Tag Archives: entitlements

Paul Ryan Takes On Newt Gingrich All “Lincoln-Douglas” Stylee on Entitlements

Ever since I declared myself a Newt Gingrich supporter, the one criticism I keep hearing from supporters of his opponents (who think I didn’t read their first ten tweets) was the infamous “Meet The Press” interview where he referred to Paul Ryan’s plan entitlement reform plan as “right-wing social engineering.”

It was a total bungle on Newt’s part, and as a Paul Ryan Republican I nearly took out my television with a bazooka when I first heard it. Gingrich has walked it back a little bit, and while people keep trying to fuel a Gingrich/Ryan feud, I think that what we’re mainly arguing over isn’t specific policy as much as it messaging.

Here’s Newt:

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I’ve Flip-Flopped on Mitt Romney Again (or, WTF dude?)

Of course, immediately after mocking Herman Cain and Rick Perry for needing to be something more than just “not Romney,” Romney goes an does something that causes even moderate RINO squishes like me to go, “Are you serious bro?”

I wasn’t a fan of his back in 2008. It drove me insane when all of the “truuuuue conservatives” were claiming that Mitt Romney was the second coming of Ronald Reagan riding to our rescue on a three legged stool, even though he was same Mitt Romney then that they suddenly criticize now. I flipped after the election.

As I started to realize the error of my ways regarding John McCain, Romney was making a lot of sense with his well timed editorials and media appearance criticizing the President on substantive matters. While cats on our side were flailing their arms aboot birth certificates and Sharia Law, Romney stayed focused on jobs and the economy. This was a candidate I could get on board with.

Welcome to the 2012 race. I won’t nitpick over every issue he’s run to the left on if it would grab him an extra few points in the polls. Just these two:
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All Eyes on Paul Ryan

There’s been a feud brewing – half legit, half ginned up by Democrats and the media – between Republican leadership and the “tea party” over the short term budget for this year the Dems never passed last year. One side wants gradual cuts and to play nice. The other thinks gradual cuts are for RINOs. Though the real fun starts next week when Budget Chairman Paul Ryan presents his long term budget next week.

Phillip Klein from the Washington Examiner lays it out like this…

If the Ryan budget is really good, achieves steeper cuts with a full fiscal year to work with and begins to address the entitlement crisis, it will help Republicans mitigate the backlash from the base should they compromise on the short-term budget measure. That’s not to say that it will eliminate any frustration from Tea Party groups and other conservative activists, but the GOP leadership would at least have an argument to make — that they came into office nearly halfway into the 2011 fiscal year so their hands were tied on this fiscal year, but when they had more time to work with, they presented a real plan to dig the nation out of its fiscal mess. Of course, if the Ryan budget disappoints, all bets are off.

The Hill has a preview of the budget and whether or not we’re going to finally get serious aboot reforming entitlements…

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Marco Rubio Announces His Candidacy for President

“What you’re seeing with Marco Rubio‘s op-ed today is a tectonic shift in the Senate power structure. Bank on it.” – THE Rick Wilson

No, he didn’t announce anything nor is he going to (psyche), but after laying low since being sworn into office, he did take a huge step back out into the national spotlight with a recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal. The big criticism of our party from within the party (the criticism from unserious liberals is Koch Brothers/Fox News/Sarah Palin) is that our leaders are afraid to make any hard decisions when it comes to the budget or debt.

Many of us are waiting for Paul Ryan’s budget next week because, while it will be serious, the reactions from within caucus will give an idea how serious everyone else is. Marco Rubio raised the bar a little by saying he won’t vote to increase the debt limit anymore unless it is the “…last one we ever authorize and is accompanied by a plan for fundamental tax reform, an overhaul of our regulatory structure, a cut to discretionary spending, etc”. He was not without some suggestions how…
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Attention Seniors: President Obama wants to Take Your Social Security Away!

What a ridiculous title!  But isn’t that baby cute?

We need to talk aboot social security reform this year whether people like it or not. It was a nice idea at first in the 1930s. The government was going to take money out of your paycheck every week and save it for your retirement for you, and then give it back to you when you turned 65. The fact that they were counting on you dying at 62…meh.

But now, when there’s all of two workers for every one recipient, and we start running social security deficits next year as opposed to 2016 when we thought, it’s time to be serious for a minute…which is aboot all the topic got in President Obama’s State of the Union. “No current retiree’s will be at risk.” Yeah, no one is suggesting they should or will be, Sparky.

The battle is coming. You know one side is going to do everything they can to use the politics of fear and scare old people into thinking the other side is coming to take their benefits away. But where do most other people stand? e21 has a handy list identifying the five basic “factions” when it comes to social security reform…

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Paul Ryan: Flimflam Sauce? Seriously?

When I read that left wing hack Paul Krugman dedicated a column to attacking Paul Ryan and his “Roadmap for America’s Future,” I almost squirted my Pabst Blue Ribbon out of my nose. It’s your usual New York Times editorial: “Anyone who has a different political opinion than me is an idiot, and here’s why.” Though instead of accusing Ryan of hate mongering or racism like many of his colleagues at the Times, he accused him of being a flimflam man covered in flimflam sauce.

(And before anyone says it, yes I realized Krugman won the Nobel Prize. He won it with the same qualifications and reason Barack Obama won it, a) he’s hyper-liberal, and b) he isn’t George W. Bush.)

Admittedly, I’m not an economist. I also usually rely on libertarians as referee’s when it comes right vs. left issues, so I’ll let smarter people like Reason Magazine and Megan McArdle critique the specifics (McArdle also points out the Krugman, “…could easily have gotten answers to his questions if he had wanted them.)” Instead, I’ll just shill for Paul Ryan and let him defend himself…

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