Tuesday, August 14, 2012

"The Ryan Plan Will Kill 1 Out of Every 3 Newborns"

"The Ryan Plan Will Kill 1 Out of Every 3 Newborns": I thought that was what I heard Obama campaign wonk David Alexrod say on Meet the Press yesterday but I rewound and I misheard.

The Presidential season took a big step forward over the weekend as Mitt Romney selected Paul Ryan as his VP choice and Ryan accepted despite vehemently denying he would on CNBC, multiple times. The Ryan news seems to have kicked up the anti Ryan Plan rhetoric.

As a matter of personal opinion I think there needs to be meaningful change in how we tax, borrow, spend and care for the old, sick and poor. There is no plan that can possibly be as bad as the democrats say the Ryan Plan is. However there is no plan that will be immune from unintended consequences or otherwise not negatively impact some segments of the population--I've been saying for years I expect no social security benefits when the time comes.

One interesting observation from my friends on Facebook who comment on such things was that in the early days of Obamacare my friends who support Obama said things like "well Obamacare may not be perfect but we need to try something" but there is no such sentiment from them about the Ryan Plan.

It will be interesting to see whether Ryan turns out to be a good choice. He obviously brings in some segment of the party that is further to the right of Romney but might push away voters closer to the middle than Romney and make it more difficult to bring in Democrats who are disillusioned with Obama.

Unless the Romney campaign figures out a way to distance itself from the Ryan Plan while at the same time keeping the Tea Partiers on board I think Obama will win. The Ryan Plan offers some pretty aggressive ideas that are not populist on the surface as the Obama plan is. I believe the Obama plan sounds less frightening in a populist way than the Ryan Plan--Obama wants to give everything to everyone for free while Ryan admits something will have to give.



I would be inclined to lean toward the side of the ledger that more honestly acknowledges that something's gotta give.

One final thought on the Obama presidency up to this point that I wish would get more attention paid to it. It is well understood that congress has not worked with Obama to get much of anything accomplished. People sympathetic to Obama of course blame the GOP-led congress but it seems to me that effective leadership means figuring out how to move forward such that you lead from the middle, make progress on your own agenda without alienating the other side.

Obama has not succeeded in overcoming this obstacle and his continuing to devote so much face time to blaming other people after almost four years should leave little hope that this will behavior will change and if it does not change then Obama's next four years (if reelected) are likely to be as ineffective as his first four years.

We need to start fixing things whether that is the Ryan Plan or something else and a politically neutered President would not seem to offer much promise.



DIGITAL JUICE

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