Politics

I don't know what Romney is thinking at this point. I'd say he's just not thinking at all. Of all the great prospects he had to choose from within his party he chose the most vanilla. It will neither help or hurt his campaign for several reasons. Ryan's budget plans are exactly what Romney is looking for. It would further gouge the middle-class economy and strengthen the upper-class. The same "trickle-down" type of plan that never worked before and never will. It would gut and replace the Social Security Administration beyond all repair. I think I just heard 30 million elderly decide to vote for Obama? Did you hear that? Those who are too resolute in their belief of religion and tiny government will continue to hail Romney/Ryan as the Dream Team. It makes no difference. The polarization of this country simply solidified with this choice. If he had chosen someone like Rubio or Santorum he would have had a much better chance to win. Despite their ideological differences at least he would have stood a chance at winning. This decision changes absolutely nothing except for the slight possibility of chasing away the few that might have had his vote before his VP pick. I predict an Obama win in the Electoral College of 304 to 234 at this point. Obama has gained steadily in Ohio and has a nice margin in Florida, but with his new VP pick this will most assuredly land Florida in Obama's court despite all of Governor Rick Scott's attempts at voter registration laws.

http://www.270towin.com/2012_election_predictions.php?mapid=qUv

Sorry, meant to add this before completing the comment. Just copy and paste it.

I personally think you're stretching a bit on how devastating this choice is. While there are several other candidates I'd prefer to Ryan it's not the dagger in the heart as you make it sound and frankly it's WAY (not yelling just emphasizing) too early to be guessing on the Electoral College as polls will sway back and forth as the election grows near. Also, if he had chosen say Condalisa Rice then the liberals would claim the republicans are simply race baiting trying to grab some of the black vote.

Social Security needs an overhaul as it is very much insolvent and is a ponzi scheme regardless of what proponents try to claim. A ponzi scheme, simply put, is deceit and illusion. Promise current investors (social sercurity contributors) their benefits will be there all while using the current contributors money to fund those who are drawing and no longer contributing to the system.

It is doomed to fail and will unless something serious is done to fix it. Personally I would be more than willing to sacrifice at most half of my contribution if I could cash out an invest it elsewhere. Forgive me for not trusting our incompetent ass government with my hard earned money. We all know they can't keep their filthy hands out of the cookie jar.

Tiny Government? How about responsible government?

A responsible government wouldn't continue to grow in size while running annual deficits bigger than any of us can really begin to imagine. Don't worry though, bigger government will reduce the cost of health care.

A responsible government wouldn't promote and persuade (Referring to USDA ads that attempts to convince people who own a home and car to apply for SNAP) those who don't need to food stamps to go ahead and get on food stamps. 43 million Americans now on Food Stamps; that's embarrassing and pathetic and a WHOLE lot of Democrat voters.
Here's the text of the ad: (According to this site it was an paid ad and not a free PSA) Food stamp ad text

You'll have to enlighten me on Governor Scott's voter registration but if it's anything like what's taken place in Tennessee let's be honest about why liberals are against it; requiring identification aides in preventing illegals(Of any origin) from voting in our elections. But due to the significant number of Hispanics in the US illegally they would be significantly impacted and guess what, Latino votes go to the Democrats as do Food Stamp votes. Is it really that much to expect a person to present an id to vote? You have to do this during traffic stops, purchasing alcohol and cigarettes.

Here's what I envision, fear mongering non stop. First, Romney and Ryan want to take old peoples benefits, vote Obama. Republicans don't want Hispanics to vote, vote Obama. Republicans don't think you should be able to eat, vote Obama.

The reality, I want every single Hispanic who happens to be a legal citizen and is informed on the candidates to vote. I don't want organizations like ACORN enticing people to vote with money or any other incentive; if you don't recognize how important it is to vote then I'd prefer you stay home.

I don't think those currently utilizing medicare / social security benefits should be significantly impacted (Small impact would be acceptable by me) by changes to that program or Social Security. I believe we need to gradually fix the problems with a solid plan which very well might mean letting people opt out of the government cookie jar.

I am sick and tired of worthless habitual food stamp thieves. I think the program should be DRASTICALLY cut and benefits should be temporary so long as unemployment in any given area is below let's say 16%. So many of these people I work around every day are lazy, no good trash and I would love nothing more than to see their funding cut off immediately.

Unemployment would fall through the floor as the people who were using the system as a way of life would go out and actually get a job.

Proof of the abuse: My company is hiring a part time (20+ hours) position paying north of 10 an hour in a HIGHLY populated region in East Tennessee. They have been running ads for 3 and a half months now with the closest call to getting it filled being cancelled interviews. These people are making a calculated decision to be lazy rather than earn a living.

Sorry Ryan, but I'm afraid you're mistaken on both accounts. One, presidential polls immediately after both candidates have chosen VP's rarely change outside of the current -/+ margin of polling with less than three months to go. Two, and most importantly, Social Security is not a ponzi shceme. This is real money spent by both employers and employees for retirement funds. The only fault of Social Security is that the government feels they can borrow against it. An action which should be far more regulated than it currently is. To privatize or restructure is not necessary, and put simply, would be detrimental to those who depend upon it.

On item a, time will tell.

On item b, another instance where we'll have to agree to disagree.

True. On both accounts. LOL.

Oh, by the way Ryan, I meant to address this earlier but did not have the time. In your first comment you stated that Obama had not passed a budget in over 3 years. While that may be correct it is certainly not his fault, and you know why. Because he doesn't pass the law. He can help write a budget and even sign it into law, but passing it is the job of Congress. With a democratic controlled Senate and a Republican controlled House is it really surprising that no budget has been passed? Worst of all it is an election year. A budget will not be introduced or passed until after January of next year. Let's not pretend like we don't all know why.

Now Rick you know I can't let that one go. While I completely agree that the President can't pass a budget into law on their own, they can however lead. President Obama has not come remotely close to leading on the budget issue. This is probably because it would bring attention to his horrendous spending.

The real zinger though is I can't stand by and let you present the idea that President Obama has been operating with a split House and Senate.

You know very well his first two years he had a Democrat controlled House and Senate which is why we had Obamacare forced upon us. However, the completely Democratic controlled Legislative and Executive branch DID NOT pass a budget in the first two years of his term and to attempt to pass the blame to the GOP controlled house is very much misleading.