That Didn’t Take Long: Obama Attacks Ryan

It took team Obama about 15 minutes to release the hounds.  However, to be fair, he probably had these ads lying in wait for each of the top choices.

Let’s take a look:

  1.  The economy crashed due to government policies that induced banks to lend money to people who had no hope of paying those loans back.
  2. BAM!  Class warfare at it’s finest.  I’ll have to look at the plan first though.  But if the analysis is anything like the TPC, there may be a bit of a partisan bias.
  3. We clearly don’t need more college graduates.  Or, at teh very least, we need fewer of the “soft” degrees and more of the “hard” degrees.  Clean energy – meh.  Clean energy should be given the same breaks as traditional energy.  But let’s not move to #4 without more class warfare.
  4. Yes.  Medicare as we know it is broken.
  5. I’ll have to check on that.  Not sure what he’s talking about.

5 responses to “That Didn’t Take Long: Obama Attacks Ryan

  1. Pino, I really can’t believe you’re still saying the absolute falsehood that the government telling banks to make loans caused the bubble. That is utterly and completely false. I’ve given you sources, I’ve explained what happened, and yet you ignore it and repeat a completely and utterly false charge. The housing bubble was outside government done by greedy deregulated big banks who thought they were passing risk on (but instead were creating systemic risk). A strong regulatory structure could have prevented that.

    It was de-regulation and debt that smashed the economy. Both parties share blame.

    As for two – yes, Romney’s plan to give tax breaks to the wealthy and increase taxes on the middle class is class war. The middle class just have to start fighting back!

    I think you have too utilitarian a view of education. Life is about more than just making money. Education is more than job prep.

    That said I do credit Ryan with taking on entitlement reform, and being willing to put bold ideas out there, even if I disagree with much of what he’s proposed. We need to start having that conversation, and I credit Ryan for pushing it despite the political costs.

    Team Obama clearly wants to define Ryan early, like they did with Romney. Team Romney’s challenge is to rebrand their campaign and prevent Ryan from being defined. This is a real test of Team Romney’s skills – and if they have what it takes to win a national election.

    • Pino, I really can’t believe you’re still saying the absolute falsehood that the government telling banks to make loans caused the bubble. That is utterly and completely false.

      It would be fun to go through this one day and go fact by fact….

      However, given that “experts” still disagree on the fact that FDR extended or made the Depression worse, I doubt that you and I will be able to agree.

      Life is about more than just making money. Education is more than job prep.

      You can not make the argument that life is about more than making money and THEN complain that you don’t have the same amount of money as someone else.

      I agree that a very fulfilling and rich life could be led simply exploring the lectures of the Greek philosophers. I can honestly say that I could see myself totally enjoying each and everyday of an existence comprised of discussions surrounding those times. I may be eating ramen noodles and peanut butter sandwiches, drinking pitchers of PBR and not owning a car -this sounds like my life 25 years ago- but I would be honest and admit that I was giving on salary and taking on quality.

      Pick.

      Either money matters or it doesn’t. If it does, then go to college and obtain a skill that people other than you find valuable. If it doesn’t, then stop complaining that other people sacrifice and get degrees in the hard sciences, work 70 hours a week and are successful in jobs that are hard.

      I credit Ryan for pushing it despite the political costs.

      That’s a very fair take on his policy.

      This is a real test of Team Romney’s skills – and if they have what it takes to win a national election.

      Good times!

  2. Besides the fact that the derivative-led bubble had nothing to do with government policy (except how there was not enough regulation), it also isn’t the reason for the deep recession. The reason was high debt built during a boom when it’s best to pay down debt. This was first done from 1981 to 1990 when debt to GDP went from 30% to 60%, an insane hyperstimulus to the economy during a boom! The second was 2001 to 2007, a stimulus which fed a bubble. Low taxes also caused people to try to chase easy money, helping build the bubble. Better to have had higher taxes and more infrastructure repair and the like. Yes, Obama has also increased the debt — from about 85% of GDP to 100% of GDP, but at least he’s doing that during a recession when an economy needs stimulation. Alas, with debt levels so high normal stimulus doesn’t work as well. So we’ve got a decades in the making structural crisis which is global in nature.

    • For #5, here’s your answer:

      Yeah. His view on abortion and “life” are awfully strict. When I try and frame this debate with friends on the right or left I try and get them to agree on the “extremes.” The extreme position from the right is the one that claims life begins at literal conception and even things like stem cells are off limits. The extreme position on the left is to advocate for a woman to choose to have an abortion at any time for any reason.

      Ryan is on the extreme right.

      I’ll cede that point and not even try and argue the word “many” in Obama’s point 5.

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