Paul Ryan – A Man Who Knows What He’s Talking About
On December 2nd Congressman Paul Ryan, the Ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee, debated New York Times columnist David Brooks. The question: what is the appropriate size and scope for our federal government? The whole 47-minute debate is well worth a watch.
The following quotes are highlights from Ryan's opening statement:
We should be asking, what is our government for? What is its purpose? Should government enforce the rules, or pick winners and losers? Should government provide a basic safety net, or set up enormous transfer programs to fund entitlements for the middle-class and the wealthy? Is a government instituted by us to secure our liberties and allow us to thrive compatible with a state that consumes an ever-growing share of the private economy?...
Do we want to have an opportunity society with a robust but circumscribed safety net, so that Lincoln’s resolute man is free to work, to take chances, to better himself? Or do we wish to inhabit a stagnant, cradle-to-grave welfare state, where opportunity is sacrificed to a misguided vision of equality? If we answer these questions correctly, the size of government will take care of itself.”
Ryan demonstrates his knowledge of the economy and founding principles with clarity supplemented by oratory skills unmatched in the current political realm. He makes the argument for small, efficient government in a relatable way, and if given the chance I am confident a large majority of Americans would agree with his positions. Here is Ryan two days before the debate at American University:
The epic tragedy for our hero is that he has somehow managed to stay so far below the national media radar. He only has 50,000 fans on Facebook compared to Sarah Palin who has 2.5 million, and is much more likely to be mistaken for ultra liberal Glee star Will Schuester then for the genius that he is.
What can we do to promote men like Ryan to superstar status and to downplay all the RINO’s that contribute more to increasing our debt crisis than they contribute to its resolution?
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Jul '10
Re: Paul Ryan – A Man Who Knows What He’s Talking About
What can we do to promote men like Ryan to superstar status and to downplay all the RINO’s that contribute more to increasing our debt crisis than they contribute to its resolution?
Have him make up catchy phrases like "Mama Grizzly", host his own reality show in the wilds of Wisconsin and put his chubby daughter on "Dancing with the Stars".
And tell him to knock off all the deep, complicated talk. It's not about that. It's about getting folks to feel like you're, well, one of them.
Oct '10
Re: Paul Ryan – A Man Who Knows What He’s Talking About
I like Ryan but he is not radical enough for me. His take on inequality is right. Inequality is a product of liberty. What he doesn't get right is that he doesn't seem to question ideas like "government education". His solution to the government education problem is a voucher system, not questioning whether education is a function of the government (it's not in my home). And, where in the Constitution is the idea of a "public safety net" to be found?
Your superman is a good conservative, that I will grant you. But what we need today are radical constitutionalists whose fundamental question is "where is that found in the Constitution?"
Edited on Dec 4, 2010 at 6:52pmJul '10
Re: Paul Ryan – A Man Who Knows What He’s Talking About
Good Berean: I like Ryan but he is not radical enough for me. His take on inequality is right. Inequality is a product of liberty. What he doesn't get right are that he doesn't seem to question the idea of "government education". His solution to the education problem is a voucher system. Where in the Constitution is the idea of a "public safety net" to be found?
Your superman is a good conservative, that I will grant you. But what we need today are radical constitutionalists whose fundamental question is "where is that found in the Constitution? · Dec 4 at 6:45pm
Well, then, Gary Johnson is your man.
Oct '10
Re: Paul Ryan – A Man Who Knows What He’s Talking About
Kenneth
Good Berean: I like Ryan but he is not radical enough for me. His take on inequality is right. Inequality is a product of liberty. What he doesn't get right are that he doesn't seem to question the idea of "government education". His solution to the education problem is a voucher system. Where in the Constitution is the idea of a "public safety net" to be found?
Your superman is a good conservative, that I will grant you. But what we need today are radical constitutionalists whose fundamental question is "where is that found in the Constitution? · Dec 4 at 6:45pm
Well, then, Gary Johnson is your man. · Dec 4 at 6:48pm
He's on the right track!
Jun '10
Re: Paul Ryan – A Man Who Knows What He’s Talking About
And why must we put down one rightous conservative in order to build up another? Who made up this stupid contest? I think both Ryan, with his heady understanding of economics and Palin, with her feisty in your face "Mamma Grizzly" lifestyle and common sense thinking are both magnificent leaders of conservatism today. May they both flourish.
