Paul Ryan’s Hollow Words

Vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan has had his moment in the spotlight at the Republican national convention, a moment that was relied on heavily to give the Romney campaign some wind in its sails.  Ryan gave the speech he was expected to give, with its forced nostalgia and its righteous claims. He was a politically risky choice of running mate, but he has delivered some sense of needed urgency into the Romney campaign. He has delivered to the republicans what some of them want to hear, and has needled the democrats with his speech. Ryan has proved himself excellent at communicating just enough to make his platform seem authentic, without getting himself or Romney into hot water. Below are some of the best examples of this rhetoric from his speech.

“After four years of government trying to divide up the wealth, we will get America creating wealth again. With tax fairness and regulatory reform, we’ll put government back on the side of the men and women who create jobs, and the men and women who need jobs.”

This is a critical section of the speech. Ryan identifies and places blame the Obama administration with the phrase divide up the wealth”, a phrase the GOP cringes at. Why would Romney want to divide up the Wealth? That would mean he might have to lose insignificant amounts of his own fantastic personal wealth. No, what Romney wants is tax fairness. Fairness is a relative term here, and in this context means to stay the same. Currently the greater your wealth the less your taxes, perfect for Romney, Ryan, and the companies the finance them. Then Ryan promises to put government back on the side of people who create jobs, a dangerous promise. Romney and Ryan believe in a top down economy. What that means is that the big businesses, the fortune 500 companies are what keeps our economy alive and well. Unfortunately today there is too much corruption to rely on those companies to do their jobs and support out nation. If its left to Romney and Ryan that corruption will go unregulated, and there will be no trickle down for the bottom of our economy.

“In a clean break from the Obama years, and frankly from the years before this president, we will keep federal spending at 20 percent of GDP, or less.  That is enough.  The choice is whether to put hard limits on economic growth, or hard limits on the size of government, and we choose to limit government.”

Here Ryan identifies another problem, federal spending. He speaks of both administrations accountable for the problem but only names Obama, leaving the current administration to take the brunt of the blame. Ryan knows the Bush administration caused the problem, but will let slip for a chance to get a leg up in the election. Ryan goes on to promise to keep federal spending low through government limitation, but does not give any details, a trademark of his platform. That is because the details are not something people would like to hear. Romney and Ryan have purposed some of that saving through budget cuts for education. That means more neglect of a failing public school system, a continuing rise in the price of college educations and cuts to Pell grants for college students.

“By themselves, the failures of one administration are not a mandate for a new administration.  A challenger must stand on his own merits.  He must be ready and worthy to serve in the office of president.”

“We’ve had very different careers – mine mainly in public service, his mostly in the private sector. He helped start businesses and turn around failing ones. By the way, being successful in business – that’s a good thing.”

A true statement when presented by itself, but not when applied to the Romney Ryan campaign. Romney is a flip flop candidate, a placeholder for the GOP. He has no merits to stand on, other than a massive personal wealth. A wealth that was acquired through aggressive and reckless capitalism, that left a wake of debt in its trail. Mitt Romney grew up with money and since the first taste of it, it has been greed ever since. He has shown us his ability to destroy jobs and move millions of dollars into offshore accounts. He has shown us his ability to create a personal fortune through his private sector business success Bain Capital. A firm that was part of the corruption and irresponsibility on Wall Street that led to a crushing wold debt. Romney’s personal wealth is not a merit, and it does not make him worthy to serve in the office of president.

“We will not duck the tough issues, we will lead.”

Romney and Ryan have been ducking tough issues as long as there have been questions asked. Their platform appeals to people on the surface, but the truth, the red meat, only appeals to a select few. That is the way Romney and Ryan will have it. If it furthers the conquests of them and their allies, why would they share it with us. They would rather avoid giving all the details until they take office, and then they will rape and pillage and leave us in the cold in four short years.

“We will not spend four years blaming others, we will take responsibility.”

Show me what you can do don’t tell me what you can do. Romney and Ryan have spent their entire campaign shifting blame on the Obama administration. They point fingers on unemployment, the economy, and Obamacare. They will accept no blame for the role their party played in the recession, and they will not speak of the role Romney personally played in the economic downturn. Why would they change one elected?

Paul Ryan’s speech is not without truth or merit. There are moments when he is almost speaking from a place of authenticity, but his carefully managed rhetoric is conniving and deceitful in places. There are falsities and prevarications in the Romney Ryan platform and they need to be held accountable this week at the RNC. We cannot accept leadership without a careful analysis of the words and actions the candidates put before us.

By Evan Lonergan