Paul Ryan: Most Talked About Pol on Facebook

-By Warner Todd Huston

CNN reported this week that Rep. Paul Ryan has become the king of Facebook by knocking President Obama off “the most talked about” list of US politicians.

CNN recently entered into a partnership with Facebook to track things political on the social sharing network and according to the new “Facebook-CNN Election Talk Meter,” in the 54 hours after presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney introduced Rep. Paul Ryan as his choice for the vice presidency, Paul Ryan became the star of social media.

Facebook-CNN talk meter scores

  1. Rep. Paul Ryan 5.21
  2. President Barack Obama 4.84
  3. Vice President Joe Biden 4.01
  4. Gov. Mitt Romney 3.74

In fact, Ryan became such a hot topic on social media that he almost matched Olympic swimming star Michael Phelps on the Talk Meter and that is pretty impressive considering how badly politics typically shows up on Internet “top” lists compared to pop culture and sports. As CNN measured it, in the days after he won all his most recent Olympic medals Phelps rated a 6.51 to Ryan’s 5.21 on the 1-10 scale.
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Paul Ryan: Most Talked About Pol on Facebook”


Buzzfeed Buries Story of Obama Supporter Punching Romney/Ryan Volunteer

-By Warner Todd Huston

Now, if you had a story about GOP veep candidate Paul Ryan’s first Iowa rally and an Obama supporter rushed the stage after punching a Romney/Ryan volunteer, would your headline read, “Ryan Heckled At First Solo Event“? Or would you maybe want to rather highlight the whole punching thing?

Well, to Buzzfeed’s Zeke Miller “heckling” is far more newsworthy than punching, I guess. In fact, it was so low on the list of important points that Buzzfeed threw it away a few paragraphs into the story, with a lone line, effectively giving it little notice.

It seems that some wild-eyed, violent Obama supporter rushed onto the stage upon which Ryan was speaking on August 13 and was snared by the police who were on hand as security. As she charged the stage, police are reported as having yelled, “She just punched a volunteer.”

One might think that an Obama supporter violent enough to punch people on the way to rushing the stage where an opponent of the President is speaking would be the focused aspect of this story of Ryan’s fist visit to Iowa. But, no, the headline goes for “hecklers” instead.
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Buzzfeed Buries Story of Obama Supporter Punching Romney/Ryan Volunteer”


Lefty Attack: Paul Ryan is a Follower of Ayn Rand

-By Warner Todd Huston

It was only minutes after news broke that Paul Ryan was Romney’s likely pick for Vice President that leftwingers on Twitter began to needle Ryan as a follower of that mean ol’ Ayn Rand, the famed objectivist philosopher of the middle of last century most famous for writing Atlas Shrugged and for being a proponent of what the left says is a less than compassionate philosophy on humanity.

There is a mistaken belief on the left that Paul Ryan was somehow programmed by Ayn Rand and that his entire budget plan, his Roadmap For America’s Future, is somehow one great Randian, or worse Darwinian, exercise in the survival of the strongest. The left also chides him for later turning his back on Rand and pretending his ideas really aren’t driven by what they consider to be Ayn Rand’s mean-spirited philosophy.

Neither claim is true.
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Lefty Attack: Paul Ryan is a Follower of Ayn Rand”


Paul Ryan Has Already Been an Effective Obama Critic

-By Warner Todd Huston

One of the things that a vice presidential candidate has to be able to do and do well is be an attack dog for the ticket. The best VP candidates have both the credibility and the capability to severely criticize the other team. Even before being picked as his running mate by Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan had proven that he is that man.

Ryan has been the President’s sore spot since the budget and Obamacare debates began early in Obama’s stint in the White House and making him a veep pick for the Republicans is sure to cause no end of heartburn to a president that clearly doesn’t grasp the economic destruction that his own policies have wrought.

