He’s No Ron Paul, To Put It Mildly

by
Jane Aitken
Bedford Patch



There is much
abuzz over Mitt Romney’s announcement naming Congressman Paul Ryan
from Wisconsin as his vice presidential running mate.

But many see
it as unimpressive, and even premature and just another indication
of a desperate move to distract from the idea that the “presumptive
nominee” has in truth, been fighting for his political life.

A nominee has
yet to be chosen at the RNC Convention in Tampa later this month.
And some say recent attempts by the Romney campaign to rule-break
and manipulate
the caucuses
in order to steal delegates from other candidates
is a glaring indication that Romney himself isn’t all that confident.

One noted liberty
activist even suggested that Romney had chosen an “imitation
Ron Paul”.

There
are at least two, if not more, factions of tea partiers
who
will be swelling the ranks of the convention and at separate tea
party rallies, and none of them want Romney as the nominee.

Add
to that, a new group of social conservatives who have jumped on
the ‘Dump Romney’ bandwagon
urging delegates not to vote for
Mitt Romney at the convention, even if they’re bound to him. (RNC
rules say NO delegates are bound) So it looks like Romney recognizes
that he will be bracing for a fight.

Asked if the
choice of Paul Ryan would make any difference to conservatives,
constitutionalists, and tea party types as to whether it would help
them come around to get in the Romney camp, most who are familiar
with Ryan’s record say “not a chance”.

Here’s why:
An evaluation
of Ryan’s record by the Republican Liberty Caucus
in 2008 stated
actions that likely would not sit well with small government conservatives.
It stated “It appears that when Paul RyanÂ’s party is doing
the spending, raising debt limits, and acting unconstitutionallyÂ…
Ryan goes with the flow. Congressman RyanÂ’s actual record leaves
much to be desired. The issue Ryan is most known for is his interest
in cutting the deficit and balancing the budget. But why did the
Congressman vote to bail out the auto industry, to pass the Medicare
package to the tune of $400 billion, and to nationalize education
via No Child Left Behind?”

Paul Ryan
on Bailouts and Government Stimuli

  • Voted YES
    on TARP (2008)
  • Voted YES
    on Economic Stimulus HR 5140 (2008)
  • Voted YES
    on $15B bailout for GM and Chrysler. (Dec 2008)
  • Voted YES
    on $192B additional anti-recession stimulus spending. (Jul 2009)

Paul Ryan
on Entitlement Programs

  • Voted YES
    on limited prescription drug benefit for Medicare recipients.
    (Nov 2003)
  • Voted YES
    on providing $70 million for Section 8 Housing vouchers. (Jun
    2006)
  • Voted YES
    on extending unemployment benefits from 39 weeks to 59 weeks.
    (Oct 2008)
  • Voted YES
    on Head Start Act (2007)

Paul Ryan
on Education

Rep. Ryan
went along with the Bush Administration in supporting more federal
involvement in education. This is contrary to the traditional Republican
position, which included support for abolition of the Department
of Education and decreasing federal involvement in education.

  • Voted YES
    on No Child Left Behind Act (2001)

Paul Ryan
on Civil Liberties

  • Voted YES
    on federalizing rules for driver licenses to hinder terrorists.
    (Feb 2005)
  • Voted YES
    on making the PATRIOT Act permanent. (Dec 2005)
  • Voted YES
    on allowing electronic surveillance without a warrant. (Sep 2006)

Paul Ryan
on War and Intervention Abroad

  • Voted YES
    on authorizing military force in Iraq. (Oct 2002)
  • Voted YES
    on emergency $78B for war in Iraq Afghanistan. (Apr 2003)
  • Voted YES
    on declaring Iraq part of War on Terror with no exit date. (Jun
    2006)
  • Voted NO
    on redeploying US troops out of Iraq starting in 90 days. (May
    2007)

Congressman
Ryan supports the United Nations, the World Trade Organization,
federal bailouts, increased federal involvement in education, unconstitutional
and undeclared wars, Medicare Part D (a multi-trillion dollar unfunded
liability), stimulus spending, and foreign aid.

According
to Michelle Malkin in 2009, “[Paul Ryan]”… “hyped
as a conservative rock-star”
…. “gave one of the
most hysterical speeches in the rush to pass TARP last fall; voted
for the auto bailout; and voted with the Barney Frank-Nancy Pelosi
AIG bonus-bashing stampede.” Milwaukee blogger Nick Schweitzer
wrote: ‘He ought to be apologizing for his previous votes,
not pretending he was being responsible the entire time, but I donÂ’t
see one bit of regret for what he did previously. And IÂ’ll
be damned if I’m going to let him get away with it’.”

In this attached
YouTube video of Congressman Ron Paul speaking to Neil Cavuto, Paul
stated he thought Paul Ryan’s budget plan “doesn’t cut anything
of substance”. Paul is the only other candidate whose name
will appear on the ballot at the RNC Convention and who is seen
by many as a breath of fresh air for daring to tell the truth about
many issues. Cavuto admitted that Ryan’s budget, compared to Paul’s,
was “mild”.

So when it
comes to Paul Ryan, I guess you could sum it up this way: “the
more things change, the more they stay the same”.

Reprinted
from the
Bedford
Patch

with permission of the author.

August
13,

2012

Jane
Aitken is founder of the New Hampshire Tea Party Coalition.

Copyright
© 2012 Bedford
Patch