- Feb 8, 2001
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I am not going to post much this weekend as I have plans with my family, but I thought that I would first like to offer up a reference to the best introductory article on Paul Ryan that I have read this morning.
No, it is not a rah rah puffery piece from the RNC, nor is it the all too typical caricature that comes from rabid Democrats and so-called "progressives."
The piece comes from The Weekly Standard, a conservative publication with a reputation for independence from party politics. It is an interesting and thoughtful perspective, published before Romney's pick, that neither panders to nor demonizes Ryan, but attempts to capture some of the nuances that have put him into the national spotlight.
Man with a Plan
How Paul Ryan became the intellectual leader of the Republican party
by Stephen F. Hayes
For many in this forum Paul Ryan is a relatively unknown policy wonk.
Paul Ryan is, of course, the Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Budget Committee, where he works to bring fiscal discipline and accountability to the federal government. He is a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over tax policy, Social Security, health care and trade laws.
His life work has been to deal with complex realities. Unlike Joe Biden, Paul Ryan is no intellectual lightweight.
This election will determine whose ideas will guide the nation for the next four years.
Ryan has old-fashioned goals like saving America from fiscal bankruptcy, economic stagnation and a European-style entitlement state. Most people would agree those are well worth pursuing, his opponents say otherwise.
It should be no surprise that Mitt Romney, a finance guy, a guy that builds extraordinarily talented teams, that looks for intellectual capability and forthrightness, has picked Paul Ryan as his #2.
This will be a dirty election. Democrat lies, distortions, mockery and knee jerk criticisms have begun. But these attacks, like those which greeted Sarah Palin, are not meant to do more than demean and deflect from the appallingly weak record that Obama has. The attacks won't elevate the discussion nor are they meant to clarify the policy choices that each side offers. They are simply attacks on the person and not the ideas.
Paul Ryan, like Mitt Romney, is a very hard man to demonize. So maybe, just maybe, we will have a battle of ideas this time around. I would like that.
No, it is not a rah rah puffery piece from the RNC, nor is it the all too typical caricature that comes from rabid Democrats and so-called "progressives."
The piece comes from The Weekly Standard, a conservative publication with a reputation for independence from party politics. It is an interesting and thoughtful perspective, published before Romney's pick, that neither panders to nor demonizes Ryan, but attempts to capture some of the nuances that have put him into the national spotlight.
Man with a Plan
How Paul Ryan became the intellectual leader of the Republican party
by Stephen F. Hayes
For many in this forum Paul Ryan is a relatively unknown policy wonk.
Paul Ryan is, of course, the Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Budget Committee, where he works to bring fiscal discipline and accountability to the federal government. He is a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over tax policy, Social Security, health care and trade laws.
His life work has been to deal with complex realities. Unlike Joe Biden, Paul Ryan is no intellectual lightweight.
This election will determine whose ideas will guide the nation for the next four years.
Ryan has old-fashioned goals like saving America from fiscal bankruptcy, economic stagnation and a European-style entitlement state. Most people would agree those are well worth pursuing, his opponents say otherwise.
It should be no surprise that Mitt Romney, a finance guy, a guy that builds extraordinarily talented teams, that looks for intellectual capability and forthrightness, has picked Paul Ryan as his #2.
This will be a dirty election. Democrat lies, distortions, mockery and knee jerk criticisms have begun. But these attacks, like those which greeted Sarah Palin, are not meant to do more than demean and deflect from the appallingly weak record that Obama has. The attacks won't elevate the discussion nor are they meant to clarify the policy choices that each side offers. They are simply attacks on the person and not the ideas.
Paul Ryan, like Mitt Romney, is a very hard man to demonize. So maybe, just maybe, we will have a battle of ideas this time around. I would like that.
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