Dubious Rubio Heckled by DREAMERS

If anyone thought that Sen. Marco Rubio can help get out the Hispanic vote than they are sadly mistaken. Rubio was heckled by DREAMERS at the Faith and Freedom BBQ in South Carolina.

United We Dream released a great statement.

“If Sen. Rubio wants us deported, we’re here to ask him to tell us to our faces,” she said. “We went to Sen. Rubio’s office in Florida, but his staff hid and closed the doors on us, so we’re here to let him know that Dreamers do not forget, and that we will fight to keep our DACA. The Florida immigrant community must see that Sen. Rubio does not stand for us.”

It is hard for the Rubio to say anything to the DREAMERS faces when they are getting kicked out of the BBQ. That is the point. The same thing happened to a DREAMER during a Paul Ryan book signing.

Paul Ryan: Portrait of An Unserious Man

Rep. Paul Ryan's remedy for man made climate change is to do nothing. Literally. This is what he told the media.

"Climate change occurs no matter what. The question is, can and should the federal government do something about it? And I would argue the federal government, with all its tax and regulatory schemes, can't. And all it will do is end up hurting our country, our people, and especially low income individuals."

What Ryan didn't tell the media is the $181,299 he has received from the oil industry during this campaign cycle.

Ryan talked about his poverty program.

"In many cases, the federal government, in its war on poverty, has inadvertently displaced civil society, prodded out good things that are happening in our communities, when it should be supporting them. It should be manning supply lines, not dictating the front lines."

"And the other point, it has given the notion in our society that this isn't your problem. Pay your taxes. The government will fix this. The government fixes poverty. That's not true. We need to break those notions that so that everybody gets involved and does something in whatever way they can to make a difference in this area. And that is one of the messages we need to pound over and over and over if we are going to be successful in reintegrating the poor and getting them from where the are to where they want to be."

Ryan does not have a basic understanding about poverty. Naturally, Ryan is against raising the minimum wage. Ryan previously made the hysterical claim that raising the minimum wage will keep teenagers from getting jobs.

“The majority of these workers are younger people just getting into the workforce,” Ryan said. “What we don’t want to do is support ideas, especially in this kind of economy, which will reduce the availability of jobs, number one, but more importantly reduce the availability of jobs from the very people we want to get into jobs so they can start climbing that ladder of life, so they can get in and start working their way up and get the skills they need to earn a better job.” He added that his time working at McDonald’s as a young man helped “give me better training to keep moving on in life.”

The New York Times had the actual numbers.

Climbing above the poverty line has become more daunting in recent years, as the composition of the nation’s low-wage work force has been transformed by the Great Recession, shifting demographics and other factors. More than half of those who make $9 or less an hour are 25 or older, while the proportion who are teenagers has declined to just 17 percent from 28 percent in 2000, after adjusting for inflation, according to Janelle Jones and John Schmitt of the Center for Economic Policy Research.

Today’s low-wage workers are also more educated, with 41 percent having at least some college, up from 29 percent in 2000. “Minimum-wage and low-wage workers are older and more educated than 10 or 20 years ago, yet they’re making wages below where they were 10 or 20 years ago after inflation,” said Mr. Schmitt, senior economist at the research center. “If you look back several decades, workers near the minimum wage were more likely to be teenagers — that’s the stereotype people had. It’s definitely not accurate anymore.”

The Chamber of Commerce doesn't want a minimum wage increase. The Republican Party heeds the word of the Chamber. The Chamber of Commerce represents businesses that will fight tooth and nail not to pay their employees more. The Chamber of Commerce released an article on their website titled "A Better Approach Than the Minimum Wage Distraction."

The minimum wage debate is misplaced as part of the income inequality debate simply because raising the minimum wage by $1 an hour, for example, adds about $2,000 to the pre-tax income of those few full-time minimum wage adult workers. (Most minimum wage earners are either teenagers or are working part-time). A $2,000 increase would make a difference to the worker, assuming he or she still has a job, but it doesn’t do much for income inequality when stacked against the incomes of those at the very top of the income scale.

