney campaign.
The crummy thing about Ryan's plan was that it wasn't really one. It provided ammo for the enemy without actually being enacted into law. A plan without practical, step-by-step, actions that are executable in the here and now is not a plan. The D-Day Landings were planned. Ryan's budget "plan" is a dream or at best a vision.
And that "plan" will be mined for ammunition to use against the Romney campaign. The thing with political plans is they always take something from someone to hand over to someone else. That is why it is never wise to get too specific (i.e. burn too many bridges) if you want to run for higher office. The moment Ryan came out with his "plan", it was clear that if he had just given his potential opponents a treasure trove of ammunition to use against him. In politics, when figuring out winners and losers (i.e. making plans), it is generally wise to hold your fire until you see the whites of your adversaries' eyes (i.e. wait until you're elected), especially when the majority of the people negatively affected will come from a demographic that has tended, historically, to vote for your party.
#22
But stand the f*** by, as we used to say in the navy...we all know damn well that the Obamedia has reams of pre-written, focus-grouped attack material prepared for use against Ryan.
Only question is how long it will take them to start circulating it. I'm guessing no more than one news cycle.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
08/11/2012 13:17 Comments ||
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#23
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
08/11/2012 13:22 Comments ||
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#24
Ryan is the only politician to actually even hint at the truth about entitlement programs, and for that, he and Romney will be vilified. And libertarians (like Denninger) condemn R&R because they don't go nearly far enough in addressing the problem.
The country is not ready for the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, but maybe it is ready for at least an introduction? The current path is unsustainable. That which cannot continue forever, won't.
#25
Both Romney and Ryan are squeeky clean and people sense that. Obama and his minions will have to continue to spin lies about the murder of poor women, funding of Bain by death squad money, and Ryan pushing grandma over the cliff. The transparency of the Obama administration has been coming through loud and clear for 3-1/2 years despite all efforts to cover up the cat scat. I have already heard the Obama surrogates talking about Romney being a return to the Bush policies of trickle down economics. However, I have seldom known of poor people to create jobs unless they are willing to work very hard and take risks and work themselves out of their hole.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
08/11/2012 16:30 Comments ||
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#28
Sounds like a great bumper sticker:
R&R 2012
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
08/11/2012 16:30 Comments ||
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#29
Yeah, since R&R often stands for "Remove & Replace"
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/11/2012 16:49 Comments ||
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#30
Zhang Fei, Ryan's favorables are highest among seniors, who know his proposals.
Or maybe they like the fresh-faced young man with the matinee idol looks they wish their daughter had married. Until they find out that his Social Security proposals will take a chainsaw to their retirement plans.
#31
Look - I like Ryan. Heck - I like any of the names batted around as VP candidates. The problem is that the media isn't going to view it from my standpoint, that entitlements are out of control.
#32
They are borderline communists who will point out that Ryan deviates from their communist ideals, while identifying the specific demographics who will be hurt by Ryan's proposals - mainly GOP voters who have paid into the system all their lives.
#33
And the GOP voters who eventually see the light, that Ryan is targeting them instead of the wastrels who have never worked a day in their lives, will stay home on Election Day (or vote for Obama) in droves.
#34
Ryan would be great as a hatchet man for a venture capital firm taking over a failing company. He's personable and would make the people being cut feel less bad about the whole process.
#36
Elections are fundamentally different. Voters whose benefits are being targeted by a politician have a say in whether that politician gets elected to office.
#38
Sorry about all the breaks. The spam screener is rejecting a lot of posts based on some unknown word list, so I had to submit them a sentence at a time to figure out what the offending words were. P0ker is apparently one of them.
#39
Something needs to be done about Social Security. I've paid into it all my life and now I want my money back. I cannot believe he is going to cheat people like me out of it. But I recently received a letter from the good folks at Social Security telling me all about how much money I can get from the system and when. I found it highly insulting. IT'S MY MONEY, DAMMIT! I CAN'T STAND THE IDEA OF BIG BROTHER TELLING ME WHAT I CAN AND CANNOT DO WITH MY MONEY. OK. Calm down. Whatever the Dims say about how Paul Ryan is gonna keep me from getting my checks I do not believe. I do believe they lie all the time. I do believe they will keep stealing from me as long as they can. I do believe that something needs to be done about Social Security, Medicare and ObamaCare. They are all frickin' communism. They need to be phased out in a manner that does not steal from the people who have paid into it but they need to be phased out.
#40
All you people who think you paid into Social Security and will get YOUR money back - wrong. Your money was already spent. On whatever government wanted to spend it on. And those who already got Social Security payments received a lot more than they put in. The ONLY way you will get your money back out of it is if your kids (statistically speaking) pay more than enough in to cover your payout. Demographically and eventually politically impossible. That which cannot continue forever, won't.
#44
Actually, ZF, Ryan's favorables are specifically among seniors who are deeply concerned about unfunded entitlements burdening the young. And Ryan's plan (which will not be Romney's, per se) does NOT reduce benefits for current seniors.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
08/11/2012 19:55 Comments ||
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#47
I like Ryan (as much as I can like any politician). Heard him speak once at a Miami-Ohio grad (his alma mater) a couple yrs back - good speaker, solid message, & the guy got a legit standing O. His words today wrt God given/natural rights was the spot on message. The American people have a choice - big gov't interventionism into their life or a return to founding principles. Entitlements (misnomer word) vs. Reality. I know which one I will choose for my children and me.
