The post-2009 ( Democrat in
White House ) Paul Ryan says many of the right things. He rails against big
government, crony capitalism, debt, deficits, entitlements, overregulation,
runaway monetary policy, and Washington picking winners and losers. Sounds
great, right?
That is until you look at how the pre-2009 ( Republican in White House ) Paul Ryan actually governed and see that he is cut from exactly the same cloth as Barack Obama, only ten times worse.
When George W. Bush was
President it seems Paul Ryan didn't have any problem with any of the things he
rightfully excoriates Barack Obama for. In fact, Congressman Ryan voted for No
Child Left Behind, the Medicare Prescription Drug Entitlement, the Bridge to
Nowhere, the TARP bank bailout, the Iraq War, and the auto bailouts. He voted in
favor of every budget the Bush Administration proposed, taking government
spending from 1.9 trillion dollars to 3.5 trillion dollars. This constituted an
eighty-five percent increase in the size of government. Not to excuse him, but
Barack Obama's first budget actually spent less than Bush's final budget and his
budget for next year brings federal spending to 3.8 trillion dollars, a mere
eight percent increase in the size of government since he took
office.
It is this hypocrisy that makes me embarrassed to be a Republican right now. In the upside down world of most mainstream Republicans, the white guy who grew government by EIGHTY-FIVE percent is a solid conservative but the black guy who has grown government by a mere eight percent ( that's ninety percent less for those of you who don't believe in evolution or basic math ) is the reincarnation of Chairman Mao. Remember earlier when I said Paul Ryan was ten times worse than Barack Obama, well there's the math. For the record, I can't stand Barack Obama's governing philosophy but if the Republican Party wants to credibly oppose him they can't do it by having big government phonies like Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan be the face of the party.
From a policy and governing standpoint there has been no difference between the Bush and Obama administrations and if anyone can inform me otherwise I would love to hear from them. The only real difference between the two is the color of their skin. However, since January of 2009 Republican rhetoric has turned 180 degrees. Policies and decisions they supported under George W. Bush all of sudden became "socialism" and were characterized as the willful destruction of this country.
The whole point of politics is supposed to be about policy, it's even
the root of the word. You can't start complaining about big government in
January after you voted for it in December. Otherwise you are just a partisan
hack and sadly it makes the majority of Republicans seem like little more than
racists.
The reason I became a Republican was because I believe in a government that does less but costs less.
However, the current GOP model is to
massively grow government while diverting the cost to someone else. It is time
Republican voters start supporting people who govern in accordance with what the
party is supposed stand for, not those who just talk about it or have been
labeled the "most electable" by the media. However, if all you care about is
that an individual with an R next to their name wins, regardless of whether or
not they will govern according to what the party is supposed to stand for, then
you are no better than the Democrats you claim to oppose. In fact, you're worse.
At least Democrats have the guts to admit they're Democrats.