Ryan cited the CBO report. The truth is states that have raised the minimum wage have found no adverse effects. The wage increases were needed to keep up with inflation. What Ryan and other Republicans refuse to mention is cost of living increases. From the Associated Press:

"In the 13 states that boosted their minimums at the beginning of the year, the number of jobs grew an average of 0.85 percent from January through June. The average for the other 37 states was 0.61 percent.

"Nine of the 13 states increased their minimum wages automatically in line with inflation: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. Four more states — Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island — approved legislation mandating the increases."

Republicans constantly say that unemployment will increase if the minimum wage is increased. At some point the minimum wage must be raised. Millions of Americans having less spending power will be a drag on the economy. It also costs the federal government money. Forbes reports that WalMart workers $6.2 billion in public assistance. WalMart employees simply do not make enough to survive.

Ryan is against raising the minimum wage because he doesn't want to cut into the bottom line of companies like WalMart. Ryan's war on poverty should be treated like the nonsense it truly is.

Paul Ryan's Brown Bag Story at CPAC

Rep. Paul Ryan spoke at CPAC and made this bizarre statement.

He then told an anecdote he said was relayed to him by Eloise Anderson, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's (R) Department of Children and Families secretary.

"She once met a young boy from a very poor family, and every day at school, he would get a free lunch from a government program," Ryan said.

"He told Eloise he didn’t want a free lunch. He wanted his own lunch, one in a brown-paper bag just like the other kids," he continued. "He wanted one, he said, because he knew a kid with a brown-paper bag had someone who cared for him. This is what the left does not understand."

I previously wrote before about a 60 Minutes piece on homeless children in Florida suffering with hunger. These children need a free lunch. Ryan offers these children no solutions.

The Wire reports Ryan's story may not have happened. Ryan's story is very similar to a scene in author Laura Schroff's book An Invisible Thread." Here is the excerpt.

This reminds me of when Ryan showed up to a soup kitchen unannounced and washed already clean dishes for a photo-op.

I agree with Cenk Uygur in the second video. Ryan is a fraud.

Will Weatherford Still Against Medicaid Expansion

Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford wrote an error-filled op-ed against the expansion of Medicaid. I was struck by this paragraph.

According to the chairman of the U.S. House Budget Committee, “The fastest thing that’s going to go when we’re cutting spending in Washington is a 100-or 90-percent match rate for Medicaid. There’s no way.”

That would never pass in the Senate. President Barack Obama would never sign cuts that deep into law. The Medicaid expansion is part of the Affordable Care Act. Obama is not letting Republicans touch his signature piece of legislation. Obama wants to make cuts into Medicare but that is a separate issue. Paul Ryan threatened to cut the matching funds. Nothing happened. The matching funds are part of the ACA. The matching funds are laws.

Ryan's threat to cut matching funds didn't carry much weight. Republican governors are slowly coming around to accepting Medicaid expansion. These governors don't want to explain to voters why they denied health care when they run for election.

Paul Ryan Hearts Ayn Rand

Paul Ryan has tried to distance himself from the wacky views and bad writing of Ayn Rand. The only problem is Ryan shot this video praising Rand. Thank you internet.

Quote of the Day

"This bears repeating: Paul Ryan unfollowed Mitt Romney. That is hilarious."

Ian Donovan, reporting that Paul Ryan unfollowed Mitt Romney on Twitter.

Help Society of St. Vincent de Paul

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Youngstown, Ohio has come under siege from angry conservatives. The reason being is conservatives are mad that St. Vincent de Paul president Brian J. Antal did not approve of Paul Ryan using his charity's soup kitchen for a photo-op.

"We're a faith-based organization," he said. "We are apolitical because the majority of our fundingis from private donations. It's strictly in our bylaws not to do it. They showed up there, and they did not have permission. They got one of the volunteers to open the doors. [...] The photo-op they did wasn't even accurate. He did nothing. He just came in here to get his picture taken at the dining hall."

Actually, Ryan did something. He washed clean dishes. Ryan put on an apron to wash the cleanest dishes I have ever seen.

