Paul Ryan Has No Spine for A Debate

JSONLINE recently retained the services of some local bloggers on "both sides" and dubbed it the purple project.  It has really turned into a pretty red project with just more opportunity to push the WPRI agenda for free.

I have a hard time taking any project seriously that includes Christian Schneider.  Schneider does not take himself seriously so why should anyone else?  This however is about the one righty blogger of this group that I actually like and how ridiculously bad his most recent post is!

In his post, Rodriguez tries to give Paul Ryan (R-Wall St.) cover for ducking debates with his challenger Rob Zerban!  Aaron also fails miserably, let's take a look.

  Described by many pundits as the top intellectual mind of the Republican Party, Ryan excels in economic and fiscal policies. He’s a policy wonk for sure, but also possesses the finesse to communicate his ideas in a relatable format. 

Granted, thebar is not very high, however, outside of schneider(who once compared Paul Ryan to Batman, no kidding), and Rodriguez you would be hard find to find "many" more people to describe Paul that way, especially since his convention speech.   You will however find "many" who would call Paul ryan a fraud(27,900,000 google matches to be exact).  From Chuck Schumer, to Paul Krugman to Bill Maher and many others. 

But Ryan’s ideas and voting record are now the subject to national scrutiny by journalists, bloggers, economists, think tank analysts, and partisan advocacy organizations. What can a debate with an untested county supervisor add to the national discussion?

Umm Aaron, Paul ryan is also running to be congressman from the 1st Congressional District of Wisconsin.   Ryan understands that his prospects of becoming VP are not looking good, so he hedged his bets and bought $2,000,000 worth of ad buys.   So he must feel the need to get his "message" out to the voters of the First Congressional District.   WHat is $2 MILLION dollar ad buy going to ad to the "national debate"?

Ryan has not been timid about his views on pretty much anything from entitlement spending to tax reform. For years, Ryan has sounded the fiscal alarm, introducing multiple budgetary plans that sought to reform third rail issues like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

Yes Ryan loves to talk about his "views" on almost anything, as long as he can control the debate and the questions.  If he does at least he understands his weakness and refuses to ever answer a question from someone who he does not know!

We have seen Paul in action over and over have complete disdain for his constituents who want to ask him a question.    When is the last time you saw paul on anything that was less than extremely friendly to him?   I have been trying for over a year to get an interview with him.  

If Ryan refuses a debate Rob Zerban, it’s not because he’s ducking a challenge by a formidable opponent. It’s because the debate is unnecessary. Debates tend to prove two things: who has the better ideas and who is better at communicating them. Fortunately for Ryan, he has skills in both areas.

The problem here is, that Aaron just does not live reality.   Here is a quick exchange betweenRyan and some reporters that you have seen over and over and over again:

Ryan declined to address Obama's charge that he was among House Republicans "standing in the way" of legislation designed to help the drought-stricken heartland. He said only that he would get into "those policy things later."
"Right now I just want to enjoy the fair," he said.

 Mr. Transparency and exchange of ideas!

 Even if Zerban were a quick study and proficient at communicating, the debate would likely be a wash. If he’s not particularly adroit, he’ll last about as long with Ryan as a balloon in a room full of kittens.

Yes it is very hard to debate this logic:

Critics of Mitt Romney's tax reform plan say his proposal leaves out too many details, but Paul Ryan, the Republican presidential nominee's running mate, says keeping the proposal vague gives it the best chance for passage through Congress.

During an interview with Christian Broadcasting Network's David Brody, Ryan said Romney is following Ronald Reagan's playbook by not divulging the details about what specific tax loopholes he would close and the rates that would be set under his administration. Ryan said the reason is "because we want to get it done."

It does take a lot of balls to tell people we will not tell you what your plan is as a politician UNTIL your elected.  The "just trust me" approach, has a hard time working with someone who is a well known liar!

