Congressman Paul Ryan's Five Fatal Flaws

Those onthe Far Right - the Tea Partiers, the Free Staters, and the Bill O'Briens of this world - are delighted with the choice of Congressman Paul Ryan to be Mitt
Romney's running mate. How does the rest of the country feel about it?

A USA Today/Gallup poll indicates otherwise. This poll of 1,006 registered voters was conducted Aug. 12. According to an article in USA Today (8/13/12),
"Americans don't believe presidential candidate Mitt Romney hit a home run
with his choice of Paul Ryan as a running mate, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds,
with more of the public giving him lower marks than high ones."

"Ryan, a Wisconsin congressman, is seen as only a 'fair' or 'poor' choice by 42
percent of Americans vs. 39 percent who think he is a an 'excellent' or 'pretty
good' vice presidential choice."

The article goes on to note that Ryan's post-selection rating is the lowest for a
vice-presidential candidate since 2000, a time period that includes Dick Cheney
and Sarah Palin.

Well, just what is it that the public doesn't like about Congressman Ryan? Criticism of him seems to center about five points. Much of the factual support for these points comes from Igor Volsky, Deputy Editor of ThinkProgress.org (8/11/12)

First, Ryan is a long-time admirer of novelist Ayn Rand. Rand, an advocate of social Darwinism or survival of the fittest.  Rand described altruism as evil, and condemned Christianity for advocating compassion for the poor. Rand's central point is that selfishness is really a virtue. In support of Rand, Ryan said, "The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand. I give out (her novel) 'Atlas Shrugged' as Christmas presents, and I make all my interns read it."

Second, the Ryan budget cuts taxes on millionaires, but increases them for the middle class. According to Congressman Ryan's budget, the current top tax rate of 35 percent would be replaced by a two-tiered system with rates of 25 percent and 10 percent. As a result, federal tax collections would decline by $4.5 trillion
over the next decade. To avoid increasing the national debt, massive cuts would
occur in social programs and tax loopholes would be closed.

Sixty-two percent of the savings would come from programs that benefit the lower and middle classes. These two groups would also experience an increase in taxes. Ryan would extend the Bush tax cuts for others, but not for the poor. By contrast, the wealthy, households earning over $1,000,000 per year, could experience a tax savings of $300,000 annually.

The Atlantic magazine (08/12) notes that under the Ryan budget plan, Mitt Romney in 2010 would have paid an annual tax rate of 0.82 percent. That's less than 1 percent.

All right, we've established that Congressman Ryan's budget plan favors the rich. It also proposes ending Medicare as we know it.

According to his plan, in place of Medicare, future retirees would receive a voucher for $6,000 to purchase their health insurance from competing private firms. However, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), this voucher will not keep up with rising health care costs. As a result, the CBO
estimates that new beneficiaries could pay up to an additional $1200 by 2030
and more than $5900 more by 2050. The Ryan plan also increases the age of
eligibility from 65 to 67.

Fourth, in the past (9/11), Ryan has argued that social security should privatized, thus exposing it to the whims of the stock market. Had this plan been adopted when George Bush first proposed it in 2005, the stock market collapse of 2008 would have wiped out much of retirees' savings.

Fifth, Congressman Ryan co-sponsored a "personhood" amendment which argues
that a fertilized egg is a human being, and, as such, is entitled to all the rights and privileges of personhood. A fertilized egg is not viable until it successfully attaches itself to the walls of the mother's uterus. So, a fertilized egg by itself will not become a human being any more than a sperm or unfertilized egg would.

Nevertheless, Congressman Ryan's personhood amendment would outlaw all forms of abortion, including pregnancies due to rape, incest, and those that threaten the life of the mother. In addition, his amendment would make illegal some forms of contraception and in vitro fertilization.

Congressman Ryan markets himself as a conservative. According to the conservatives' creed, "Unless it is necessary to change, it is necessary not to change." Ryan's ideas are new, risky, coddle the rich, and discriminate against the less fortunate. Paul Ryan is not a conservative. He is a radical.