Ryan actually got approval from Juanita Sherba, St. Vincent de Paul's dining hall coordinator. She regrets her decision.

"It was the phoniest piece of baloney I've ever been associated with," she told The Vindicator. "In hindsight, I would have never let him in the door. [...] They couldn't have cared less. The advance man said Paul Ryan wanted to come and talk to our clientele, but he didn't."

Paul Ryan talking to homeless people. I believe that when I see it.

You can help many hungry people in Youngstown, Ohio by sending a check.

Society of St. Vincent de Paul, P.O. Box 224, Youngstown, OH 44501

Deficit Has Gone Down Under Obama

The Treasury Department announced that the federal deficit for 2012 is $1.089 trillion. The federal budget shortfall for last year was $1.297 trillion. You can see by the chart made by Steve Benen that the deficit has gone down under President Barack Obama.

The Republicans cry about the stimulus. There were massive layoffs across the country. The Congressional Budget Office reports that the stimulus created 3.3 million full-time jobs. The stimulus was a one-time spending package. The Bush tax cuts, TARP bailout, Iraq war, and Bush's refusal to fight with his own party on yearly pork spending have had long-term effects on the deficit.

Paul Ryan wasn't crying about deficit reduction during the Bush years. Ryan was helping craft these massive spending bills in the Budget and Ways and Means committees.

Ed Gillespie on Romney's Abortion Position

"What the governor has consistently said is that he thinks Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided and this is something that should be left to elected representatives, to the people through their elected representatives."

Ed Gillespie, Mitt Romney campaign surrogate.

I somehow doubt women will feel more comfortable having elected officials such as Todd Akin and Paul Ryan decide whether women are worthy of having an abortion. Akin and Ryan do not believe women should be allowed to have an abortion in cases of rape and incest. Vice-President Ryan and Senator Akin would be extremely harmful for women's reproductive rights.

Write A Caption: Paul Ryan

Am I the only one who thinks Paul Ryan is auditioning to be in a middle-aged boy band.

Update: Andy Cobb of Second City does a parody of the Ryan photoshoot for Time.

Paul Ryan Still Can't Name One Tax Loophole Romney Will Close

Debate moderator Martha Raddath asked Paul Ryan how Mitt Romney will pay for his tax cuts. Ryan proceeds to provide a meandering response.

RADDATZ: Well, let's talk about this 20 percent. You have refused -- and, again -- to offer specifics on how you pay for that 20 percent across-the-board tax cut. Do you actually have the specifics? Or are you still working on it, and that's why you won't tell voters?

(Crosstalk) RADDATZ: Do you know exactly what you're doing?

RYAN: Look -- look at what Mitt Romney -- look at what Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill did. They worked together out of a framework to lower tax rates and broaden the base, and they worked together to fix that.

What we're saying is, here's our framework. Lower tax rates 20 percent. We raised about $1.2 trillion through income taxes. We forego about $1.1 trillion in loopholes and deductions. And so what we're saying is, deny those loophole and deductions to high-income taxpayers so that more of their income is taxed, which has a broader base of taxation...

Also in the absence of such base broading, TPC estimates that on a status basis, the Romney plan would lower federal tax liability about $900 billion in calendar year 2015 compared with current law, roughly a 24 percent cut in total projected revenue. Relative to a current policy baseline, the reduction in liability would be about $480 billion in calendar year 2015.

Romney would reduce the top tax bracket from 35 percent to 28 percent. The corporate tax rate would go down from 35 percent to 35 percent. The Tax Policy Center eliminated every possible tax loophole. The Tax Policy Center found that Romney's plan would increase the deficit. So much for the Romney plan being deficit neutral. Mind you, Romney and Ryan refuse to say what loopholes they would eliminate.

The Tax Policy Center found that the bottom 99 percent would not benefit from the Romney tax plan.

The result shown in the distribution tables would be little changed for the bottom 99 percent of tax units and the overall pattern of tax changes would be qualitively the same - the largest tax cuts as a share of after-tax income would go to the highest income earners.

