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While the world of American politics continues to buzz over Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's selection of Paul Ryan for his running mate, local legislators are weighing in on what this choice will mean in the November election.
Republican representatives are applauding Romney for a choice they say is bringing the economy front and center in the presidential election.
"I think Ryan could help fix our economy in the long term," said Paul Frost (R-Auburn). "He's not afraid to address the problems our federal government is facing, including the deficit."
Without even considering specifics, State Rep. Matt Beaton (R-Shrewsbury) said he respects Ryan for being the first to put forth a budget.
"He's the first one to say this is just a starting point," Beaton said. "I give him a lot of credit. He has a plan to start and that's what we need."
State Rep. George Peterson said he thinks Ryan will also be able to gain support for his budget plan.
"I think he can sell it to the country without identifying it as pushing granny over a cliff," said Peterson (R-Grafton).
U.S. Rep. James McGovern said Romney's selection of Ryan brings serious policy concerns to the forefront of this campaign.
"Paul Ryan is a passionate and committed politician, but his views are also at the heart of the current GOP push to dismantle vital social services and government functions solely to benefit the wealthiest Americans," said McGovern (D-Worcester).
He added that Ryan's budget plans would hurt many Americans.
"Ryan's proposed policies would increase the tax burden and the cost of healthcare for seniors and low to middle-income Americans, while drastically lowering the taxes on the top 1% of taxpayers," McGovern said.
State Sen. Michael Moore said he was concerned most that the Republican ticket would divide the country.
"I think he brings a more conservative, partisan philosophy to the ticket," said Moore (D-Millbury).
Area Republicans all agreed that while Ryan didn't necessarily help Romney in Massachusetts, "the bluest of blue states," it will help him with Independents and in swing states.
Moore said he believes this pick will continue to energize the Democrats grassroots efforts to help re-elect the president.
Comments (30)
John B keeps asking for the specific cuts in the Ryan budget. Two points: 1) Where are Obama's specific proposals to eliminate annual budget deficits so that the U.S does not become another Greece? and 2) The Ryan budget reduces the RATE OF GROWTH in total federal spending - it does not cut current federal spending levels.
Here is a challenge to all American Voters.
Obtain a copy of the Manifesto of the Communist Party by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels and take the time to read it completely, it is less than one hundred pages in length. When you have finished, please make an honest comparison of what you read with the philosophy of some of our current Washington politicians especially the President.
Yea, they are very far apart.
The President does not have single payer health plan, did not line the Wall St Bankers against a wall and shoot them. He still lets GM and Chrystal outsource their work and did not create wage parity between the mangers and workers at these companies. He has not taken over all the houses of worship and replaced them with atheism.
Not as far apart as you think. Did you actually read the Manifesto? The President seems to be working very subtly to achieve his ultimate goal.
The conspiracy is small and secret. Only Mike Savage and Glenn Beck know about it.
Abraham Lincoln warned us of the enemy within!
"At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume I, "Address Before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois (January 27, 1838), p. 109.
I work. I like to work. I want to keep my job and I want low taxes for me and my family. I also want other people to work so that they can pay taxes, instead of collecting food stamps and other free stuff from me.
Republicans respect the work ethic, and family first values. Obama devalues these core principals by supporting a welfare state system for his and his party's political gain.
There is a reason that Massachusetts sent out voter reminder notices only to welfare recipients, and not to working class people who pay taxes.
The president has noting to do with gas prices, you said that yourself when they skyrocketed under Bush. It's like saying global warming is up under Obama, no connection. Budgets have to pass the congress first so you can blame the Republicans for that. Fast and furious was an extension of a Bush policy, see what you get when you embrace any republican policy. Debt was not a problem for you when Reagan started it and Bush continued it. and finally the economy gains 100,000 jobs a month now, when Obama took over it was losing 700,000 per month. I love debunking conservatives.
So Liberal, let me get this straight. It's not the current president's fault that budgets haven't passed. Yet it was the former president's fault that the economy was losing 700K jobs/month? I love the liberal way of thinking. Why don't you stop imagining you're debunking and open your eyes to what is really happening in this country; realize we're being driven in the ground by both sides of the aisle in Washington; and how they are there for themselves and not the voters who put them in office.
Haha. The gun running program that was under Bush policy actually included tracking the guns. I hear that in Eric Holder's program, the feds lost track of the guns that they sold to criminals... oops!
Gaining 100,000 jobs a month is not a healthy recovery. Unemployment is still above 8%, and that doesn't even include everyone who gave up looking for work. You might also want to look up what percentage of our GDP is currently generated by the Government sector. Since government gets its money through taxes, it relies on getting tax money from people who earn money in the private sector. So the government doesn't really generate wealth on its own does it?
So, indirectly, the people working in the private sector are paying the government employees to provide services that help private businesses do business. However, I feel that too much of that money is being wasted on the government providing inefficient or even counter-productive services. So the more bloated the government gets, and the more entitlements they hand out, the worse the return is from the "investment" of paying taxes.
