Tag: Paul Ryan

Paul Ryan’s Desperate Powerpoint Presentation to GM Execs in 2008 Failed to Save Janesville SUV Plant

Jon Ponder

screenshot-teleprompter-paul-ryany-rnc-2012

In his speech to his party’s convention last night, Rep. Paul Ryan falsely accused Pres. Obama of allowing a GM plant that built SUVs in Janesville, Wisc., Ryan’s hometown, to close.

But Ryan omitted at least two key facts in his prosecution of the president. One: GM announced it was closing the plant in June 2008, fully six months before Pres. Obama took office. And two: it was Paul Ryan, not the president, who tried and failed to convince GM to keep the plant open:

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WSJ/NBC News Poll: Ryan Pick Has -1 Impact on Likelihood to Vote for Romney – Compares with Dick Cheney’s +2, Palin’s +8

Jon Ponder

The new Wall St. Journal/NBC News poll finds that 22 percent of likely voters say that Mitt Romney’s decision to put Rep. Paul Ryan on the Republican ticket makes them more likely to vote for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, while 23 percent say he makes them less likely to vote for Romney; 54 percent say the pick doesn’t affect their vote either way.

That margin (-1) compares with the last five vice-presidential picks like this:

Year Candidate Party VP Helps Ticket?
2012 Mitt Romney GOP Paul Ryan -1
2008 Barack Obama Dem Joe Biden +8
2008 John McCain GOP Sarah Palin +9
2004 John Kerry Dem John Edwards +21
2000 Al Gore Dem Joe Lieberman +13
2000 George W. Bush GOP Dick Cheney +2

The approval rating for Congress is at 12 percent, according to the poll, with 82 percent disapproving. This may be a part of the reason that Congressman Paul Ryan also has a remarkably weak favorable/unfavorable rating: 33 percent/32 percent.

Romney Campaign Tries to Cover Up Paul Ryan’s Position on Abortion, Denies He Advocates Banning Abortion for Rape Victims

Jon Ponder

New York Times:

A campaign statement that neither Mitt Romney nor Representative Paul D. Ryan opposes abortion in rape cases contradicts Mr. Ryan’s earlier position on the issue.

The statement was issued late Sunday in response to a widely condemned comment earlier in the day by Representative Todd Akin, the Republican Senate nominee from Missouri, that in cases of what he called “legitimate rape,’’ women’s bodies reject a pregnancy. Mr. Akin was explaining why he opposes abortion in the case of rape.

“Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan disagree with Mr. Akin’s statement, and a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape,’’ a Romney campaign spokeswoman, Amanda Henneberg, wrote.

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Reporter at Right-Leaning Politico Agrees with Tea Party’s Akin That ‘Legitimate Rape’ Rarely Leads to Pregnancy

Jon Ponder

Huffington Post:

Politico reporter Dave Catanese took to Twitter to defend comments made by Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) about rape.

“Poor phrasing, but if you watch the intv @ToddAkin meant to convey that there’s less chance of getting pregnant if raped,” he said…

Catanese tweeted that Akin’s comments, while poorly phrased, were worth discussing.

“So perhaps some can agree that all rapes that are reported are not actually rapes? Or are we gonna really deny that for PC sake?” he said. “So looks like he meant to say — ‘If a woman was REALLY raped, it’s statistically less likely for her to get pregnant.’ What’s the science?”

Huffington Post cites data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that 32,000 women are impregnated by rapists every year.

Paul Ryan Co-Sponsored ‘Forcible Rape’ Bill Last Year with Missouri Tea Party Senate Candidate Rep. Todd ‘Legitimate Rape’ Akin

Jon Ponder

From left: Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), co-sponsors of "foricible rape" bill
Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), left, and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), co-sponsors of "foricible rape" bill
As we noted here yesterday, Missouri tea party Senate candidate Todd Akin made a bizarre assertion about women’s reproductive systems:

AKIN: Well you know, people always want to try to make that as one of those things, well how do you, how do you slice this particularly tough sort of ethical question. First of all, from what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.

But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.

This was not a gaffe. It reflects a policy position, and Akin — who is running to unseat Sen. Claire McCaskill — is not alone in advocating misogynistic views on rape. Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan co-sponsored the bill with Akin last year that introduced the term “forcible rape” into the political lexicon:

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Paul Ryan Was a Vocal Advocate for Bush’s Stimulus Bills: ‘You Have to Spend a Little to Grow a Little,’ He Said in 2002

Jon Ponder

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Last week Congressman Paul Ryan was caught lying about the fact that after he voted against the stimulus bill he requested at least $25 million in stimulus funding for his district. Now, via Huffington Post, we learn that in 2002 he was a strong advocate of Republican efforts to pass George Bush’s stimulus bills:

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Ryan Caught Lying: ‘I Never Asked for Stimulus’ – But Documents Prove He Earmarked At Least $25 Mil

Jon Ponder

Think Progress:

On Tuesday, the Boston Globe and Associated Press reported on documents showing that GOP Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan had secured more than $20 million in stimulus funds for a local energy efficiency organization.

According to the reports, the documents showed that Ryan also brought in $5.4 million for local bus services. His requests came at the same time he was publicly calling the stimulus a “wasteful spending spree.”

However, in an interview with a local Ohio television news station, Ryan claimed he never secured funding through the program, saying “I never asked for stimulus.”

The Associated Press wrote a follow-up story to Ryan’s comments:

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