AP confirms: It’s Ryan
From the Web site policymic.com:
The Associated Press and several television stations have confirmed that Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan will be Mitt Romney’s vice presidential running mate.
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One big question that remains is, how many Republican insiders profited from knowing the pick ahead of time?
Friday’s market action on Intrade, the online trading exchange website that allows members to trade shares in future events, was giving a very strong indication that Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan would be Mitt Romney’s vice presidential pick.
The same Web site, policymic.com, writes about how Ryan’s meteoric rise on Intrade:
Intrade saw an incredibly irregular spike in volume in its vice presidential pick market. After a gradual upswing in price action starting on August 4, the market for Ryan went parabolic on Friday. When the day began, one share of Ryan becoming VP was priced at $2.19 out of a maximum of $10, meaning that the sum total of activity in the market indicated that traders collectively felt that Ryan had a 21.9% chance of being chosen as Romney’s VP. By early evening, the shares jumped to $3.16 (31.6%). Just after 11pm, Eastern Time, the Romney campaign sent out an email revealing that the former Massachusetts governor would announce his pick at 9am on Saturday morning in Norfolk, Virginia. And so, by 12:09 a.m. Saturday morning, a share of Ryan’s stock was trading at a whopping and outrageous $9.40 (94%), a 329% spike over Friday’s open.
Kenneth D. Franks says:
Energizing to both bases, smarter than Sarah Palin but just as controversial Paul Ryan will send Democrats to the polls in droves. This is a gift to Democrats.
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Spiro Eagleton Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 7:30 am
You would have said that no matter whom Romney chose. The bottom line is that Ryan is a great selection and will do more to fire up the conservative/libertarian base of the GOP than Joe Biden will ever do for the Democrats. There will also be a very positive contrast between Ryan and Biden in both age and knowledge. Biden should just call in sick for the veep debate.
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anon Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 9:42 am
Ryan is a polarizing party before country hack.
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100 Year Bad Decision Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 11:53 am
My socks are smarter than Palin.
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Sonoma says:
Why shouldn’t Republican insiders profit? That’s how they do.
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Cheesesteak says:
Here’s a handy summary:
The new Ryan budget is a remarkable document — one that, for most of the past half-century, would have been outside the bounds of mainstream discussion due to its extreme nature. In essence, this budget is Robin Hood in reverse — on steroids. It would likely produce the largest redistribution of income from the bottom to the top in modern U.S. history and likely increase poverty and inequality more than any other budget in recent times (and possibly in the nation’s history). It also would stand a core principle of the Bowles-Simpson fiscal commission’s report on its head — that policymakers should reduce the deficit in a way that does not increase poverty or widen inequality.
Specifically, the Ryan budget would impose extraordinary cuts in programs that serve as a lifeline for our nation’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens, and over time would cause tens of millions of Americans to lose their health insurance or become underinsured. It would also impose severe cuts in non-defense discretionary programs—much deeper than the across-the-board cuts (“sequestration”) that are scheduled to take place starting in January — thereby putting core government functions at still greater risk. Indeed, a new Congressional Budget Office analysis that Chairman Ryan himself requested shows that, after several decades, the Ryan budget would shrink the federal government so dramatically that most of what it does outside of Social Security, health care, and defense would essentially disappear.
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Fiftycal Reply:
August 12th, 2012 at 12:34 pm
Gee, you mean that the 48% of “po’” peons that get more from the govt than they PAY will actually have to PAY something? Oh, the humanity. I guess the dream of a western Europeon socialist nirvana is fading. As to “sequestration”, why is it that defense, which is 20% of the budget, gets 50% of the cuts? Couldn’t be that socialists HATE the military, could it?
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anon Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 9:42 am
Tinfoil hat, please.
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Anon. says:
“Medicare vouchers. Medicare vouchers. Medicare vouchers.”
The Democrats will just repeat this over and over again for the next three months, specifically to white seniors (who seem to be the group that are most motivated to vote against Obama).
What’s the GOP response? “These changes only applies to people under 50″ straight up did not work for Bush with privatizing Social Security. Neither did “well, we have to get serious and tell hard truths.”
Seriously, how do they respond?
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anonymouse2 Reply:
August 11th, 2012 at 10:00 am
how are medicare vouchers different from premium subsidies?
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John Johnson Reply:
August 11th, 2012 at 8:11 pm
White seniors most likely to vote for Obama??? Where did this come from? After making a goofy statement like that, you lost me.
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Gen. Sam Houston says:
This is an excellent decision by Romney. Ryan is pure, original Tea Party — concentration on fiscal responsibility. In contrast to Biden, a garrulous bullshit artist, Ryan talks straight and he knows what he’s talking about.
Yes, the Ryan budget plan is vulnerable to inevitable Demo “mediscare” tactics, which have served them well in avoiding entitlement reform in the past. But an increasing number of Americans are realizing that reform is necessary, and they have to know by now that any courageous leadership on the deficit will NOT be coming from the Obama administration. Romney is betting that people are smarter than Democrats think they are. I believe that’s a pretty good wager.
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Alan Reply:
August 11th, 2012 at 5:34 pm
Ryan will easily best Biden in the VP debate. But, Lloyd Bentsen handed Dan Quayle’s hat to him in their debate and was smarter than him by leaps and bounds; it didn’t stop Bush from winning in a walk.
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texun Reply:
August 12th, 2012 at 6:13 pm
You have a point, but Old Joe has seen a lot of more articulate guys zone out in the Senate.