The Romney plan has nothing to do with creating jobs or lowering the deficit. It is a giveaway to the richest Americans and corporations. This plan is so bad that Ryan has to cite American Enterprise Institute blog posts as studies that back his plans. Blog posts from a hack think tank are not studies.

Paul Ryan's 30 Percent Speech

Paul Ryan spoke to the American Spectator's 2011 Robert L. Bartley Gala Dinner. Ryan told the crowd that 30 percent of Americans want to live off the federal government and have no interest in achieving the American dream.

"Today, 70 percent of Americans get more benefits from the federal government in dollar value than they pay back in taxes," Ryan said. "So you could argue that we're already past that [moral] tipping point. The good news is survey after survey, poll after poll, still shows that we are a center-right country. Seventy percent of Americans want the American dream. They believe in the American idea. Only 30 percent want their welfare state. What that tells you is at least half of those people who are currently in that category are there not of their wish or free will."

Simply put, Ryan is lying about these numbers. I have never heard of any poll that showed a significant segment of Americans that don't want the American dream. Ryan is just making up these numbers. Just like Ryan fibbed about his marathon time and that President was responsible for the Janesville auto plant that closed during President Bush's second term.

What is even more astounding is Ryan himself has benefitted from the federal government. Ryan's college education was paid for by his late father's Social Security benefits. I don't fault Ryan for using the Social Security benefits to pay for his education. I fault Ryan for being a hypocrite.

Paul Ryan on Abortion

“I’m very proud of my pro-life record, and I’ve always adopted the idea that, the position that the method of conception doesn’t change the definition of life."

Paul Ryan, making it clear he does not believe that women should be allowed to get abortions in the case of rape and incest.

I'm glad that Ryan didn't duck the question. This gives women a clear choice between a man who would legally exercise complete control over women's bodies and President Obama. The platform for the Republican National Convention makes no exceptions for women to have abortions. Romney is attempting to downplay his party's abortion position and accuse Democrats of making political hay. That doesn't explain why Romney is allowing his party to write a platform that outlaw abortion. Even when the woman's life is at risk.

Paul Ryan vs Todd Akin on Abortion

Think Progress came up with this handy chart on how Paul Ryan's views on abortion line-up with Todd Akin.

Mitt Romney in Class Warfare Mode

GOP nominee Mitt Romney claims President Obama is waging a class warfare campaign.

“If you look at the ads that have been described and the divisiveness based upon income, age, ethnicity and so forth,” Romney said in the quote of the day, “it’s designed to bring a sense of enmity and jealously and anger… the president seems to be running just to hang on to po http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/09/06/romneys-economists-brains-but-also-controversy/ wer. I think he’ll do anything in his power to try and get re-elected.”

It is amusing Romney should use this argument. Romney selected Paul Ryan as his VP candidate. Ryan peppers his speeches with talk of "makers" and "takers."

"We're coming close to a tipping point in America where we might have a net majority of takers versus makers in society and that could become very dangerous if it sets in as a permanent condition. Because what we will end up doing is we will convert our safety net system — which is necessary I believe to help people who can’t themselves, to help people who are down on their luck get back onto their feet — into a hammock that ends up lulling people into lives of dependency and complacency which drains them of their incentive and the will to make the most of their lives."

Glenn Hubbard, a member of of Romney's economic team advocated cuts in Medicare and Social Security in a Wall Street Journal oped. Hubbard was a member of the George W. Bush economic team that destroyed the surplus left by President Clinton. Hubbard went against Treasury Sec. Paul O'Neill's wishes and pushed for the 2003 tax cuts. >P>

Romney can hardly be accused of surrounding himself with people concerned about the plight of the common man.

Quote of the Day

"The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand."

Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney's pick for VP.

The Ryan Budget Scam

Connie Mack IV made the mistake of telling the truth during a Republican primary. The truth is the Paul Ryan budget would not balance the budget anytime in the near future.

"I was here in Florida campaigning," Mack said Saturday, according to an undisputed quote reported by the conservative Florida Political Press. "You know that budget was a joke, doesn't balance the budget for years."