Months ago Rep. Ryan had already gotten under Obama’s skin. If you’ll recall in April of 2011 President Obama went out of his way to invite the Republican to a special speech on the budget and then, quite ungraciously slammed him in the speech — without having the decency to either address him or look him in the eye.

Imagine the ignorance of this and how it lowered the office of the President. To have arranged a speech, invited an political opponent, and then dissed him in public like that is the sort of low action of a petty man, not the high actions of a President. And for a President to attack a mere House member at that!

It is patently obvious that President Obama is unnerved by Paul Ryan. And it’s no wonder. You might also recall how Ryan wholly eviscerated Obama’s poor attempt at a budget back in Fed. of 2010.
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Paul Ryan Has Already Been an Effective Obama Critic”


Buzzfeed Using Anonymous Source to Slam Paul Ryan as a ‘Sarah Palin’ Pick

-By Warner Todd Huston

Plainly the long knives are out among the left-media already. All media hands have been called to rush out to cut Rep. Paul Ryan to pieces before he sets one foot on the campaign trail. For Buzzfeed they’ve stooped to using unnamed “sources” to attack Ryan, calling him “no Sarah Palin.” But it’s a strawman argument pushing the left’s narrative.

This Buzzfeed smear job is clearly an effort to both try and influence conservatives that love Palin to turn against Paul Ryan by invoking Palin’s name and to push the false narrative that Ryan’s pick is a “controversial” pick, one meant to shore up Romney’s “flailing campaign.” Buzzfeed is attempting to turn conservatives both against each other and against Paul Ryan.

For Buzzfeed, McKay Coppins writes that Romney’s pick is somehow “just like” McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin.
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Buzzfeed Using Anonymous Source to Slam Paul Ryan as a ‘Sarah Palin’ Pick”


CNN’s Crowley: Romney/Ryan is a ‘Ticket Death Wish’

-By Warner Todd Huston

The leftwing, Old Media has chosen its mode of attack on Paul Ryan: he wants to kill your grandmother. To further that, on CNNs Saturday morning election coverage, Candy Crowley announced that people are “afraid” that presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney’s pick of Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan is a “ticket death wish.”

Crowley seems to think that the addition of Paul Ryan to the ticket will force a debate on entitlement and budget reform that the GOP is “afraid of” and naturally her interpretation of that debate is predicated on the claim that Republicans want to destroy Social Security and other safety net programs. Ergo, Republicans want to kill people.

We’ve already had this debate. All they have to do at Obama Reelect is open up the files because this debate has already happened. They just bring it back, it goes, it is, you know, what they talk about. But I think the other thing that’s worth pointing out is not every Republican has signed on to this kind of, I mean, they will publicly. But there is some trepidation that this might be, looks a little bit like some sort of ticket death wish. That, oh, my gosh, do we really want to talk about these thing? Is this where we want to go when the economy is so bad? We could have stayed on that.

The corpulent Crowley is merely pushing the White House lie that anyone that opposes Obama wants to kill people. She is part and parcel to the lowest campaign in modern history as bad or worse than Lyndon B. Johnson’s campaign ads that claimed his Republican opponent wanted to destroy the world with nuclear war.
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CNN’s Crowley: Romney/Ryan is a ‘Ticket Death Wish’”


Racine Tea Party Rally for Scott Walker/Kleefisch (Also Paul Ryan, Dana Loesch, Tony Katz, More)

-By Warner Todd Huston

This morning I got up bright and early, jumped into the car and took a drive up into Wisconsin to witness the Racine Tea Party rally in support of Wisc. Governor Scott Walker. Speakers included the lovely Rebecca Kleefisch (Wis. Lt. Gov.), Rep. Paul Ryan, State Senator Van Wanggaard, Talk Show Host Tony Katz, Breitbart Editor Dana Loesch and more.


Racine Tea Party Main Stage

It was a beautifully sunny day, perfect temperature, a nice breeze swept over those 3,000 or more gathered, and, in fact, you couldn’t ask for a better out doors experience. But beyond the wonderful weather was the upbeat enthusiasm bubbling up from crowd and speakers alike. This was no down in the dumps group. They were ebullient and thrilled to be out and active for the conservative cause.


