Who is Ryan?

I have been trying to decide how I will "ease" into this blog-there is so much information out there and so many issues that I want to investigate, however everything just seems too daunting to take on as a first post.  However, I think I may have found a subject for my first real blog post: Paul Ryan.

Today in the break room at work the local TV station was airing Obama's visit to Council Bluffs, in which he made a few references to Mitt Romney's running mate, Paul Ryan.  I've decided that I want to learn about him...and that means you will too!

                                                      Introducing: Paul Ryan

Experience: 
Paul Ryan is serving his 7th term as a member of Congress

Committee assignments: 
Paul Ryan is the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee On the Budget and a senior member on the House Ways and Means Committee, which focuses on the tax code, health care and social security.


Why Ryan? What's his plan?

Paul Ryan has created a budget plan, The Path to Prosperity, in which he addresses how we can put America back on the path to economical prosperity.

Watch this youtube video called The Path to Prosperity (Episode 1).  In this 3 minute video, Paul Ryan outlines America's two futures: increasing governmental growth and unsustainable spending vs. governmental reform under the republicans plan.

If you haven't clicked on the link yet, do it.

But if you are too lazy to do that, below you will find a contrast between the President's budget and Paul Ryans' plan, The Path to Prosperity.

A Contrast in Visions

The President’s Budget   The Path to Prosperity Spending Net $1.5 trillion increase relative to current policy Cuts spending by $5 trillion relative to President’s budget Taxes Imposes a $1.9 trillion tax increase; Adds new complexity and new hurdles for hardworking taxpayers, making it more difficult to expand opportunity  Prevents President’s tax increases; Reforms broken tax code to make it simple, fair, and competitive; clears out special interest loopholes and lowers everybody’s tax rates to promote growth Deficits    Four straight trillion-dollar deficits; Breaks promise to cut deficit in half by end of first term; Budget neverbalances  Brings deficits below 3 percent of GDP by 2015; Reduces deficits by over $3 trillion relative to President’s budget; Puts budget on path to balance Debt Adds $11 trillion to the debt – increasing debt as a share of the economy – over the next decade; Imposes $200,000 debt burden per household; Debt skyrockets in the years ahead Reduces debt as a share of the economy over the next decade; Charts a sustainable trajectory by reforming the drivers of the debt; Pays off the debt over time Size of Government  Size of government never falls below 23 percent of the economy, making it more difficult to expand opportunity Brings size of government to 20 percent of economy by 2015, allowing the private sector to grow and create jobs National Security  Slashes defense spending by nearly $500 billion; Threatens additional cuts by refusing to specify plan of action to address the sequester; Forces troops and military families to pay the price for Washington’s refusal to address drivers of debt  Prioritizes national security by preventing deep, indiscriminate cuts to defense; Identifies strategy-driven savings, while funding defense at levels that keep America safe by providing $554 billion for the next fiscal year for national defense spending Health Security Doubles down on health care law, allowing government bureaucrats to interfere with patient care; Empowers an unaccountable board of 15 unelected bureaucrats to cut Medicare in ways that result in restricted access and denied care for current seniors, and a bankrupt future for the next generation Repeals President’s health care law; Advances bipartisan solutions that take power away from government bureaucrats and put patients in control; No disruption for those in or near retirement; Ensures a strengthened Medicare program for future generations, with less support given to the wealthy and more assistance for the poor and the sick

There is so much more info out there I've just got to read, but I think I'll leave you with this:

In response to President Obama's 2011 State of the Union Address, Ryan said We face a crushing burden of debt," Ryan said. "The debt will soon eclipse our entire economy and grow to catastrophic levels in years ahead."  According to Politifact.com, this is right on.  According to the article, the American GDP is 14.745 trillion in 2010 and debt was 14 trillion at the beginning off 2011.  That's pretty darn near close to an eclipse, eh?