SebastianJer

The Ryan Reset

Posted by: sebastianjer, 1:10 PM GMT on August 31, 2012

The Ryan Reset

LUIGI ZINGALES

Mitt Romney’s selection of the Wisconsin congressman as running mate has made the 2012 presidential race a fundamental clash of ideas about America’s future.
29 August 2012

Mitt Romney should be grateful that party nominating conventions have not been abolished, as some commentators argue they should be. Without the Republican National Convention, Romney would have lacked a national stage on which to introduce his campaign’s greatest asset: vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan.

Before this week, Romney had spent months casting November’s election as a fundamental choice between two different views of America. Yet most voters would have been hard-pressed to identify the nature of this difference. Romney’s image as a technocratic problem-solver resembled President Obama’s, and the two candidates seemed to differ on little except whether or not to raise taxes on the top 1 percent of earners. When he announced his selection of Ryan as his running mate earlier this month, Romney finally began to change that dynamic. And now that Ryan and his ideas have made it into millions of American living rooms, Romney may be poised to reconfigure the race. For the first time, American voters not only have a good sense of who Ryan is, but more importantly, what his choice as VP nominee tells us about Mitt Romney’s agenda.

Ryan has done more than any congressman to warn the United States about the unsustainability of the nation’s fiscal path. Of course, with negative real interest rates on government debt, it’s easy to dismiss this concern—and several leading economists, Paul Krugman among them, have argued that the federal government should spend even more while money remains cheap. These pundits remind me of the left-leaning economists who gave spendthrift Italy similar advice as late as 2009. We know what happened there: the market woke up to the Italian fiscal mess, and now even the most draconian budget cuts seem insufficient to fix that mess. What happened in Italy can happen here.

And yet, as we know, few politicians have paid anything more than lip service to the looming fiscal calamity in the United States, let alone proposed the harsh medicine necessary to remedy it. Ryan has. It’s easy to nitpick Ryan’s “Path to Prosperity” plan—that it spends too much on defense, say, or that it doesn’t specify clearly enough where all the budget cuts it calls for should come from. But Ryan’s plan is notable for proposing hard choices for those on both sides of the political aisle.

From the moment Romney named him as his vice presidential selection, Ryan has been subject to attacks exceeded in intensity perhaps only by those directed at Sarah Palin four years ago. Whether casting him as a fanatical devotee of Ayn Rand or a Catholic zealot, Ryan’s opponents have sought to paint the Wisconsin congressman in extremist hues—particularly as it regards the function of government in American society.

But Americans are learning that Ryan is no cold-hearted, anti-government ideologue. His budget proposals make clear that his objective is not to dismantle the American safety net: “In a free society built on entrepreneurial risk-taking and hard work, such protection provides insurance against the vagaries of life.” His argument, rather, is that we need to bring an end to the corporate-welfare system that wastes billions in company subsidies, agricultural subsidies, and bailouts, all of it fostering corruption and cronyism. Ryan opposes these subsidies, not only because they waste taxpayers’ money, but (more importantly) because they create perverse incentives: they encourage businesses to lobby Washington for preferential treatment rather than to compete in the global marketplace.

Ryan’s view of a limited but effective government that ensures a level playing field without interfering in the competitive process is antithetical to Obama’s enthusiasm for industrial policy, which tries to pick winners and losers according to the preferred goals of government bureaucrats. Ryan understands that the fundamental question is whether America should move forward in the global marketplace or retrench, protecting U.S. firms from competition but at the expense of our economic future.

With Ryan on the ticket, Romney’s campaign has found the clear rationale that it had lacked previously. Romney seems finally to have understood that running against Obama’s health-care reform or the president’s poor stewardship of the economy, or even on his own proven managerial talent, would not be enough. He needed to run for something.