Re: Paul Ryan – A Man Who Knows What He’s Talking About
Kenneth:
Have him make up catchy phrases like "Mama Grizzly", host his own reality show in the wilds of Wisconsin and put his chubby daughter on "Dancing with the Stars".
And tell him to knock off all the deep, complicated talk. It's not about that. It's about getting folks to feel like you're, well, one of them. · Dec 4 at 6:30pm
Should we tell him to call his fans Ryanistas?
Another great thing about Ryan is that he really has the power to bring people together with common sense. Unfortunately, if you don't love Sarah Palin, you hate her guts. I am yet to meet a liberal that thinks she has an IQ above 85. We can blame media or any other number of things, but in reality the damage has been done.
Guys like Ryan need to be pushed to center stage while Palin fires up the base. He can bring people together on common issues like individual liberties, the debt crisis, and low-taxes in an intelligent and attractive manner.
Re: Paul Ryan – A Man Who Knows What He’s Talking About
I am not trying to put down Palin at all. I was using her as an example to show how little support Ryan had on a national stage. For every fan Ryan has, she has 50. They both play a very important role in the future of conservatism, and they need to combine there strengths if we are to succeed. The problem still, is that no one has heard of him.
Edited on Dec 4, 2010 at 7:42pmPerhaps Palin could use her popularity to bring some much needed supporters in his camp?
Jul '10
Re: Paul Ryan – A Man Who Knows What He’s Talking About
I'm sorry you don't get my point. Joshua's post asks the question of how do we promote truly thoughtful, truly principled, truly competent conservatives like Ryan to the forefront.
My response underlines a big part of the problem: the air is being sucked out of the room by Palin's sophomoric shenanigans. She's "flourishing", alright, but in the process, she's like the loudmouth at a cocktail party who won't let anyone else get a word in edgewise.
Jul '10
Re: Paul Ryan – A Man Who Knows What He’s Talking About
If he invokes Lincoln (Abraham Lincoln begat Woodrow Wilson) of all people as a small government conservative in his opening statement, he's not as dreamy as you might imagine. Plus, his gaffe in invoking Hitler's rise to power during the deflationary period is wrongheaded and belies a thumbless grasp of economic and political(!) history and lack of comprehensiveness for someone who people tout as an 'intellectual.'
Politics is quite the haystack to look for the needle that is someone truly brilliant.
Mr. Riddle. The comparison is lacking to say the least. Sarah Palin ran for Vice President of the United States. Mr. Ryan represents SC Johnson and the remnants of the auto industry in SE Wisconsin. They have hardly had the same exposure.
Edited on Dec 5, 2010 at 6:26amJul '10
Re: Paul Ryan – A Man Who Knows What He’s Talking About
Well, most folks don't share our mutual disdain for Lincoln, Michael. As a Republican politician, invoking Lincoln - particularly in front of a partly-black audience - is the same as invoking mom and apple pie. History is written by the victors and while I feel Lincoln was a tyrant who destroyed true Federalism, 99 out of 100 Americans have been brainwashed into revering the guy.
Dec '10
Re: Paul Ryan – A Man Who Knows What He’s Talking About
Wow! That is tremendous! AEI puts awesome events and debates like this on all the time. Dr. Brooks recently debated Jim Wallis near my house at Wheaton College just outside of Chicago. He also participated in a discussion on what a Christian worldview of economics ought to look like with Pastor John MacArthur in the Los Angeles area.
Ryan is a conservative man amongst RINO boys. We absolutely need more like him. But where are they? Are qualified people just too turned off from the political circus to toss their hat in the ring?
Oct '10
Re: Paul Ryan – A Man Who Knows What He’s Talking About
Kenneth
Well, most folks don't share our mutual disdain for Lincoln, Michael. As a Republican politician, invoking Lincoln - particularly in front of a partly-black audience - is the same as invoking mom and apple pie. History is written by the victors and while I feel Lincoln was a tyrant who destroyed true Federalism, 99 out of 100 Americans have been brainwashed into revering the guy. · Dec 4 at 8:08pm
I am with you 100% on Lincoln. A truely mythological creature.
