Paul Ryan open thread
Oh, what the heck, it hasn’t been chaotic enough around here. So, I’ll give you a topic: Paul Ryan. Commentary from The Economist starts:
IN THE polarised world of American politics, achieving bipartisan agreement on any topic is a rare feat nowadays. So perhaps it’s worth celebrating the fact that, had it been put to a vote, the pick of Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney’s running-mate likely would’ve gained support from both parties.
Please, continue. Was it a hail mary move? Will Ryan energize the Republican base enough to get out more votes? Will he drive votes to the Democrats?
What do you think?
Oh, and bonus points if you can tie in internet security.
It was Romney’s only real chance to win the Presidency: maximize turnout of the GOP base and hope that Obama makes a blunder. About as much chance of that as of Romney showing his tax returns.
As far as the presidential race goes, it makes no difference. Romney was tied to the Romney-Ryan budget until and unless he put one of his own on the table, which of course won’t happen. And the plan was always to eliminate Medicare and Social Security once in office, where else would the money come from to fund the tax cuts for Romney?
The real impact is going to be on the house race where every incumbent GOP member has voted to end Medicare. And it is end, not reform, and it will be for the over 50s, not just us younger folk. There is no way that medicare can be sustained as a program for the over 50s once the rest of us won’t get it. Which is of course the plan. Cutting our benefits does not save a dime, the only way to save money is to unplug the grannies from their life support. Which is of course phase three. Phase one was passing the Bush tax cut, phase 2 was using the deficit created as a pretext to shut down Medicare for the under 50s, phase 3 is to shut down Medicare and social security completely so that Romney can get another tax cut.
The GOP stands on the brink of electoral annihilation. This is not just going to cost them Florida for this election, but for several elections to come. And there is no way that the math can ever work for a party that can’t win in California, New York or Florida. They are also doing their best to lose Texas and Arizona with their Latino bashing agenda.