Ryan is a perfect match for Mitt: they were both born with silver spoons in their mouths. Mitt’s old man actually created jobs; Ryan’s family owns most of that corner of Wisconsin. They will carry the flag for the 1% proudly.
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anon Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 9:43 am
Ryan is just what Obama needed.
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Bill Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 12:03 pm
You honestly think that the sheeple the GOP and Tea Party relies on votes in their best interest? You really think conservatives are smarter? That sort of talk is crap.
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Cow Droppings says:
yeah, the big question paul is who profited on intrade.
Not how this will impact the election, what it means for the country, or the contrast it draws between the two tickets…nope, the bet on the side is more important than the bet on America.
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paulburka Reply:
August 11th, 2012 at 9:19 am
CD — Thanks for your editing tips. I don’t engage on Intrade, but I did think it was worth mentioning how the market reacted to Ryan’s chances over the last 24 hours. You’re free to think otherwise. If you read my other post on the subject of the selection of the vice-president, you know that I had already commented on why I thought Romney chose Ryan and how it would impact the election.
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Anon. says:
Gen. Sam Houston: just like how President Bush was successful in privatizing Social Security?
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longleaf says:
IMO Eddie Munster/Paul Ryan is not really Tea Partyesque in fiscal terms. The Tea Party began, at least, with an obsession about the rapidly-growing national debt and deficit spending.
Ryan wants to INCREASE the misnamed “defense” budget and ALSO give another round of “supply-side” tax cuts to those at the top. I think I recall his plan MIGHT balance the budget by 2040 or so.
http://articles.marketwatch.com/2012-03-29/economy/31253320_1_budget-plan-ryan-budget-republican-plan
He seems more aligned with the Dick Cheney “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter” mantra, in spite of his lip service to the debt. The only reason he ever focuses on the debt is to whip up sentiment to end (or “save” as he says in his Orwellian way of looking at things) Medicare and other safety net programs.
The Tea Party term means different things to different people. Where I am, it has been taken over by the Southern Baptists and allied theocrats. There is no central authority telling us what the Tea Party stands for even as there is no Southern Baptist “pope” telling them what to believe. I have come to believe “Tea Party” has no specific meaning anymore – just a sort of “I fart in your general direction” wind-breakage toward the powers that be to express dissatisfaction with the way their lives are turning out in this “greatest nation on earth.”
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paulburka Reply:
August 11th, 2012 at 11:15 am
It is very unfortunate that the social conservatives have been able to co-opt the fiscal conservatives in the radicalization of the Republican party.
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Robert Morrow Reply:
August 11th, 2012 at 8:25 pm
Don’t forget the damn neocons. A good old fashioned paleoconservative looks pretty good at this point.
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Spiro Eagleton Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 7:35 am
Ryan is primarily a fiscal conservative. He’s soild on social issues, but hardly ever speaks on them and he also voted against employers being able to discriminate against homosexuals and took a lot of crap for that vote. He said at the time he has friends that were made that way and that it was not a choice for them.
Fiftycal Reply:
August 12th, 2012 at 12:43 pm
You know what will end Medicaid as we know it? Medicaid as we know it.” from Iowahawk. In case you don’t know, we can’t borrow $40 of every $100 the govt spends into infinity. In case maths is tough for you, if the next budget had a $100,000 million surplus instead of a 1,200,000 million DEFICIT, it would still take 150 years to pay off.
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John Johnson Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 3:44 pm
We Baptists call it “Priesthood of the believer”.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 4:05 pm
meanwhile tea party groups like King Street Patriots contionue to do awesome things. Bash the tea partiers all you want but they’re running the show.
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The Mustache That Dare Not Speak Its Name says:
A confident Presidential candidate doesn’t feel the need to play to the base when picking a VP nominee.
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Anonymous says:
Ryan is an okay pick, but might have been better in Romney’s cabinet. The far and away best political choice was Rubio, which would have led to certain defeat for Obama. As it is now, Florida is probably in the Obama column due to the senior vote.
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paulburka says:
Rubio would have been an intriguing choice; problem is that Rubio himself ran away from his opportunity. You can see the upside of Rubio: It fixes Romney’s problem with the Hispanic vote.
I don’t follow national politics that closely, but Rubio seems much more the type of uplifting politician who is an asset to a ticket compared to the take your medicine type as represented by Paul Ryan. And Florida is a much more important state to win than Wisconsin.
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Blue Reply:
August 11th, 2012 at 12:07 pm
I think it came down to Rubio not being ready. He would have gotten the Palin treatment from the media (because of the existential threat he poses to the Democratic coalition) and there is no guarantee he would do any better than she did in repelling it.
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anon Reply:
August 11th, 2012 at 6:53 pm
The problem with Palin was not her lack of experience; it was her lack of gravitas and intellect. Rubio, by contrast, is articulate, bright, and would not have struggled to identify what newspapers he reads.
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anon Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 9:51 am
Conservatives dont read newspapers. And it shows.
Spiro Eagleton Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 7:33 am
Rubio would have been a good choice, but the issues with his miss use of a FL GOP credit card for his own benefit would have been an issue during the campaign, especially as it was dug into more by the Obama oppo-researchers.
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Blue says:
Paul, you should be pleased with this pick. After essentially 12 years of fecklessness on the part of all parties regarding our fiscal situation, Ryan at least wants to address it head on.
The Intrade movements are interesting considering that Ryan was told of the decision on the 5th.
