Romney Makes Ryan His Veep Choice

Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney announced Paul Ryan as his running mate yesterday. If Mitt Romney has any luck whatsoever, then the Republican self-anointed leadership will come out unanimously aghast in opposition of his choosing Representative Paul Ryan. One reason this may actually prove to be the case is due to Representative Ryan’s budget formulations which he proposed successfully twice in the House of Representatives. The high Lord Muckie-Mucks of the Republican Party are really just a bunch of Democrat lite who support government as the solution to most problems. These are the people who gave us other wonderful choices such as George W. Bush who added to the size and scope of government nearly as much as any Democrat before him including both Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Lyndon Baines Johnson. For those who take offense and are claiming I am way off base here, may I remind you of just two small projects laid upon us that massively grew the size, scope, and cost of government permanently going into the future. The two programs are “No Child Left Behind” and the “Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act”. So, one point in favor of Paul Ryan is his belief in actual cuts in spending instead of simply cutting the increase and proclaiming deficit defeated. But was this the best choice, an inspired choice, a great misstep, or what?

Representative Paul Ryan is obviously a fiscal conservative which will go far in underlining the Romney message that budget cuts even if it is of those programs often perceived as third rail instant political death to suggest cuts are necessary if the United States is to avoid catastrophic financial Armageddon. Ryan is very likely to be a good fit with the Romney financial platform with a stress on tax cuts tied directly to budgetary reductions phased in over time with the aim of reaching budget surpluses within the decade. This is a reasoned manner to return the United States to fiscal sanity as we have been taken so close to the edge that being able to prevent the country going beyond the cusp demands serious restraints in spending. The big questions are not about the fiscal policies of Romney and Ryan as those are well known. Ryan will likely support Romney in any jobs programs as this is seen as a Romney strong point. Simply restraining government and promising to allow private growth and a steady and unchanging atmosphere will go a long ways to producing job growth. The repeal of all of Obama Care without any ideas of replace would also spur more job creation and here Ryan is likely to be a good influence as he supports repeal over replace of Obama Care.

The big questions about both Romney and Ryan come in the area of foreign policy. Ryan is known as a supporter of a strong military and, along with Romney, as a supporter of Israel as our strongest ally in the Middle East. What we will need to find out is whether Romney and Ryan are against the military adventurism which many have used to refer to our efforts at nation building. Should their foreign policy be one of support for those who have a similar world view and withholding interactions with those who oppose our principles of governance, human rights, and other principles they are likely to find this as a winning policy. If Romney and Ryan should support intervention to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, then as long as they are not in favor of prolonged presence with nation building and instead put in place an interim government and remove our troops as soon as the Iranians hold elections for their new government, this is likely supportable by the American public over a repeat of Afghanistan or Iraq. It is also more likely that the United States would gain a friend by engaging in as short an intervention as logistically possible and trusting the people of Iran to choose wisely. At least the people in Iran already have experienced Islamic Sharia rule so are unlikely to follow the path taken by Egypt, Libya, and others after the Arab Spring chilled and turned to an Arab Winter.

Where the economy and jobs have been chosen as the most likely deciding areas for this coming Presidential election, there are those who hold that foreign policy is the highest importance when choosing a President. We already have been told that Romney will be different than President Obama when it comes to financial policies and the addition of Ryan can only make this difference greater, but it remains to be seen how different a Romney foreign policy will be to that of President Obama. Ryan is known to be almost a polar opposite of President Obama, especially where the Middle East, and Israel in particular, but we will have to wait for Romney to disclose his entire foreign policy interests and plans. Ryan will likely be seen as a positive move as Ryan’s is a fiscal conservative, pro-military strength, a social conservative, and a personable individual and a good communicator. He has an ability to take difficult concepts and ideas, especially concerning budgets and fiscal planning, and making such understandable for the average person. This ability along with Ryan’s warm personality will add to and fill what some have seen as a void in a Romney campaign. Ryan may prove the deciding factor if the election should be a close contest. Oh, and if you have not figured it out yet, I really like Ryan as Romney’s choice for Veep.

Beyond the Cusp