Keeping It Inclusive
“Our goal, our mission is to address the root causes of poverty instead of simply treating the symptoms of poverty. That’s very critical. You see, by going after the root causes of poverty and trying to break the cycle of poverty, you need economic growth, you need job creation, you need higher take-home pay.”
Back in my Black Nationalist days, a local Salvation Army store manager said almost the same word for word. That store manager, that middle-aged black woman, was the one that helped get me out of my “WHITEY IS EVIL” rants. She made me think critically about things instead of just unconditionally blaming folks. So who said the opening paragraph just recently:
Congressman Paul Ryan
Yep. Paul Ryan said those words today in New Hampshire while campaigning (story via MSNBC). Words that I’ve been saying for a long time and have heard inner city Detroit community activists say for a long time. More from Paul Ryan today:
The congressman continued: “We believe in a safety net. We believe in a safety net that is there for people who truly cannot help themselves so they can live a life of dignity but we also believe in a safety net that is there for people who are down on their luck so that they can get back on their feet. We don’t want a safety net that encourages more dependency because there is no economic growth behind it because what that ends up doing is it drains people of their will and their incentive to make the most of their lives, to tap their potential, to get on their path to prosperity. That is what unfortunately is what we are seeing in the Obama economy.
I would like to change his last sentence to “This is what unfortunately we have been seeing in the American economy for a long time” but this is campaign season and my change doesn’t do squat in the point scoring department. But his overall point is fine with me. I have to be honest, I listen to Paul Ryan. Sure I have some SERIOUS issues with his budget ideas but when it comes to campaigning and striking a chord, he does that. He makes this 3rd party protest voter listen to him. Does that make me want to vote for Romney/Ryan? No. Just like Obama’s eloquence isn’t enough to sway me. But Paul Ryan is the type of guy that if he was the Republican Presidential nominee, could hit President Obama much harder. Those two paragraphs are inclusive and make a strong case.
Yes I pinged Mitt Romney yesterday based on his 47% comments. I pinged him because he wants to be President of the United States of America. That means that if he wins, no matter how I voted, he’s my President. Plain and simple. If Obama is re-elected, no matter how I voted, he will be my President again. Because I’m a citizen of the United States of America. And our Presidents are the leaders of our great nation. I don’t need to hear how a percentage of Americans are irrelevant to someone in a campaign season or if they are elected. I need to hear more about how your plans and actions will include ALL AMERICANS even if some of those Americans don’t want to hear you (and even if I think they aren’t visionary enough – you too President Obama when it comes to not being visionary enough). You are stepping into THE LEADERSHIP ROLE. Ain’t no half steppin’ allowed.
Paul Ryan gets it.
By the way, this photo of Paul Ryan is STRAIGHT GANGSTA SMOOTH:
Photograph by Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via Getty Image
I have a suit just like it so I have to show some love!
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TS, yes Ryan is giving good speeches like that one that you and I can agree on as being fundamentally the right course for America. I just hope he really believes it and is not just speechifying. If he is sincere, maybe we will see him in 2016 against Hillary and the Village people. Of course, it may not be able to shed his more radical Tea people and their simplistic ideas. Oh well.
Romney is another matter, I’m reminded of Frosty the Snow Man, as he is slowly melting. As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m pissed because he will drag down the rest of the ticket.
The safety net is not so simple. The safety net is just as important for the monetary, security, and economic stability of the rich. You see, as you as you start reducing help to the poor, who we never bothered to educate, you leave them little option but to take, by any means necessary. Now an idiot like Paul might believed that we can just toss those people in jail, but there aren’t enough jails in the world to hold the starving masses yearning for food.
Go ahead, start cutting away, but you might as well put that knife to your own throat.
Ryan is an extremist and his policies would cause massive revolt in the streets.
ShannonLeee we AGREE (like the rhyme?). The Ryan Budget is all crazy. And I can’t lie, does smell extreme. But regarding this campaign, he has the right tone and saying it right. As dduck alluded too, is he sincere? But in campaign season, striking an inclusive yet stern tone works. Make your case to ALL AMERICA. Not just aspects. That’s my overall point about Romney that he’s missing.