The crowd as seen from the main stage


Sign: “Republicans are Makers Democrats are Takers”

This recall election is a total sham. For one thing it is practically illicit. The Democrats never gave Walker a chance to do anything before claiming he needed to be recalled for cause. They’ve abused the recall law, too. Officials are supposed to be recalled for malfeasance in office, not mere political temper tantrums. One way to prove that these leftists violated the spirit of the law is the recall Walker website was registered the same day Walker was elected!

Yet, curiously enough there was no hate spewed — though certainly opposition expressed. There was also no upside down American flags, no communist propaganda, no signs with anyone called “Hitler,” and on top of all that there wasn’t a scrap of garbage left on the ground after everyone left. Not much like an Occupy Whatever rally, eh?

The morning started with the Americans For Prosperity bus pulling in and a short address by AFP President Tim Phillips who was introduced by California talk show host Tony Katz. Katz also emceed the later Racine rally, as well.
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Racine Tea Party Rally for Scott Walker/Kleefisch (Also Paul Ryan, Dana Loesch, Tony Katz, More)”


Outing the Progressives & Liberal Democrats on the Ryan Budget

-By Frank Salvato

“We have a choice of two futures. We know the path we’re on right now. That’s the path the President is proposing: a debt crisis; no health or retirement security; a diminished future; a stagnant country; less jobs; less prosperity. That is not the America we know. We can choose this other path, but we have to make that choice. We can lift the crushing burden of debt off our children and grandchildren. And we can get this economy growing today. It is up to our generation to pick this path. The question is: will we do it or not.” – US Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Chairman of the House Budget Committee, Path to Prosperity (Episode 1).

This will be the question that the 2012 Presidential Election decides. Will we choose to remain a fiscally solvent and financially independent Republic of sovereign citizens? Or will be choose to complete the fundamental transformation of the United States of America from Constitutional Republic to nanny-state, Socialist Democracy? To me – and to most thinking Americans – the choice is clear: we would all like to remain as free and independent as possible. But there are factions in our country that would like to transform our country into something that it was never intended to be. And there are other factions that are so targeted on the retention of power that they would destroy our nation in that pursuit.

The 2012 House Republican Budget Proposal, put forth by US Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), arguably the most fiscally responsible person inside the beltway, is a solid, common sense piece of legislation that some on the Right – and on the Left – are calling moderate in its goals. It simplifies the tax code, collapsing the current system of six tax brackets for individuals into two marginal rates of 25 percent and 10 percent, and ends deductions that benefit a relatively small class of mostly higher-income individuals. It also lowers the top corporate tax rate to 25 percent – competitive with the world average, while eliminating carve-outs and loopholes that have allowed some narcissistic corporations to avoid paying taxes altogether. It would also scrap the Alternative Minimum Tax that captures more and more of the Middle Class each and every year.
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Outing the Progressives & Liberal Democrats on the Ryan Budget”


Saving the American Idea: Rejecting Fear, Envy and the Politics of Division

This week, Representative Paul Ryan (R, Wisc.) made an important speech at the Heritage Foundation.

Full Text

Thank you so much, Ed, for that kind introduction.

We’re here today to explore the American Idea, and I can’t think of a better venue for this topic. The mission of the Heritage Foundation is to promote the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.

These are the principles that define the American Idea. And this mission has never been timelier, because these principles are very much under threat from policies here in Washington.
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Saving the American Idea: Rejecting Fear, Envy and the Politics of Division”


Rep. Paul Ryan To Headline Roskam Fundraiser

-By Warner Todd Huston

Representative Paul Ryan (R, Wis) will be headlining a fundraising event next week for Peter Roskam’s re-election campaign. Ryan is the Chairman of the House Budget Committee.

Rep. Ryan is best known for his A Roadmap for America’s Future, a budget proposal favored by many Republicans and conservatives. Ryan has become something of a rock star among conservatives.