So to wrap up, let's be perfectly clear.  Paul Ryan (R-Ayn Rand), is ducking a debate with Rob Zerban because he is scared of losing his Congressional seat.  Paul Ryan enjoys the wonders of a government paycheck every week.  

Please sign the petition telling Paul Ryan to debate Rob Zerban!!

Help Rob Zerban retire Paul Ryan! 

Purple Project Flop

While I still stand by my belief that Christian Schneider is THE single biggest hack of a writer in WI, Sunny Schubert comes close. Unfortunately for the people of WI both have made the Journal Sentinel's Purple project. Sunny, one of the WPRI flacks, who incredibly keeps getting column space, had another doozy. This time she gave a very weak attempt at trying to say that the Scott Walker campaign is a grassroots campaign.

So I was pleasantly surprised when Mark casually said “I sent some money to that governor of yours.” “Really?” I said. “So you’re one of those evil out-of-state donors who’s trying to influence our election!” “Well, it was only $50,” he said. That puts him in the bottom 76 percent of all Walker donors. “So what are you expecting in return?” I demanded, feigning outrage. “Nothing,” Mark said, shrugging. “I just believe in fiscal responsibility. Walker did the right thing.” “Oh, and my wife hates the teachers’ unions,” he added. “She taught for years, and thinks the unions stand in the way of innovation and reform.” I high-fived him. So that’s what an out-of-state donor looks like, and that’s why they send money to a political race where they don’t have a horse running: They look like an older, wiser version of a kid you went to college with. And they have principals.

The problem of course with Sunny, as always, is that she does no research ever. Of course, the whole business plan of WPRI, is NOT to have a public debate, but to advance an extreme right wing agenda. Were Sunny to actually do research and want a debate she would have actually read the paper that supports her.

The Republican governor has raised more than $30 million since January 2011 and he has about $1.6 million on hand. The majority has been from out of state. That means Walker raised an average of more than $178,000 a day for the latest period. He already has taken in more than 80% of the total amount spent by him and all other candidates and independent groups in the 2010 governor's race, when he beat Barrett. In that race, all groups spent $37.4 million, according to estimates by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Tuesday's report included six contributions to Walker above the normal $10,000 limit, including one from the richest woman in the world. Christy Walton, a Walmart heiress active in the school voucher movement, gave Walker $50,000, the report shows. Forbes lists Walton as the richest woman in the world, with a net worth of $25.3 billion. The other donations above the usual limit were: $25,000 from Grant E. Nelson of Prescott, Wis., who heads a large foundation; $25,000 from Richard Uihlein, CEO of Illinois packaging company Uline; $25,000 from Fred Fehsenfeld, chairman of the executive committee for the Heritage Group in Indianapolis; $25,000 from Robert McNair, CEO of the Houston Texans football team; and $20,000 from Gary Reynolds, CEO of GMR Marketing of Delafield. In addition to the reports due Tuesday, candidates for governor in the final two weeks of the campaign must file daily reports of donations of more than $500 within 24 hours. In those reports, Walker's campaign said it had raised another $800,465 between May 23 and Sunday. The contributions over those five recent days included three outsize ones - $100,000 from Richard Pieper, an executive at Pieper Electric Inc. in Milwaukee; $50,000 from Richard H. Roberts, president of URL Pharma in Philadelphia; and $25,000 from Max Carney, chief executive officer of Midwest Insurance Co. in Springfield, Ill.

Yes the one guy who she may or may not have seen who sent $50, is exactly equal to Christy Walton sending $50,000. Even though Christy Walkton has spent much time and effort working on privatizing public education, I am sure her $50/k donation comes with no strings attached. Now that I think of it, I am sure Sunny's "friend"'s $50 check had nothing to do with wanting to break the public employee unions, it was sent with purest of intentions. Sunny and her peers blatantly false attempts to change the debate show just how incredibly desperate they are to change the debate. It shows how the right wingers know they are losing the debate and no amount of BS from these people will change that! Vote for Tom Barrett on June 5th and let's take our state back and stop this attack on Wisconsin!!!