Now he has articulated a vision of America worth fighting for: a nation that believes in fiscal stability, not fiscal profligacy; that believes in the power of the free-enterprise system, not government bureaucrats; and that seeks to restore American exceptionalism and avoid a Southern European-style, crony-capitalism. With Paul Ryan at his side, Romney has made 2012 a fundamental election for America’s future.
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1. aquak9 3:56 PM GMT on August 31, 2012
Mr Jer- If I was somehow able to put a link into your favorites, how about a link to the Democratic party, and what if I did that against your will? What if you could not remove that link? Or better yet, what if ADMIN put that link into your favorites? It would make you look silly, and probably make you mad as hell, too. This is just a theoretical question, and I'd like to hear your opinion. Member Since: August 13, 2005 Posts: 163 Comments: 24996

2. sebastianjer 7:40 PM GMT on August 31, 2012
Re 1 I have absolutely no idea what you are referring to Member Since: August 26, 2005 Posts: 1030 Comments: 11197

4. spathy 11:59 PM GMT on August 31, 2012
If I may Jer. Even though I dont know what Aqua is getting at,thats not her question. So if it were my blog she was talking about. I would be mad.(that is if I even noticed it) LOL I would question how it was possible under the rules set forth by WU. If the answer I got was some sort of vague twisting of written rules. I would first ask myself if WU is worth the battle. Then I would ask myself if just the principal was worth the effort to fight it. Very similar type things go on with our Gov. WU is a private entity,so I can just take my Post count $$$$ elsewhere. With Gov I can not. But sometimes a choice of what battles are worth "your" time is an interesting question. Member Since: June 8, 2008 Posts: 65 Comments: 10473

5. spathy 12:22 AM GMT on September 01, 2012
The Ryan rest is great! Although I prefer not to think of it as a reset. I like to think of it as the completion to a five course meal. Very fulfilling. Member Since: June 8, 2008 Posts: 65 Comments: 10473

6. spathy 12:33 AM GMT on September 01, 2012
August 31, 2012 Evil Right-Wingers Turn to Family, Not Government By Daren Jonescu Campaigning at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio last week, President Obama raised quite eloquently -- okay, succinctly -- the question of where one should turn for help in pursuing one's happiness. The answer: government, "applause"; family, "booo." Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/08/evil_right- wingers_turn_to_family_not_government.html#ixzz25A pLuZTl Link Member Since: June 8, 2008 Posts: 65 Comments: 10473

7. billsfaninsofla 1:41 AM GMT on September 01, 2012
Perhaps Aqua was trying to say that censorship is coming, even to so called "private" blogs? Really not sure though. The comment was out in left field. Maybe it is the blue moon. Member Since: September 5, 2005 Posts: 0 Comments: 5236

8. NumberWise 1:49 AM GMT on September 01, 2012
Of course, we all knew that the press would mount a concerted attack on Paul Ryan. They are experienced at these coordinated efforts. I was watching to see what form it would take, and I must admit that the attack was clever. Accusing Ryan of lying strikes at the heart of who he is. I did some research on my own - I don't just assume that a conservative tells the truth and the liberal media twists the truth - and I feel that Ryan's remarks were truthful in the context in which they were used. I would welcome some serious discussion about Ryan's "Path to Prosperity" plan, and I think it's shameful that the press and pundits ignore the plan and just sling mud at the person. No one wins. Member Since: October 22, 2005 Posts: 0 Comments: 1566

9. theshepherd 1:53 AM GMT on September 01, 2012
Quoting aquak9: Mr Jer- If I was somehow able to put a link into your favorites, how about a link to the Democratic party, and what if I did that against your will? What if you could not remove that link? Or better yet, what if ADMIN put that link into your favorites? It would make you look silly, and probably make you mad as hell, too. This is just a theoretical question, and I'd like to hear your opinion. :) I think I understand. Jerry would feel the same way Rood would feel if the Admin created a non-removable link to "Watts Up With That" on Rood's blog. ...ain't gonna happen :)) Member Since: September 11, 2008 Posts: 9 Comments: 8189