Mack is exactly right. The tea party base is too economically illiterate to crunch the numbers. They believe that Ryan's budget will balance the budget. They have the power of truthiness on their sides.

Ryan's plan is short on specifics. Ryan claims trickle down economics is the answer.

The reform plan, which was first advanced by the House Ways and Means Committee, would broaden the tax base, lower marginal rates and flatten the tax structure from six rates to two: 10 percent and 25 percent. The plan would also lower the U.S. corporate tax rate from 35 percent down to 25 percent and would transition to a terroitorial system of international taxation, which would put U.S. competing businesses competing abroad on a level playing field with their foreign competitors and incentivize the repatriation of funds, currently held offshore for tax reasons, to be to use in the U.S. economy.

Starting a tariff war with China will not make Fortune 500 companies suddenly want to invest in the United States. If Ryan is lowering taxes on corporations and the top 1 percent, exactly who is he broadening the tax pool on.

Ryan doesn't explain what tax loppholes he would close. Economist Paul Krugman notes Ryan projects unemployment will drop to a magical 50 low. Ryan fail to mention how he will use his magic wand to make unemployment disappear. The most telling fact about the House GOP budget not being serious is that Ryan never asked the CBO to do a revenue estimate.

Protesters Arrested At Paul Ryan Event

Rep. Paul Ryan has avoided holding townhall meetings after his constituents let him him know they did not support his position of defending tax cuts for the rich. Ryan now doesn't hold townhall meetings. Instead, Ryan hosts $15.00 plate talks. This makes the events private and allows for the to arrest protesters.

What is interesting is that people are angry that Ryan is talking entitlement cuts and not creating jobs. It shows that the Obanma administration really misread how badly people want jobs and the popularity of Social Security. That may cost President Obama the election.

Update: a 71 years-old man was taken to floor during an arrest.

(Tom) Nielsen is a 71-year-old retired plumber from Kenosha, which falls within Ryan's district. He had never been able to attend a Ryan town hall event in the past -- partly, he explained, because he rarely knew when they were scheduled for in advance -- and was excited to get to Tuesday's to make his views heard.

In video posted by Wisconsin Jobs Now, Nielsen shouts that he disagrees with Ryan on entitlement programs during the congressman's speech. Two uniformed police officers and another man in a suit then escort Nielsen out. In the hall, Nielsen can be heard shouting. He was eventually pushed to the ground and handcuffed by police officers.

Quote of the Day

"When I arrived in Florida yesterday, I was called a radical. Now my kids call me names from time to time, you know, not always radical. I was called a radical because I believe in balancing the budget. I was called a radical because I’ve embraced the Ryan plan. Now if you take a look at the Ryan plan there are some pretty good fixes and solutions there. Well, that's ok, you get name calling every now and again in politics. All I can say is guilty as charged. I must accept that outcome if that's what people choose to do."

Jon Huntsman, Republican presidential candidate.

Republicans are running away from the unpopular Paul Ryan plan.. Huntsman embraces it. The Ryan plan only cuts $700 billion in the first three years. Those savings would be offset by Ryan making the Bush tax cuts permanent. Ryan would also eliminate the taxes from the Affordable Care Act. If Huntsman actually supported a balance budget he wouldn't support the Ryan plan.

Best Craigslist Ad Ever

This is awesome.

Are you a fan of sparsely-attended political rallies, miniature American flags made in China, and fiscal policies that shortchange American seniors?

Are you so wildly unpopular that standing next to the guy who the majority of Americans have rejected for ending Medicare will make YOU look good?

Have we got the event for you. This Sunday, join Congressman Paul Ryan for Sunday's Kenosha Civic Veterans Parade. Because let's face it, otherwise, he'll be all by himself.

Taxbreaks for millionaires and billionaires who come! Mini flags for everyone else. Hope to see you there!

Don't forget to bring your copy of "Atlas Shrugged." I'm sure Ayn Rand fan Ryan will sign it. The best part is there won't be a long line to meet Ryan.