Gov. Mitt Romney has selected Congressman Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate. As a political observer, I think it’s a good idea. Paul Ryan will put some steel into Romney’s campaign that has waffled poorly so far in this election effort.
Mr. Ryan will push Mr. Romney as far from the word “moderate” and as far to the “right” as you can get in today’s politics. Mr. Ryan is, obviously, a good man with strong family ties and a devotion to his faith (Mr. Ryan is a Roman Catholic). And, he has already produced a strong budgetary line that should make every tea-bagger in Congress as happy as a clam in garlic sauce.
There are many things which are good about Mr. Ryan’s thinking, but he fails in the main in the thought that you can reward the rich and that money will trickle down to the working man.
This nation tried this with the 2003 tax bill from the Bush administration. The political “right-wing” stated loudly, and clearly, that by giving the mega-billionaires extra tax income, that income would then trickle down to create jobs. It is obvious it did not work.
According to press reports, there are three and a half million jobs in America right now that are being unfulfilled because people aren’t trained to do the jobs that are sitting empty. Some are not filled because the people who are not working don’t want the jobs. This may be more of a problem with education than with politics.
The idea of the privatization of Social Security is scary. The recent crash of banks and Wall Street (circa 2008) has shown that we would be putting our future seniors in a world of hurt if, indeed, this comes to fruition. This battle cry that it gives Americans a choice is just pure hogwash. It is putting Americans between a rock and a very hard place.
Simply put, it is giving the international mega-corporations a break while the guy, or gal, going to work every day is not even close to that kind of a break.
It is good to see a young man with ideas in Congress. The problem, as I see it, is the ideas are just plain wrong. And Mr. Ryan and his fellow “right-wingers” simply will not consider any compromise … even if a compromise could be the best thing for the nation.
Ronn Mott, a longtime radio personality in Terre Haute, writes commentaries for the Tribune-Star. His pieces are published online Tuesday and Thursday on Tribstar.com, and in the print and online editions on Saturday.
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RONN MOTT: Paul Ryan Economics
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