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Mayo Say Tongue says:
Big difference between between now (Romney) and then (Bush) when it comes to the discussion on entitlements. We are now headed towards $17 trillion in debt and this years’s deficit is larger than the entire federal government (minus entitlements) plus $200 billion.
It’s simply not sustainable and we are far closer to being like Greece than most want to face.
Romney-Ryan may not win bit it is time that the country confronted these issues in a campaign and had a grown up discussion about this looming crisis.
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PK Reply:
August 11th, 2012 at 1:36 pm
The U.S. is nothing like Greece. We have our own currency, in which our debt is denominated. Greece is stuck in the Euro. Most of our debt is owed to our own citizens (not China). Most Greek debt was held outside the country. Etc.
In fact, with real interest rates near zero, now is the perfect time to borrow for infrastructure improvements, e.g. transportation, water.
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Let the fun begin says:
Interesting. The VP pick seems more like a Republican primary winner than a general election winner. Is this a pick to get the tea party to show up for the fall election?
And how interesting is it that Nuns on the Bus recently demonstrated against Ryan’s budget plan Ryan said is based on his Catholic beliefs?
The US has an aging population, with the gap between the have and have nots getting wider and jobless economic recovery being the new normal. Hopefully a real economic discussion will occur.
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Tom says:
Why in the world would the Tea Party support Ryan? He is a career politician and Washington insider, the very thing the Tea Party wants to get rid of.
For instance:
“Throughout his campaign, Mitt Romney has hammered President Obama for a lack of experience in the private sector, saying “he doesn’t understand how the free economy works. He’s never had a job in the free economy; neither has Vice President Biden.”
In fact, Romney even proposed a constitutional amendment that would require any president to have worked at least three years in the private sector.
And so it’s surprising that Romney has picked Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), a man who, outside of a job at McDonald’s and a brief stint at a company owned by his family, has hardly any private sector record.
Ryan began his career in the public sector before he even graduated college — in 1991 as a senate intern — and then spent the mid-1990s as a senate aide to Sens. Bob Kasten (R-WI) and Sam Brownback (R-KS). After that, he worked for vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp, then settled in for 13 years as a member of the House of Representatives.
Obama actually worked for private companies for the sum total of 14 years. If he is unqualified by Romney’s standards to grasp how the economy works, it’s not clear what would make Romney think Ryan more prepared to understand job creation, or to assume the Office of the President.”
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Anonymous Reply:
August 11th, 2012 at 8:23 pm
Are you really suggesting that what Obama did for “x” number of years in the private sector was in the least bit prepatory for a job in mainstream business or politics? He was a community organizer. In Chicago no less. Sounds fishy to me.
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Spiro Eagleton Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 7:36 am
The Tea Party is about limited government, not how long someone has been in political office. Shoot, Ron Paul was first elected to congress in 1976!
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Robert Morrow says:
“He seems more aligned with the Dick Cheney “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter” mantra, in spite of his lip service to the debt.”
Bingo. That is Paul Ryan.
With me it is Ron Paul or bust. Then Gary Johnson #2. I am telling every liberty activist in the world to NOT vote for the war mongering Republicans.
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Anonymous Reply:
August 12th, 2012 at 8:10 am
Then you are a RINO in every sense of the word & should not be allowed to play in the republican party
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Robert Morrow Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 1:16 pm
I have absolutely no loyalty to the Republican party.
But then again, most of their politicians have absolutely no loyalty to the GOP platform, but you elect them anyhow.
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Fiftycal Reply:
August 12th, 2012 at 12:52 pm
Get a life fool. Ron Paul isn’t running and Gary Johnson will get the customary 1% from the 1%. In case you find maths too hard, 1% won’t win ANY races.
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Spiro Eagleton Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 7:38 am
You are far too generous. A Libertarian candidate has not received more than 1% of the presidential vote since Ed Clark in 1980. In ’88 Paul got .5% as the LP candidate and ever since then the percentage has been in that neighborhood or lower. The LP would celebrate if they broke 1%!
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Anonymous Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 1:47 pm
Spiro,
The constitutional party candidate former Rep. Virgil Goode R-Va will get at least 5% in Virginia keeping that state in the Obama column. Probably why Romney hit three media markets in that state.
anon Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 9:52 am
Ah, the purity tests….
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anita says:
Its also possible that there was something in Rubio’s past that disqualified him.
I believe the last time Paul Ryan’s budget was an election issue, it resulted in the election of a Democrat in a Republican congressional seat in upstate New York.
It seems to me we’ll be hearing about how the Rick benefit under Ryan’s budget proposals, now that he’s the VP of an uber-wealthy individual who doesn’t want to release any more of his tax returns.
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Spiro Eagleton Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 7:39 am
Yes, the FL GOP credit card may have been the tip of the ice berg.
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anita says:
Make that “the rich” as opposed to “the Rick”
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 11th, 2012 at 2:59 pm
we know what you had your mind on.
Paul is a good pick a businessman and a budget guru vs the Amateur and the Dud.
Dems win by 20 points says the MSM.
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Anon. says:
anonymouse2: your implication is that Ryan’s voucher plan for Medicare is basically the same as the premium support for exchanges in Obamacare. If you want to make the “Obamacare for Seniors” argument to Republicans, please go right ahead.
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Fiftycal Reply:
August 12th, 2012 at 12:56 pm
Uh, don’t forget that Obama STEALS $700,000 MILLION from Medicare to pay for his socialized medicine. But that’s OK, his DEATH PANEL will see to it that the aged and infirm don’t LIVE LONG ENOUGH to need any care. But you will be able to get a FREE sex change operation anytime you want one.