May '10
Re: Paul Ryan – A Man Who Knows What He’s Talking About
"There's a man in the White House with blood on his mouth..." went the Southron's song. Still being painted as a tyrant today.
Anybody lamenting the dearth of civility in American politics, or the names Bush and Obama have been called should read up on American history 1850-1870,
Re: Paul Ryan – A Man Who Knows What He’s Talking About
Abraham Lincoln begat Woodrow Wilson -- the fellow who segregated the civil service, brought Jim Crow to the North, wrote a history of Reconstruction that served as the basis for The Birth of the Nation, and sponsored that movie by having it shown at the White House? Tell that to William Howard Taft, William G. Harding, and Calvin Coolidge -- who sought to counter his attempt to undermine the moral authority of the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, which was the inspiration for Lincoln's every act. Lincoln faced a terrible challenge and sought to surmount it without breaking the constitutional frame. Wilson gave us "the living constitution," which the courts can twist into anything they want. It is to Lincoln's understanding that we need to return.
Jun '10
Re: Paul Ryan – A Man Who Knows What He’s Talking About
Unfortunately Kenneth, your response belies your intelligence "...and put his chubby daughter on "Dancing with the Stars"."
With comments like that, describing Palin as sophomoric reminds me of the old "kettle calling the pot" expression. And I understand your point exactly. It is you who doesn't seem to understand mine. I repeat, there is no need to shoot down one star to make room for another. It's a big universe out there.
May '10
Re: Paul Ryan – A Man Who Knows What He’s Talking About
Let's see what Ryan does about Obamacare first.
Jun '10
Re: Paul Ryan – A Man Who Knows What He’s Talking About
Exactly, Aaron. It's not up to anyone but Paul Ryan himself to establish his bonafides (which I believe he has) and then to get his voice heard (which some people here don't believe he has done). Sarah Palin certainly isn't stopping him. Yes, let's see his approach to the great deficit elephant in the room...Obamacare. Isn't it strange how the Dems never mention spending as the cause of our woes. It's always revenues. We are never taxing enough for those hogs. Obama's compromise for not raising taxes is for the Republicans to allow him more spending. This is what I am hearing and it is enough to drive a sane man into the ditch ( a popular word lately).
Jul '10
Re: Paul Ryan – A Man Who Knows What He’s Talking About
cdor: Unfortunately Kenneth, your response belies your intelligence "...and put his chubby daughter on "Dancing with the Stars"."
With comments like that, describing Palin as sophomoric reminds me of the old "kettle calling the pot" expression. And I understand your point exactly. It is you who doesn't seem to understand mine. I repeat, there is no need to shoot down one star to make room for another. It's a big universe out there. · Dec 5 at 7:05am
She is chubby . And she did appear on "Dancing with the Stars". Those are empirical facts.
You may feel that it's a bit tasteless for me to point them out. But then, I feel much of Sarah Palin's recent behavior has been tasteless - from DWTS to her reality show to diminishing Ronald Reagan's accomplishments prior to his Presidential election, to sniping at George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush as "bluebloods".
You still don't get my point. Not because of any lack of intelligence. Just because you don't want to. Fair enough. But no reason to get all hissy about it.
Edited on Dec 5, 2010 at 12:10pmJun '10
Re: Paul Ryan – A Man Who Knows What He’s Talking About
Just for you, Kenneth. A link I came across five minutes ago at Hot Air:
http://www.facebook.com/notes/bristol-palin/cha-cha-cha-to-cho-cho-cho-heres-a-hint-three-dog-night/174852705875956
It is astonishing that you would use a woman's child to diss her for political reasons. Your comments sound like something from Daily Kos. I see Bristol as a beautiful young woman who has never attempted to interject herself into the political world of her mother. It is really disappointing to read this stuff from you here at Ricochet. I could easily comment on your defense of those poor Bushes, but this post was supposed to be about Paul Ryan (according to the author) so I will stop here and go no further with you.
Jul '10
Re: Paul Ryan – A Man Who Knows What He’s Talking About
Good tactical withdrawal.
When you don't understand your opponent's argument and lack the wit to refute it, shout insults and leave the room.
Edited on Dec 5, 2010 at 4:44pm