Yet under GW government grew and Ryan voted for every bit of it. And did you see the video that surfaced today of Ryan giving full-throated support to Bush's stimulus package in 2002? It was good for the economy then, when Bush wanted it. Great stuff. If you haven't seen it yet, you will.
Great argument to cut inefficient military spending.
But mittens wants to increase military spending. I wonder who is is planning on waging a war.
Considering what Mittens has said he will be getting his foreign policy directives from Israel. That is not putting America first.
The president has noting to do with gas prices, you said that yourself when they skyrocketed under Bush. It's like saying global warming is up under Obama, no connection. Budgets have to pass the congress first so you can blame the Republicans for that. Fast and furious was an extension of a Bush policy, see what you get when you embrace any republican policy. Debt was not a problem for you when Reagan started it and Bush continued it. and finally the economy gains 100,000 jobs a month now, when Obama took over it was losing 700,000 per month. I love debunking conservatives.
My point was to bring attention to the fact that Ryan has produced a plan in contrast to Obama who only supplies divisive rhetoric. Whether you like it or not, Obama's policies have not had the effect that was promised. Sorry if i missed Obama's plan for entitlement reform. If it existed we'd have something to debate but since solutions are only being offered by one side i can see why the only option is to attack that. When did I reference cuts? What have I said that requires a source? Make sense please.
I was pointing out the Ryan's plan is not specific in which cuts he would make. To say that there is a plan is pie in the sky.
Obama's plan is working, dispute the GOP's efforts to make him a 1 term president.
Detroit is back, 22 straight months of job growth (John McCain would be president if that had happened 4 years ago) Inflation is low, interest rates are very low. Boston's housing prices are back. The US is becoming more energy independent.
Obama care is so effective that Senator Brown's daughters are benefiting from it.
W's policy brought about the crash. How is Mitten's policies different then W's?
You forgot:
• Gas prices up 107% under Obama (Avg. gas price was $1.92 in Jan '09)
• Zero budgets passed
• Fast and Furious scandal
• Adding more to the debt in 3 years than Bush did in 8
• Zero meetings with his own jobs council in the last 7 months yet attended 121 fundraisers for his re-election in that same time frame
I love discussing highlights!
Still not answering my question about which programs the GOP will cut.
Bill Buckley must be rolling in his grave.
Detroit is back huh? How's GM (Government Motors) doing lately?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/louiswoodhill/2012/08/15/general-motors-is-headed-for-bankruptcy-again/
Romney and Ryan were both born with a sliver spoon in their mouths and think they put it there themselves. They are part of the privileged class and have absolutely no understanding of how the average person lives. From the first day he was in office President Obama was faced with Rush Limbaugh's "I hope he fails" and every Republican in office has done everything they could to make him fail with the US being the victim. Fortunately he was able to get a health care law passed which allows young people to continue with insurance until they are 26, forbids insurance companies from cutting people off when they get sick and at least takes the country a step forward in providing people with an affordable way to get health insurance. I am tired of paying thousands more every year to take care of those who are not responsible enough to get insurance and instead suck off of everyone else. Obama has done a solid job in turning around the disaster of an economy left to him by Bush and the Republicans. His policies saved the American auto industry and its banks. His foreign policy achievements are many. He pulled troops out of the disaster that was Iraq, helped the world get rid of Ghaddaffi in Libya and rid the world of Osama Bin Laden. Romney's threats of war with Iran are beyond bizarre and are very dangerous. Ryan's efforts to make Medicaire a "voucher" system would be a disaster for older Americans and would bankrupt many of them. Both Romney and Ryan insist on more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and absolutely no tax increases despite exploding deficits which were primarily caused by the Bush tax cuts in the first place. They would pay for these cuts by increasing taxes on middle-class Americans by eliminating the mortgage interest deduction and many other middle class tax breaks. The wealth of this nation is flowing into the hands of fewer and fewer people--the Romneys and Ryans of the nation and their proposed policies would only add to this. Is it any wonder why the nations billionaires are using the Republican led "Citizens United" Supreme Court ruling to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to get Romney and Ryan elected. It is an investment for them in that they know that it will pay off with huge tax cuts for them should they get these two elected. For the sake of our children I can only hope that the American people have the sense to vote for Obama/Biden in November.
From day one the Republicans have vowed to fight Obama at every turn. Their REAL leaders Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity began counting down the remaining days of Obama’s presidency at 1460 days, hoping to see him fail. Problem is, when you stifle everything everyone fails. Republicans wouldn’t even vote to extend the Bush tax cuts, once it became a plan supported by Obama. Despite this obstructionism our economy now gains 100,000 jobs per month, as opposed to losing 700,000 jobs as we were when he inherited this mess. A massive depression was averted thanks to the auto bailouts, we have been kept safe from terrorism, he’s ended the costly war in Iraq, and he’s even eliminated Osama Bin-Laden. And unlike Ryan’s proposal to “throw granny off of a cliff” with his Medicaid plan. Obamacare actually helps seniors and people with pre-existing conditions who will surely be dropped if the insurance companies are allowed to do as they please. Sure threes some deficit impact that is associated with this, but what successful business doesn’t borrow to insure a better future? Besides deficits were not a problem for conservatives when Reagan started the practice and GWB expanded on it. You see, people like (Voice of Reason?), want to “throw them all out”. Problem is, he would replace them with people like Sarah Palin or Christine O’Donnell, you think things are bad now, imagine if these cretins were making policy. I’m voting for President Obama and Elizabeth Warren so that we can move forward and get Washington’s priorities straight, and hopefully teach the vile conservatives a lesson about obstructionism in the process. After what the Republicans have done the last for years, Romney and Ryan cannot be trusted to do anything but give the country away to big corporations at the expense of the middle class.