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Gunslinger Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 8:47 am
“Death Panels”? “Free Sex Changes”? Really?
Are you so rabid that you’ll still believe some of the most debunked lies told in the last 20 years?
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anon Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 9:52 am
Wow.
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Patriotone says:
Anyone who has dealt with issues of ill and aging parents has to understand that the “voucher plan” proposed by the Ryan budget would be a disaster. People unable to see, hear, go to the bathroom, (the list goes on) could hardly be expected to make rational healthcare choices, even those with the funds to do it. It isn’t that we “can’t afford” Medicare, we have decided not to fund it. Medicare for all would cut the percentage of GDP devoted to health care and almost immediately elevate the U.S. with respect to outcomes. Ryan’s budgets just don’t add up. I would like to ask two questions. 1. Do you agree that we have serious problems and that to address them, everyone is going to have to sacrifice? 2. Outline for me specifically the sacrifices you propose for those making over a million dollars a year.
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Fiftycal Reply:
August 12th, 2012 at 12:58 pm
You know what will end Medicare as we know it? Medicare as we know it.
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Balanced Budget vs. Greece says:
ATTENTION WING-NUTS: Try reading Michael Lewis’ Boomerang before remarking about how the U.S. is destined to be like Greece under The Obama. You sound absurd. But it’s worth noting that one of the ways that Greece ended up in the ditch was because many WEALTHY CITIZENS DID NOT PAY TAXES. Sound familiar?
A GREEK ANALOGY IS JUST AS EFFECTIVE AS COMPARING A POLITICIAN TO HITLER. STOP IT.
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Cow Droppings Reply:
August 11th, 2012 at 8:51 pm
I read it to. and Lewis made the case sovereign debt crises would come to America, but unlike Europe it would bubble up from the bottom. It would start with bankruptcies declared by cities in California. Check. It’s happening. Cities so over-committed by generous pension obligations would turn to states for bailouts (sound like Houston? watch for the next few years.)
Yes, Greece has a culture of tax avoidance, and lied its way into the EU by admitting only 20 percent of its sovereign debt.
Yes, we are the world’s largest economy with a currency reserve. So we have more time. But even America cannot sustain continued massive debt, unreformed entitlement programs, massively underfunded pensions, consumers with huge financial aid debt and consumer, credit card debt.
We won’t become Greece or Iceland nearly as quickly as they did. But each passing day we are heading toward their fate and not away from it.
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Robert Morrow Reply:
August 11th, 2012 at 10:07 pm
Don’t leave out the Pentagon, empire building, endless wars. Those are not free in money or human cost.
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John Johnson Reply:
August 12th, 2012 at 4:50 pm
I agree with you on this point, Robert. A few days ago there was an Anita post I agreed with. What a week.
Jerry Only says:
pundits are all pretty much saying the same thing- this is a pick you make if you think youre behind, not if youre confident youre ahead.
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Fiftycal Reply:
August 12th, 2012 at 1:03 pm
What are you? French?
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Jerry Only Reply:
August 12th, 2012 at 7:21 pm
what are you? mentally unbalanced?
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Spiro Eagleton Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 7:40 am
Not all the pundits are saying that. Not even close. Who are these pundits?
W Tx Anonymous says:
Paul, is there any way you or other investigative journlists can find out if Ryan or any of his friends or family profited by using knowledge of his selection to make or manage their Intrade investments?
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Robert Morrow Reply:
August 11th, 2012 at 8:22 pm
It is perfectly legal for Ryan and friends and family and anyone else who was leaked the pick to make trades on Intrade.
Perfectly legal. And you want them doing that because often Intrade is an early warning system for something that is about to happen.
Intrade is often right. Sometimes it is fabulously wrong. But it is a wonderful tool.
Rick Perry at one point was 38% chance of being the GOP nominee. Then every time he opened his mouth it dropped 5% until he went to zero percent.
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JohnBernardBooks says:
dems run first attack ad….Ryan is a “conservative”…gasp.
Who’s running Prez Amateur’s campaign a bunch of amateurs?
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anon Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 8:50 am
Please make a Romney win predicition, JBB! He will win like Dewhurst did.
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BCinBCS says:
I wonder if Paul Ryan will become another Svengali to Mitt Romney like Dick Cheney was to George W. Bush in his attempt to realize his deficit reduction plan.
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ghostofann says:
Rubio has too many skeletons in his closet back in FloriDUH. Google “Taj Mahal courthouse,” “Jim Greer/Ray Sansom,” “RPOF credit cards.” Also rumors of womanizing.
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Anonymous says:
Are we talking about Rubio or Clinton ?
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ghostofann says:
Rubio. Did I not make that clear, or are you being deliberately obtuse?
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 12th, 2012 at 6:29 am
he was pointing out that Clinton and Obama both had skeletons that were ignored by the media, ie Obama’s ties to Rezko/Blago/JesseJackso Jr
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Gunslinger Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 9:00 am
Yes, the media completely ignored Clinton’s past and his womanizing.
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Karen says:
Romney hopes people will forget about his tax returns. lol
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 12th, 2012 at 6:31 am
Obama is hoping people will forget about his record and concentrate on strawman issues like Romney’s tax returns.
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anon Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 8:49 am
Strawman issues? BS. Only because he is a rightie. If this were a D you would be screaming.