Roskam is the Representative of the Sixth Illinois District and is running for reelection. No challenger has announced an effort to face him.

Only in his third term, Roskam rose quickly in the ranks of the GOP and is now the third in line of the House GOP leadership serving as the Chief Deputy Whip.

Tickets for the Oct. 29 cocktail reception and private dinner at Naperville’s Hotel Arista range from $100 (reception) to $2,500 (reception, dinner, photo with the congressmen and “preferential seating”) a piece.

For more information see Roskam’s campaign website: http://www.roskamforcongress.com/.
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Rep. Paul Ryan To Headline Roskam Fundraiser”


Did a Big Dem Donor Turned Obama Medical Records Czar Hoodwink Members of Congress?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Did Obama’s medical record czar, Judy Faulkner, hoodwink five members of Congress into pushing her own medical records company as the solution for the problem of electronic medical records for all government contracts? That’s what some wonder as Obama’s search for an electronic medical records solution evolves.

In a likely earnest effort to bring jobs to Wisconsin and help improve the fortunes of a home state company, five members of Congress signed onto a letter urging the Department of Defense to seriously consider EPIC Systems medical records computer architecture. (Download PDF of letter)

The letter, signed by Wisconsin Senators Herb Kohl (D) and Ron Johnson (R), as well as Representatives Paul Ryan (R), Tammy Baldwin (D), and Ron Kind (D), was written some two years after EPIC Systems CEO, Judith Faulkner was appointed (April 3, 2009) to Obama’s Health Information Technology Policy Committee. This is a committee established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that will, “make recommendations on creating a policy framework for the development and adoption of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure,” for electronic medical records.
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Did a Big Dem Donor Turned Obama Medical Records Czar Hoodwink Members of Congress?”


Newt’s Tuesday Blogger Conference Call

-By Warner Todd Huston

I just finished with a blogger conference call held by Speaker Gingrich in which he tried to further explain where he stands on Paul Ryan, the budget, and Obamacare.

Newt has have been characterized as “trashing Paul Ryan,” and Ryan himself took a swipe at him on a Chicago radio show (Ryan said something like, “with conservative like him who needs enemies?”), and of course many see his purported attack on Ryan as a violation of Reagan’s famed 11th Commandment. So Newt has a lot to answer for, for sure.

He’s badly confused the situation and some are calling for him to drop out and give it all up. Even Rush Limbaugh is claiming that Newt knows he can’t win the nomination and this whole thing is just an effort at positioning himself for other things in the future. (Rush says Newt might just be angling for a position at the Aspen Institute)
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Newt’s Tuesday Blogger Conference Call”


Left Laments Ryan’s GOP Budget NOT Raising America’s Ire

-By Warner Todd Huston

The left is desperate to color Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan’s GOP budget plan (The Path to Prosperity, as it is styled) as the end of America, crazed to call his plan a killer of old people, and maniacal about saying that the GOP and Ryan want to destroy the country by asking for a few budget cuts. The left even claims that “the country” or “the people” are against the GOP budget proposal. But even lefty blogger Dave Weigel is asking the seminal question: where are the protests?

Now, there does seem to be enough evidence that the people are not very optimistic about America’s economic outlook. And members of Congress are certainly feeling the heat over the budget. I recently spoke to GOP Chief Deputy Whip Rep. Peter Roskam and he confirms that. So, the American people are exercised about the budget. They just aren’t mad about the Ryan plan.

The fact seems to be that the Democrat’s are losing the issue and all their demagoguery against Ryan — led by the chief demagogue in the White House — are not winning the American people over to their side by trying to make Paul Ryan out to be an ogre.
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Left Laments Ryan’s GOP Budget NOT Raising America’s Ire”


CBS’ Bob Schieffer, Class Warrior: Hey, I know. Let’s Soak the Rich!

