by JACK LINDEN
The comedians on radio and the Tea Party enthusiasts are ecstatic over the nomination of U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan as nominee for the Republican vice presidency, espousing that they have a real conservative on the ticket. They claim he will push the White House to the Republicans. However, the public, comedians and Tea Party folks might want to reconsider, after they analyze Mr. Ryan’s record.
They should at least investigate Mr. Ryan’s voting record during the eight year period when George W. Bush was president. Let’s face it. The recent Bush administration was a group of people who were Republican in name only. The Bush administration spent and spent and was not conservative enough. If that is true, would it not seem logical that Mr. Ryan, if he is indeed a conservative, would have voted against many of the Bush proposals?
Where was Mr. Ryan? He voted to go to war in both Afghanistan and Iraq and did not raise the issue of how much the wars would cost. As a result, we fought two wars without an increase in taxes or any other means of paying for the war except by borrowing money. Is that conservatism?
Bush came into office with a surplus and quickly gave two across-the-board tax cuts. Ryan voted for those tax cuts without demanding a cut in expenditures. Is that conservatism?
While we older people appreciated the expenditure for the prescription drug program, there was no monies raised to pay for the program. Ryan voted for that expenditure without the revenues to pay for the program. Is that conservatism and is that decreasing the size of government?
Big banks brought on a financial crisis that affected every American and threatened the economic structures of the entire world. When the secretary of the treasurer came to Congress with a one-page bill to save the banks and the economy, Ryan voted for that as well. And, not only did he not demand that there be money to pay for the banking bailout, he did not demand any restrictions on the program. He helped out big banks; they in turn have not helped the American economy. Is that conservatism?
It seems that Ryan has become a fiscal conservative in his voting and advocacy since the Obama administration has been in office. He was certainly not one during the Bush administration.
Conservatives also believe in less government and more freedom for the individual. Why then are they so prone to scream that Obama’s Affordable Care Act will interfere with the doctor/patient relationship? In reality, it seems that Republicans are the ones who are most interfering with the doctor/patient relationship.
Ryan has co-signed legislation that would make ultrasound procedures mandatory before a woman could get an abortion, including instances of rape and incest. He has advocated that at the moment of fertilization, the egg becomes a person. In addition to that, he has advocated laws against any payment for any form of contraception. Is this keeping the government from interfering with the doctor/patient relationship?
Those who are rallying around Ryan should look at his record and not listen to the comedians and the Republican pundits who are extolling his virtues. If you really believe in conservatism, you will not see it in Mr. Ryan unless you have drastically changed the definition of conservatism.