If the avg voter cannot take the fiscal bad news that our current trajectory is unsustainable than they are b*tches & get the bankrupty they will deserve. SS and Medicare in current form are unsustainable. Obamacare is fiscally retarded. If the avg voter is so ignorant as to re-elect President Post Turtle after his 3 1/2 yr track record of failure than I say we are a pathetic excuse of a nation, and already f*cked. Atlas will eventually shrug and I will be happy for that day as it means a new beginning can start in motion. I would say more but am in fear of the tequila that I have already consumed this evening will force me to even more over-zealous ranting.
Actually, I like Ryan. Unfortunately, nobody cares, outside of Rantburg and various conservative ghettos websites (1% of total web traffic, combined, on a really good day, if you wish really, really hard) that we think he's a great guy, just as nobody cared we though Palin was Reagan redux. The problem is voters will see his "plan" in excruciating detail over the months ahead, and decide "no thanks".
#49
Zhang Fe raises legitimate points. I like Congressman Ryan. Mr. Wife's response was, "That's a really dumb choice," though he didn't explain because he is suffering from an early case of the flu.
#51
No one enjoys balancing the checkbook, cutting up the credit cards, admitting that they have been profligate and short-sighted, and facing reality. But they know they're completely screwed if they don't.
Seems to me, ZF doesn't have a problem with Ryan, but that ZF has no faith in voters. They did, after all, choose Ogabe. But that was 2008, and it ain't 2008 anymore.
So I'm a little more optimistic. After four years of circling the drain while the Dear Leader takes credit for anything good while refusing to take responsibility for anything bad, people just might be ready to give the other guy a try.
President Obamas campaign has imitated the dishonesty of his super PAC, to judge from a fact check of a badly misleading television ad that comes very close to accusing Mitt Romney of committing tax fraud.
Theres so much deceit here we hardly know where to start, explains Brooks Jackson at FactCheck.org, which is run by Annenberg Public Policy Center. Hes commenting on a new ad that strongly suggests Romney committed tax fraud. It wasnt Romney who was avoiding taxes, it was Marriott Corp. And theres no evidence to support the ads speculation that Romney himself paid no income tax, or that he did something illegal, Jackson had already noted.
Jackson also noted that the central claims of the ad are attributed to CNN, with only the fine print acknowledging that it was an opinion piece.
[Iran Press TV] Sen. Scott Downtown Scotty Brown (R-MA) on Friday accused the Commonwealth of Massachusetts of favoring his Democratic rival, Elizabeth Warren, because they complied with a 1993 bipartisan federal law that requires states to provide voter registrations to people seeking public assistance like welfare.
New York-based think tank Demos in May sued Massachusetts and eight other states for not complying with the National Voter Registration Act. The state responded by sending out more than 500,000 voter registrations to welfare recipients at taxpayers' expense.
On Friday, Brown sent out a statement demanding that Warren reimburse the state for $276,000 because her daughter, Amelia Warren Tyagi, chaired the board at Demos.
"It's been disturbing for a lot of people to learn that the state's welfare department undertook an unprecedented voter registration drive at the behest of Elizabeth Warren's daughter and the organization she represents," Brown said. "It is clear that this was done to aid Elizabeth Warren's Senate campaign. Professor Warren has more than $13 million dollars in her campaign account, and if she wants to mail every welfare recipient a voter registration form, she should do so at her own expense, not taxpayers."
"She should immediately reimburse the state for the cost of this mailing and stop playing politics with the taxpayers' money."
But Warren told WFXT that Demos was working to enforce the law before her daughter joined the organization.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Brown acknowledged that registering welfare recipients would only hurt his bid to stay in office.
"It means that I'm going to have to work that much harder to get out my pro-jobs, pro-free enterprise message," Brown said. Raw Story
Posted by: Fred ||
08/11/2012 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
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#1
"Taxpayers ought to have the vote, not so tax consumers. And that goes for politicians, who pay taxes out of what they loot from the taxpayer." Ilana Mercer (April 24, 2007)
#2
Yeah, but don't the welfare recipients still have to fill out the form and mail it back? That takes a lot of effort, you know. And then on election day they still have to get up off their fat asses and find the polling place. Won't they need somebody from ACORN to give them a ride?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
08/11/2012 13:07 Comments ||
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#4
There was an article in our local newspaper in the last few days. The gist of the article was that University students were obtaining fake IDs over the internet that were produced overseas and guaranteed to pass inspection. Students had two IDs, one a very good fake and one that was a honest driver's license with hologram, picture, etc. The bar owner had a collection of some of these fake IDs that had been confiscated. In the accompanying picture with the story most IDs looked to be the size of a driver's license. He said many of the IDs were so good that often the police could not detect them.
What I am wondering is the this:
1. If the police can't detect these fakes, how is the election board supposed to detect these fakes?
2. What would prevent students (or recruited voters) who are, for the most part Obama supporters, to use both IDs to vote for Obama?
#6
Jon Stewart says there are only 0.7 cases of fraud per state per year. And apparantly none of the ACORN fraudulent registrations resulted in either ACORN convictions or fraudulent votes. And no fraudulent voting by dead people has ever been proven in Chicago (so it does not happen and we don't need to work to prevent it). I learned all this from comments on a liberal friend's post.
#7
Minnesota Majority says that there have been 113 convictions due to felons voting in the 2008 elections. Their statistics come out of the 2.9 million Minnesota voters who voted in 2008, or about 0.004 percent of the 2008 voting population.
A recent posting at RB said there were an estimated 1000 felons who voted in Minnesota. The number of voters who voted and shouldn't have can swing an election in a swing state that is close.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Sen. 