-By Warner Todd Huston

If there was any doubt about how hostile the Old Media is toward tax cuts, spending cuts, and making government accountable and Constitutionally justifiable, CBS’ Bob Schieffer is happy to dispel that doubt. On the April 17 episode of Face the Nation, Schieffer asked Congressman Paul Ryan (R, WS) why we can’t just soak the rich to solve our budget problems.

In a discussion with Rep. Ryan, the GOP’s go-to budget guy, Schieffer expressed his shock that government doesn’t just tax the bejeebus out of “the wealthiest Americans.” Schieffer was aghast at how the GOP is “reducing the amount of taxes that the richest people in the country pay” and asked Ryan if he, Schieffer, is “misinformed” about the whole tax cut issue.

Ryan was kind not to point out that Schieffer is, indeed, “misinformed”… as usual.

But, perhaps Schieffer isn’t merely misinformed. Perhaps he is ideologically blinded? His comments seem to prove that he is.
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CBS’ Bob Schieffer, Class Warrior: Hey, I know. Let’s Soak the Rich!”


Rep. Peter Roskam: Did you hear about Paul Ryan’s Path to Prosperity?‏

From the office of Rep. Peter Roskam (Ill, 6th District)…

When House Republicans released our 2012 budget last week, newspapers called it the “most comprehensive and most courageous budget reform proposal any of us have seen in our lifetimes,” “a welcome blast of truth-telling among the grown-ups,” and “what real leaders do.”

It comes in very stark contrast to the White House’s failed budget, which heaps $1.5 trillion in new job-crushing taxes and allows both Medicare and Social Security to go bankrupt — so they wouldn’t be around for future generations.

Our fact-based budget puts our country on a path to prosperity, spurring job creation, saving crucial programs for future generations, and relieving the crushing burden of our national debt. Read more from Budget Chairman Paul Ryan in the Wall Street Journal.
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Rep. Peter Roskam: Did you hear about Paul Ryan’s Path to Prosperity?‏”


Why Did Rep. Paul Ryan Vote for Destructive Union Giveaway?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Wisconsin’s Republican Representative Paul Ryan is one of the most well known budget hawks in Congress today. Yet seeming to defy that reputation last week Ryan voted against putting a halt to a budget bloating union giveaway. So what happened?

The amendment was an effort to end project labor agreements on federal construction projects in 2011. This is the sort of thing one would think that every Republican would naturally vote for. Yet the final vote left the tally standing at a tie which meant the measure failed to pass. Twenty-six Republicans voted against this good amendment, Ryan being one of them.
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Why Did Rep. Paul Ryan Vote for Destructive Union Giveaway?”


Report: Pollak for Congress Luncheon raises $150,000 for Campaign (Ill, 9th District)

-By Warner Todd Huston

400 supporters packed the Four Seasons Hotel in beautiful downtown Chicago, Illinois to attend a luncheon for Joel Pollak who is running for Congress from the 9th Congressional District. Pollak’s special guest was Representative Paul Ryan (R, Wis), he of the famous “Roadmap for America’s Future.”

It is encouraging to see so many come out for a Republican candidate in so blue an area as Obama’s home town, Chicago. A wide range of supporters showed from all walks of life.
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Report: Pollak for Congress Luncheon raises $150,000 for Campaign (Ill, 9th District)”


Paul Ryan: Obamanomics Has Failed

-By Warner Todd Huston

Congressman Paul Ryan (R, Wis) and former Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Holtz-Eakin came together early this week to lambaste Obama’s failed economic policies.

In a conference call to supporters and the press, CBO Director Holtz-Eakin said that there is “no evidence” that “the stimulus has really worked” and that Obama’s Keynesian fixes simply won’t work.

There is nothing about Keynesian stimulus that is going to fix those problems. The spending by the government has gotten worse, has not solved the housing problem, and has also not been successful. Instead, the key to more rapid economic growth is going to have to be the business sector and international trade.

Representative Ryan echoed that assessment, saying:
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Paul Ryan: Obamanomics Has Failed”