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John Johnson says:
I watched the talking heads this morning on the Sunday shows
Listening to David Axelrod makes my skin crawl. He is the epitome of slimy politics, along with Mr. Obnoxious, Rahm Emanuel. Compare them to Carl Rove and Karen Hughes.
I don’t agree with all of Rove’s, or his boss’s positions, but when it comes to trust, credibility and morality, I will take him every time.
I think the old adage about birds of a feather sticking together is true. Obama has hung out and counseled with a sorry lot for most of his life. I am convinced that he is nothing more than a slick talking socialistic charlatan supported primarily by those seeking more for less. This path is unsustainable. All we have to do is take a look up above our northern border to confirm this.
In 1994, Canada had a budget deficit around 9% of GDP…a debt level at almost 70% of the economy. About as bad as ours is today.
Their dollar was worth only 72 American cents, and Moody’s had put the Canadian federal government on credit watch. The next year their Liberal Party prime minister introduced what was known as the “Bloodbath Budget” in which government spending was reduced by 20%. Health and education budgets were slashed and thousands of public sector employees lost their jobs, but by 1997 the debt had been eradicated.
The economy boomed, and even though thousands of government employees were fired, unemployment fell from 12% to 6%.
Puerto Rico experienced a similar economic turnaround just a few years ago by doing much the same thing. Their governor actually reduced corporate and individual taxes at the same time, and he privatized entire government agencies, saying “they can do it cheaper; they can do it better”.
Are we too egotistical to take a look around and study what others have done? The answers are there. We just need a leader who will boldly level with us, tell us we are all going to be hurting and uncomfortable for awhile, that we will recover, and that the sacrifices we suffer through will make life that much better for those who follow…our kids and grandchildren.
I know that Obama is not this person. Is Romney???
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Cow Droppings Reply:
August 12th, 2012 at 6:27 pm
This is the single best post you have ever written.
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John Johnson Reply:
August 12th, 2012 at 7:03 pm
Thanks. Most of this info on Canadian and Puerto Rican turnarounds was garnered from a John Stossel piece back in June. I’m just passing it on. The derogatory statements about Obama and his band of brothers are my own.
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Charlie Adaway says:
JJ, is Wendy Davis that person?
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John Johnson says:
Not yet.
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anita says:
John Stossel? Is that clown still alive?
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John Johnson Reply:
August 12th, 2012 at 9:50 pm
I was waiting for your terse response. Understand your animosity toward Stossel. He certainly doesn’t worship at the feet of the charlatan you support. This aside, all I would like to know from you, Anita, is if you dispute what transpired in Canada and Puerto Rico as reported by Stossel. Do you deny that they were suffering from similar maladies that affect us now? Deny the success of the steps taken to cure what ailed them? These are the important questions regardless of who you like or don’t like. In other words, how brainwashed and ignorant are you?
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SusieQBankston Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 4:58 am
I agree JJ but if you fire all the bored state and fed workers who would hire us? Most of us have never had a real job.
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The Mustache That Dare Not Speak Its Name Reply:
August 12th, 2012 at 9:51 pm
John Stossel is a man with the finest of mustaches and therefore part of a great brotherhood. Do not mock him in my presence!
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anon Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 8:48 am
Stossel is on FOx. No real media outlet would hire him.
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Anonymous Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 9:11 am
MSNBC hires screaming liberals. FOX hires screaming conservatives. Stossel is neither so he doesn’t fit in.
The point is, he reported examples of successful programs that reversed government debt loads. What does this have to do with him? How about if Bob Schieffer had reported it? Greta Van Susteren?
Go away. You don’t get it.
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Big D Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 9:54 am
Stossel is a screaming idiot, so he fits in.
Anonymous says:
I love all this erudite chatter about the unsustainability of the Fed’s spending habits. Go ahead and cut Medicare and Medicaid as deep as you dare. I dare you. I double dog dare you. And then all those old anglos who think that entitlement reform meant cutting off the undeserving Hispanic family down the street off food stamps will discover just a bit too late that entitlement reform really meant that their all important blood pressure medication now can only be taken every other day. Oops.
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anonymous Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 9:24 am
bankston shut up
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John Johnson says:
Obama has already stolen $700 billion + from Medicare/Medicade, so what difference does it make who does it? The problem with Obama’s plan is that he keeps making it easier to get government assistance and harder to find a job. This needs to be flip flopped. That’s what the Canadians did. That is what the governor of Puerto Rico initiated. Everyone would take a hit, just like everyone did back during WWII. Few would like it. It’s called sacrifice for the better good. It’s called owning up to mistakes we have made so generations to follow will not have to suffer because of them. It is a bitter pill to swallow. We need to swallow it.
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buy a clue Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 11:20 am
oh come on grandpa, how many times does this nonsense have to be debunked before you nut jobs stop spouting it as fact? I love how the party of family values and brilliant ideas can’t make a simple point without lying? Did jesus tell you it was ok to lie if it was for a good cause??
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John Johnson Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 12:45 pm
No, Jesus told me to be pleasant to you. But like all of his followers, sometimes I don’t listen very well.
Even your Daily Kos says he is cutting $700B. Google it What it claims, however, is that the program is going to cut fraud and theft that will make up for it. How’s that curbing waste and fraud through government policing been working thus far, clueless? We’ve been promised that for years. If the recent GSA exposé is any example, it is $700B that will won’t be coming back.
Cite facts, clueless. Address specifics. Quit showing up just to be a pest.
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buy a clue Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 1:08 pm
How’s this for some specifics, and from Daily Kos no less.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office determined that the Medicare provisions in President Obama’s health care law would save $700 BILLION over a decade and EXTENDS THE LIFE OF MEDICARE. Extends it EIGHT YEARS.