Well T, that is the great thing about extremists…they are usually very sincere and they also believe that their solutions are a one sized fits all for the entire planet. Yes, some people will be attracted to that in the same way people find Scientology attractive. But a cult is a cult…just like what Obama had in 2008.
btw… thanks again for posting
Ryan is certainly more likeable than Romney, and I haven’t heard the presidential nominee say anything as reasonable as the Ryan quotes above. However, Ryan’s plan and policy positions seem to be informed not by the quotes above, but more by the contempt for the lower and middle classes exhibited in the now-infamous private donor speech by Romney.
He does look swanky in that suit, no doubt. I would wager you’d win in the “Who Wore it Best?” contest though, T.
Geez, SL, all politicians extreme, mid-stream, and out of steam, drape themselves in sincerity. Could it be that, sincere or not sincere, that that particular Ryan viewpoint could be agreed on by liberals, moderates and conservatives.
Probably not, never compliment the other guy it shows weakness.
He has the right tone, but his proposed solutions won’t work. The current model of capitalism (There is more than one.) practiced in the United States won’t do that job. The essence of business is to make a profit. Automation, information technology and the offshoring of jobs when combined mean that businesses from the smallest to the largest can get by with fewer people. The financial markets reward those who cut jobs in publicly held companies even when they carry it too far, actually hurting efficiency and the ability to meet the needs of customers or continue the core mission of the business. Look at U6, the unemployment number that includes discouraged workers and the underemployed. Look not only at jobs but what kind of jobs. Is a job that doesn’t cover basic living expenses really a way out of poverty? Not hardly. Often it’s doomed to end because of the chaotic mess that is life. Sick kids make you miss work? You’re fired. Car break down once too often? Job gone. It goes on and on. Until the worship of some mythic perfect free market system ends and candidates, office holders and voters can look at the system honestly, warts and all, no real solutions can be found.
Having the right tone certainly helps carry the song.
Mr. Ryan is describing what the Clinton fiscal policies started to accomplish but thinks the Norquist fiscal policies will bring the same results no matter that eight plus years of those have proven him wrong. His diagnosis is correct, his prescription is not.
I’m so glad you are contributing as an author, T. You are much valued.
I second that.
Until the TP folks (including Paul Ryan) start realizing how many American citizens are working like the devil to be poor and start respecting them for it I’ll continue to have no use for them. They need to widen their focus and get out in the world more.
Ryan’s words do not match his actions. And actions are more powerful than words. If he believes the above words I’d like to know his policies to implement them..
I have my opinion on what the above quote put into action looks like, which includes government spending. Ryan seems to have a different view… which is the trickle down theory of less government regulation and more tax breaks for companies and the rich so the rich can create jobs.
How, exactly, does Ryan intend on getting companies to increase take home pay for their workers? That’s anathema to Republicans. Does he want more government regulation and higher minimum wages… and not just higher minimum wages, but other wages as well should be regulated? I thought he was anti-union.
Sorry, but his statement might be good to win over those people who need to hear this, but it doesn’t pass muster as being sincere or even plausible coming from him.
Has he always thought this way? Or is this a new statement he’s trying on?
I’d also like to note that Ryan is not the brilliant policy wonk as he is being sold ….someone please show me a shred of evidence that anything he is proposing is based on intelligent reasoning and not hard core conservative ideology.
I simply do not buy the idea that he is any more intelligent than my neighbor.
I agree, ShannonLee. I just don’t see anything real in his proposals to show that he’s capable of thinking beyond the same old ideology. Maybe we should blame the college professor who got him hooked on Ayn Rand as a person with great ideas instead of a mediocre writer with completely unworkable ideas.
Amen to the last two comments. The view of Ryan as a bright young (for a politician) talent has no foundation in reality I can see. Rather it’s a portrayal that’s accepted by dint of echo and repetition – a process “journalists” of today seem overly fond of.