This article is a microcosm of what Washington has become – a partisan group of elitists whose actions are in direct conflict with the oath they each swore before taking office. And if what we have witnesses is indeed Congress and Executive branch operating to the best of their abilities, then get rid of them all. There is no reason to keep them. Not one.
It’s our jobs as the voting public to really understand what’s not happening in this country. How we have gone from a super power – not a military might, rather a country that demands innovation, growth, expertise, compassion, and empathy of its citizens to lead the world in most every facet of life – to just another country that can’t seem to manage itself. The bickering, arguing, and finger pointing between both parties and between the House, Senate, and White House only demonstrate how far we have indeed fallen.
As the saying goes, “the buck stops here.” And “here” is the Oval Office at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. This President has done nothing to bring the two parties together; another shining example of his failed promise of his “Hope and Change” campaign. That a budget hasn’t been passed since the spring of 2009 is cause for him to be fired by the American people.
Yet the people who support him – both the voters and the media – are too blind to criticize him. With freedom of speech and the right to vote comes the responsibility of holding the President accountable. Why has that not happened? Further, why won’t he speak to the mistakes he’s made and how he’s going to fix them, regardless of a second term or not? Because that would admit mistake and he’s too much of an elitist to make mistakes. And he doesn’t give two wits about this country to do such a thing.
America has been built and rebuilt by hard working men and women who have the determination, ingenuity, tenacity, and ability to admit and learn from their mistakes. The President and Congress are in stark contrast to this. And rather than do his job as Commander in Chief, this President seems to only want to focus on chipping away at our constitution, chip away at the foundations of our democracy, and chip away at the tenants that made us a once proud country. The President and his actions serve to only divide the country. It’s his job to bring together the country, to resolve our differences, even if it’s to agree to disagree.
Yet it’s clear from the tone of his campaign, and the actions of the Super PACs that he has not denounced, that this President is not interested in bringing this country together. He seems to be doing the polar opposite. He’s seemingly working to create a much bigger divide, to blind his supporters in hopes of winning a second term, where he can wreak havoc without fear of recourse. And his “Forward” campaign slogan is a succinct way of saying he has not lived up to his campaign promises, so rather than talk about that he goes on the attack.
Mr. President, if you had America’s interests at heart why not debate the Republican ticket each week on the issues that matter most to Americans? Debate them from sea to shining sea so we know where each of you stand on taxes, role of government, how to restart the economy, how to make this country great again? Why, because if you did, America and the world would see that you might be nothing more than an empty shell who speaks of the wants and needs of lobbying groups rather than truly understanding and meeting the needs of the American people.
Every time there is a call to see a birth certificate or college transcript that is not working for America.
Every time time a call for a 2nd amendment solution is not working towards America.
To be more beholden to the NRA, and Grover Norquist is to hold the voters in contempt.
The profits of GM, Ford and Chrysler shows the success of the plans. The loans are back with a profit.
The left is seriously upset with our conservative light president.
He has left in place the power of the Bush administration. Kill lists, Gitmo, dentition of American citizens without warrants, no banking reform. The stimulus that was far too little. The only Street that has benefited has been Wall not Main.
But Our Commander in Chief has meet an overriding need of every American; Bin Laden is dead.
Excellent and well articulated post, VoR.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTynx1hnfig
John, Gram won't have to worry. We all should be worried the direction this country is heading. We all will go over the cliff if the financial direction of the US is not changed soon. We are spending ourselves into oblivion. Unsustainable!!!!
Bill Gates owns more wealth in American then the bottom 40%
10% of this country owns 90% of the wealth.
I am in the top 2%. I support more taxes on the wealthy. It wont stop me or my wife from working hard.
But I ask my GOP friends to list the deep cuts they are willing to make.
John's approach is to ignore the financial challenges and focus on the negative aspects that come with change. Maybe some will have to get by with less so that future generations can enjoy these programs. The status quo equals insolvency.
Agreed, Mrs. Monty. I've deleted that comment in question.
So what programs will be cut on the Ryan Romney budget? Will Granny be pushed over the cliff?
They will tell you AFTER they get elected.
Watch out Granny!
In contrast to what you are used to getting from Obama and Co. Romney and Ryan are very clear about their vison of what needs to be done. Watch something other than MSNBC every once in a while.
Care to list the Cuts in the Ryan Budget, please cite your sources.