The Romney VP Pick -- Paul Ryan

Discuss it here. Keep it civil, keep it on topic. First post that gets out of line in the opinion of any of the moderators, it gets shut down and we're done. So if you think something is even borderline, don't post it.

If you can't discuss things like an adult, stay away.
If you can't resist a cheap shot or a blanket statement about the other side, stay away.

That said, hasn't it been clear for a while it is going to be Portman? Is there any suspense left? Or is there a surprise candidate in the offing.

 

Re: The Romney VP Pick

Except my own paper says it isn't going to be Portman. Guess I should read my web site before I start a topic!


http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/aug/10/romney-says-hell-name-vice-presidential-nominee-sa/

Paul Ryan, for those who don't want to click. I have no idea what to make of this pick.

 

Re: The Romney VP Pick

One thing to add. Moddy takes the brunt on here for moderating decisions, but he doesn't unilaterally make decisions based on his Moddy whims. Honest. Notice how the new design doesn't look like a pair of alligator skin bowling shoes?

Please give us the benefit of the doubt. If we shut off politics to cool things down, or lock threads or delete things, there is usually more to the story than you realize. And it isn't Moddy -- or any of us -- wanting to control the board or what you can post. We ALL would prefer to do as little moderating as possible. I hope people believe that.

Most of the time, ya'll just see a locked thread or notice something has been deleted. You don't know what we got bombarded with -- the page of posts of people hurling insults at each other or the two-year old level of discourse. None of us enjoys having to be the person to delete those posts or send PMs to people begging them to act like adults, only to get abuse in return.

It's an election year. There are a lot of people on here who enjoy discussing current events / politics, and are bright people who have a lot to add to a discussion. ... and know how to do it as adults. We WANT that to happen.

The only thing I'll add before dropping it is that we won't only be quick to shut it down if things get out of line, we are also going to hold the people who caused it responsible for ruining it for everyone else.

Just be cool. Discuss. Keep your emotions in check. It's doable!

 

Off soap box. ... Some of you know my opinion from these threads. No difference between the parties. Differences in rhetoric. Actions always amount to rewarding special interests. Which gives us the same type of fiscally irresponsible governance, regardless.

Paul Ryan is supposed to be the fiscal adult. It's a PR pick -- how to position your rhetoric for the populist contest that is coming. From where I sit, though, I can't take him any more seriously than Obama or Biden or Romney. You can talk about cutting all the spending he does (which we are going to need to do soon anyhow, by necessity, when we put our backs against the wall), but when the other half of your tact is a vow not to raise revenue at a time that the country is $15.5 trillion in debt and rising, and adding a trillion dollars more debt per year, you aren't really serious.

I am as anti-tax as anyone. When I earn money it should stay in my pocket. But we strayed from that long ago, as we did on the other side of the budgetary process -- to the point that we have a Federal government that spends close to $4 trillion a year. It's ludicrous to stick your head in the sand and not acknowledge where we are at the moment, and make the obvious conclusion that we not only need to scale back how much spending we are doing to control the debt it is putting us in, but to deal with the massive amount of debt we have already built up, we need to raise more revenue -- which means that taxes should be on the table until we can get things back under control.

My opinion, at least.

 

Would Portman have been a better pick? Is there a person out there who could have been a difference maker?

 

Right. As someone pretty much down the middle who votes candidates, not letters, and also follows politics pretty closely, I find the pick intriguing and probably the best choice among those Romney had.