10. spathy 2:11 AM GMT on September 01, 2012
Hi Number. I think there is no other conclusion than Ryan has made a life out of understanding the numbers and the results. Ryan is not some sort of political wind freeloader. He has walked the talk and wrote the book on stride! The only criticism Of his latest plans would be they are only scratching the surface,but an excellent start. He was restrained by the political wind ATM. So he was putting forth the most modest plan conceivable that would still eventually have results. And still he was lambasted as a radical. Well its obvious that that type of classic demagoguery(from the left) is no longer......UM..... That dog wont hunt anymore!!!! Member Since: June 8, 2008 Posts: 65 Comments: 10473

11. Ossqss 2:16 AM GMT on September 01, 2012
Quoting aquak9: Mr Jer- If I was somehow able to put a link into your favorites, how about a link to the Democratic party, and what if I did that against your will? What if you could not remove that link? Or better yet, what if ADMIN put that link into your favorites? It would make you look silly, and probably make you mad as hell, too. This is just a theoretical question, and I'd like to hear your opinion. Hi Aqua, I will give it a shot :-) 1- If they can, you don't live in America unless you are using a device with bloatware. 2. If you can't remove it, get another one fast because its infected. If we don't rid ourselves of the infection, we stay sick. 3. We live in America. WE have a say in what is done and WE control who and how its done. The free market and voters dictate the reality we all live in. I hope I was on target with my interpretation of your comment. Member Since: June 12, 2005 Posts: 6 Comments: 8154

12. spathy 2:21 AM GMT on September 01, 2012
Quoting Ossqss: Hi Aqua, I will give it a shot :-) 1- If they can, you don't live in America unless you are using a device with bloatware. 2. If you can't remove it, get another one fast because its infected. If we don't rid ourselves of the infection, we stay sick. 3. We live in America. WE have a say in what is done and WE control who and how its done. The free market and voters dictate the reality we all live in. I hope I was on target with my interpretation of your comment. See... now you lost me. "Get another one" what? Blog or computer thingy? Member Since: June 8, 2008 Posts: 65 Comments: 10473

13. Ossqss 2:22 AM GMT on September 01, 2012
My Grandmother, god rest her soul, always told me something that still sticks with me to this day. Quote "If you don't stand for something, you will go for anything" Member Since: June 12, 2005 Posts: 6 Comments: 8154

14. theshepherd 2:23 AM GMT on September 01, 2012
Quoting spathy: See... now you lost me. "Get another one" what? Blog or computer thingy? Oh, that's just ossymon being obtuse again :))) Member Since: September 11, 2008 Posts: 9 Comments: 8189

15. spathy 2:34 AM GMT on September 01, 2012
Ossy being some sort of wind instrument?????? Thats difficult to understand. See... I hate it when youall talk over my head! Its like our Gov. I just want a Gov that looks out for me not looks over me. And it does so by being simple enough for even my legislators to understand. Is that too much to ask? Member Since: June 8, 2008 Posts: 65 Comments: 10473

16. Ossqss 2:35 AM GMT on September 01, 2012
Quoting theshepherd: Oh, that's just ossymon being obtuse again :))) LOL, I have never been so insulated in my whole life :-) Member Since: June 12, 2005 Posts: 6 Comments: 8154

17. spathy 2:43 AM GMT on September 01, 2012
Change of subject/or back on subject. What did youall think Of Gov Martinez and her story? Ummmmm well whoda thunk?????? We are Republicans!!!! And open mind can open up wonderful possibilities! Whoda thunk! Member Since: June 8, 2008 Posts: 65 Comments: 10473

18. spathy 2:59 AM GMT on September 01, 2012
There isnt an idealistic young person in the last 100 years that hasnt been drawn to the flame of utopian leftist propaganda. But any of them that truly have an open mind and a grasp of the total of history; that dont see the err of their ways, and come to the truth of Conservatism, havent grown up and havent learned the total of history. A dream of utopia,without the most simple grasp of human nature and what drives "Man" to accomplish great things,leads to chaos,and chaos leads to submission by rule of gov without restraint and peoples left with no hope of true freedom. ie We all get burned by the flame of utopian blindness. Member Since: June 8, 2008 Posts: 65 Comments: 10473

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