Where are your specifics grandpa? Or is your new name grandpa pest? Or perhaps grandpa clueless? I think that one is very appropriate.
John Johnson Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 1:44 pm
Well, that is the first part of the CBO statement but it is predicated as I stated on cutting waste and fraud to negate pulling the 700B out. You didn’t read far enough. Go back and start over. Get back to me when you have completed the assigned task.
buy a clue Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 1:50 pm
Where are YOUR specifics on the “already stolen $700 billion” statement grandpa clueless? Get back to me when you decide to stop lying or holding others to standards you don’t meet.
John Johnson Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 2:43 pm
Complete your assignment, kid. Gramps is going to give you an F if you don’t quit cutting corners. Go to this link and read it all…especially the prebuttal portion.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/12/1119290/-Slaying-the-700-Billion-Medicare-Cut-zombie-lie
John Johnson Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 4:29 pm
Where are you, you mouthy lightweight? Time is almost up. I’m about to kick you out of class.
Have you gone back to the Daily Kos piece I originally quoted from? Did you read everything? You don’t need to apologize.
I don’t have a dog in this fight. I think both plans miss the mark. I actually prefer Simpson/Bowles or one that is similar. One that gets the job done and hurts everyone at equal pain levels.
Love, Gramps.
Anonymous Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 5:04 pm
Back off, Gramps. His mother won’t let him text while he’s taking his piano lesson.
Bozo Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 12:51 pm
Jesus doesn’t seem to getting through to you on many other subjects.
John Johnson Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 1:59 pm
I’m working on it. Some people just make it so difficult. You should have been around me back during the really dark period. I really have turned into a pussycat.
anon says:
A male Palin. He brings nothing to the real life table but dissent and will do nothing to heal political divides. This was a gift to the D’s and will help them win another 4 years. Our GOP is very, very disappointing.
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JohnBernardBooks says:
Ryan scares democrats, his selection makes this election about cutting entitlements. Thats the one things democrats have. If you cut entitlements and get spending under control, dems are finished for the rest of this century.
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Big D Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 9:54 am
Ooooooohhhh! Paul Ryan! I’m so scared!
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JohnBernardBooks says:
All you pedants mark Oct 11th down, circle it in red. Ryan/Biden debate.
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Kenneth D. Franks says:
The only scary thing about Romney /Ryan is the possibility that they have a chance to win. That is scary, so hopefully it won’t happen.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 10:33 am
are you scared Kenneth?
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John Johnson says:
Know what’s scary. Everyone of you who continue to support a person or party over specific policies and action plans. We have history to help us…we have recent examples to guide us (Canada & Puerto Rico)…we have a bi-partisan group (Simpson/Bowles) who have counseled us, yet we ignore all and squabble over two partys’ plans that just aren’t viable because they don’t cut deep enough to make any difference, and they protect their support base from taking the major hit and force it over onto the other side. We are all going to suffer. Pull your heads out of the sand. Quit thinking about yourself. Accept the fact that we are all going to have to swallow the bitter pill.
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WUSRPH says:
Some of us oldies can remember a series of TV ads back in 1968 (before most of you were born) that concentrated on the VP choice rather than the presidential candidate. They attacked Nixon by raising the specter of Spiro T. What’s-his-name being VP. The ads began with laughter but turned to gasps when the realization that put him “one heart beat away” struck. The ads did not win the election for HHH, but they helped close to gap to less than razor thin. I think we are likely to see a bunch of similar attacks on the VP nominee this year…raising the specter of what his ideas would do to America. They do not have to do much more than help keep the gap between Obama and Romney from closing too much…but that will be enough.
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100 Year Bad Decision says:
What a boring, no-nothing slate by the GOP. A flip-flopper that outsourced jobs, hid his money offshore and won’t reveal his taxes combined with a self-annointed budget guru whose take on the pulse of America is so far off as to be a joke. Is this the best our party can do? I’m moving to the “I” column for sure, and may have to vote “D”.
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Anonymous Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 12:53 pm
You’re already a dem, sir. I like someone who is willing to change their mind based on circumstances unlike what Bush/Cheney did in Iraq. I respect someone with the smarts to take advantage of every legal tax break allowed by law. His offshore accounts were legal. I don’t mind him holding on to his tax returns. If there was any illegal activity let the IRS investigate and prosecute. I do, however, agree with you on misdirection as far as the economy is concerned. Both parties have it wrong. Neither cut enough.
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Bill Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 1:04 pm
Well, I call BS. Anonymous. I dont want a flip flopper on abortion, womens rights, healthcare. I want someone with sand. I want someone with honesty and integrity he can prove. That is not Romney or Ryan.
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John Johnson Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 1:36 pm
OK. Vote for Obama. That what you want? I want someone who agrees to disagree on all the social issues you named. Someone who will move them off to the side like we ask others, like Israel and Iraq to do, so we can move forward.
Furthermore, how do they “prove” their honesty and integrity to you? Has Obama met those standards? Bush? Clinton?
Tom says:
JBB says “Who’s running Prez Amateur’s campaign a bunch of amateurs?”
He must be right since Obama is only 9 points ahead.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 1:51 pm
the voting started? Oh you mean the media fake score…who knew?
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buy a clue says:
love how all the wingnuts loves them some small government Ryan. He’s going to save them from the scary deficit. Think again clowns.
Ryan is not a “fiscal conservative.” A fiscal conservative pays for the government he wants. Ryan never has. His early “Roadmap for America’s Future” didn’t balance the budget until the 2060s and added $60 trillion to the national debt. Ryan’s revised plan, passed by the House in 2011, wouldn’t reach balance until the 2030s while adding $14 trillion in debt. It adds $6 trillion in debt over the next decade alone — yet Republicans had the chutzpah to say they wouldn’t raise the debt limit!
ryan link
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Blue Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 4:41 pm
Actually, this is exactly wrong. A true fiscal conservative first figures out how much he wants to spend on government. Then he figures out what he can pay for in that budget.
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buy a clue Reply:
August 13th, 2012 at 5:35 pm
Doesn’t matter, Ryan does neither.
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JohnBernardBooks says:
liberals have got to be shaking in their book, Prez Amateur doesn’t have a record to run on so this election comes down to a referendum on which type of gov do you want socialism or capitalism.
Capitalism will win hands down. As of today there are more producers than looters, barely.
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Bill says:
Well, that ought to get out everyone that is not an old, scared, bitter, uneducated white dude. Conservatives just don’t have leaders. Lots of followers, which is scary.
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Anonymous says:
Your posts and buy a clue’s sound so similar. Bless your hearts. You just can’t totally comprehend the situation. Think old, white men are the problem. If you survive the next couple of decades, Bill, it will be because old and middle aged white guys and gals pulled your ass out of the fire.
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Leslie Knope says:
Even all the way down here I’m still laughing at Longleaf’s comment. Best description of the Tea Party I’ve heard in a long time. Breath of fresh air with some of these names I’ve heard the media come up with lately. What is it “movement conservatives,” now?? How can we responsibly create/facilitate discourse if we cannot even name the players? Start a blog, Longleaf, I’d read it!!!
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Charlie Adaway says:
Dewhurst by 6-8%
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Blue says:
Hey Paul, Fifth Circuit just handed Obama’s EPA its shine box on the Clean Air Act, just as some of us predicted.
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Gramps says:
Anyone seen or heard from my young friend who’s trying to sell clues heIoesn’t actually have. He was suppose to complete an assignment I gave him, but it appears he’s not going to show. He might be embarrassed about getting called out for taking short cuts, not totally comprehending subject matter and resorting to ad hominem attacks. If anyone runs across him, tell him to please come back and take his medicine like a man…like an old man would.
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buy a clue Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 8:36 am
suck on this gramps:
CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien debunked the pervasive right-wing media falsehood that President Obama “stole $700 billion” from Medicare.
Right-wing media have repeatedly claimed that the Medicare savings included in Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) “gutted” the Medicare program. However, on CNN’s Starting Point, when Romney senior adviser John Sununu claimed that Obama “gutted Medicare by taking $717 billion out of it,” O’Brien was quick to correct him.
O’Brien pointed out that Sununu’s talking point has been debunked by the Congressional Budget Office, which found that the Medicare savings in the ACA are not cuts, but rather a reduction in the expected rate of growth of the program.
O’Brien also noted that independent fact-checkers have found that the Affordable Care Act does not cut Medicare benefits. These fact-checkers also determined that the claim that hundreds of billions of dollars have been cut from Medicare is outright false.
When Sununu continued to claim that Obama had gutted Medicare, O’Brien confronted him with even more facts, citing evidence that drug providers and hospitals agreed to the Medicare savings because their “theory is that what they’re going to be able to do is make up by the number of people who come into the system. It doesn’t reduce or cut the benefits.
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John Johnson Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 11:56 am
Buy a clue – first of all JJ is playing on your field by quoting DK. He’s not cramming something Fox News or somethingRove has stated down your throat.
I also take exception to your last paragraph where you say hospitals and drug companies have agreed to something. What is that? They aren’t giving up anything. They aren’t dropping rates. The net gains of insurance co’s, physicians, hospitals, drug co’s and device mfgr’s are massive since we taxpayers will be picking up the tab for everyone who can’t pay.
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John Johnson says:
Look kid. I asked you to go back to your bible,
Daily Kos, and read the prebuttal portion of their piece where it states that $700B is being redirected and partially made up for by curbing waste, fraud and mismanagement. I say that’s not going to happen based on current waste, fraud and mismanagement in government today. If they can’t do it now, how they going to do it next year? You just won’t acknowledge what is in print, hardhead. Go back and work on your assignment til you get it right. BTW…who is Soledad O’Brien?
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buy a clue says:
ah, another republican nostradumbass. Hey, what is the winning lotto number going to be tomorrow? Just admit you lied when you said Obama CUT $700 billion out of medicare. Don’t try and be a weasel and say oh what I really meant was that the cost saving measure won’t work. What was it that jesus said about lying???
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John Johnson Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 1:39 pm
We’ll it never was my intent to embarrass you, kid, but you are just too obnoxious for me to offer you any pity.
Here’s direct quote from the Daily Kos link I left from you many posts back which is an instructional for you to follow when reputing right wing propaganda:
“The Prebuttal is an offensive posture: start the debate from an attack position, going after what you know is coming and neutralize it. This is that part I find we miss quite often. Embracing our own positions sometimes comes hard but we must do it. The Rebuttal is simply an expansion with additional facts for clarification.
The caps aren’t necessarily screaming … they’re just key words I’ve set apart that help make the case. Knowing those key phrases will help people defending the case remember their “script” when under the siege of a well-rehearsed and coordinated script.
On ‘Obama cuts $700 billion from Medicare’
Prebuttal: The claim that OBAMACARE cuts $700 BILLION from Medicare is TRUE and the GOOD NEWS is that in doing so, it INCREASES HEALTHCARE FOR SENIORS and AT THE SAME TIME cuts fraud, WASTE and abuse. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office determined that the Medicare provisions in President Obama’s health care law would save $700 BILLION over a decade and EXTENDS THE LIFE OF MEDICARE. Extends it EIGHT YEARS.”
OK…there you have it. Words right out of your bible. I will leave it to others to determine who’s got it right, but as far as I’m concerned you’ve flunked the class, kid. Better luck next time.
Gramps
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Adam says:
“Cut Medicare” implies that Obama reduced Medicare benefits, which he did not do. It’s more accurate to say he “saved $700 billion,” since things are done more cheaply and benefits were actually added.
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buy a clue says:
holy crap. even when you take the time to type in the words you don’t understand them. saving medicare $700 billion while improving the healthcare coverage provides isn’t “STEALING $700 BILLION FROM MEDICARE” scary ooga booga music. Why don’t you get your alzheimers meds increased gramps. Luckily for you medicare will pick up the tab. And thanks to Obama you can be on those meds for 8 years longer than before.
p.s. what did jesus say about bearing false witness?
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John Johnson says:
Oh, the younger generation! I watch those kid on the street interviews like Leno runs and I cringe. Glad I wasn’t part of this lost, clueless group. Just like the mouthy one here….his reading skills are not up to speed…and to think they watered down the SAT tests so more could pass it. Sad.
I just quote his liberal bible and then I’m a liar. I show him where to go to read it and he calls me a liar. I print it above and he calls me a liar. The DK says that Obama is yanking
$700B out and is going to cover part of this theft by reducing waste and fraud. I’m saying this is not going to happen based on our government’s ineptitude at policing. I don’t care what someone named Soledad says; I don’t care what the CBO says. They don’t know squat either. If this kid knew as much as he thinks he does, he would understand this. I’m basing my position on history; he’s basing his on what the government
tells him. He learn….hopefully by the time he’s my age.
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buy a clue Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:21 pm
Oh gramps, no one knows anything but you. Come inside, it’s almost time for matlock
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John Johnson says:
Plenty know more than me, Junior…but you have shown that you don’t. Man up and learn from it. Don’t be too rough on yourself.
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buy a clue Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:56 pm
Saving is not cutting gramps. Maybe that’s why you’re so confused. Isn’t there a dictionary at the old folks home? And speaking of history, of course government doesn’t work…when republicans are in charge. Surely you remember 2001-2009. But don’t worry, obama’s got your back
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John Johnson says:
Poor boy. Believes that taking money away from an established program is a savings because the government tells him it is so.
Dollars removed, minus dollars never recovered from fraud and waste, equals a net loss.
Deductive reasoning is not your strong point either, I see.
That hook is in you deep, kid. Nothing I can do for you.
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buy a clue says:
You can have your own opinion gramps, but not your own facts Savings is not a cut no matter how often you stamp your feet and say it is.
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John Johnson says:
The fact is they are taking money out of the program by not pumping as much in. That is a cut.
Fact #2… savings are not savings unitl it is proven that new techniques will curb waste and fraud. Surely, even you will acknowledge that the Feds have never been able to curb waste and fraud in Medicare, Medicade, SS, the IRS, food stamp program, or in give-a-ways like Solyndra.
You’re choking on it, kid. You’ll learn one of these days not to believe everything coming out of D.C. and to take it as fact as soon as it rolls off their tongues. They love people like you. I think the term is gullible…or maybe ignorant fits better.
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buy a clue says:
You should stop posting while you’re looking in the mirror.
Just answer a simple question: Will medicare benefits be cut as a result of the $700 billion savings? If you answer, detail exactly what benefits are being cut. If there are no benefit changes then it’s not a cut. Simple as that.
Are you an expert in SS and Medicare fraud gramps? Are you scamming the system? Is that how you know?
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John Johnson says:
Quoting the Daily Kos (one more time):
“Prebuttal: The claim that OBAMACARE cuts $700 BILLION from Medicare is TRUE and the GOOD NEWS is that in doing so, it INCREASES HEALTHCARE FOR SENIORS and AT THE SAME TIME cuts fraud, WASTE and abuse. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office determined that the Medicare provisions in President Obama’s health care law would save $700 BILLION over a decade and EXTENDS THE LIFE OF MEDICARE. Extends it EIGHT YEARS.”
Keywords…”cuts…true.” “…cuts fraud, waste a and abuse.” “CBO determined…”
Hope you are not too crushed when you find that you have been lied to…again…and that you did not break too many teeth bitig down on that big hook.
Not at the Medicare age yet, but getting close. H
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buy a clue says:
Thanks for avoiding the question. That says more about your bogus claim then anything you can post from daily kos or fox or rush.
You keep lying and jesus isn’t going to be happy with you.
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John Johnson says:
I forgot. You have trouble with reading comprehension…either that or you just ignore the truth. I tell how it is; you state how you want it to be…how you believe it will be. I even quote your bible and don’t even bring any of the Repub talking heads into the equation and you still don’t get it. You are one of those on the far, far left who balance out with some wingnut on the far, far right to equal a big zero gain.
It’s the reasonable, thinking for themselves, middle of the road independents who will end up running this country after just a few more people grow tired of your kind of horseshit. I’m tired of it and will no longer respond…although I’ve enjoyed tutoring you, Junior.
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