Paul Ryan assigned blame to President Obama for the closure of a GM plant in Janesville, WI during his speech at the Republican National Convention, and uttered one of the most immediately disprovable lies of the campaign. Former plant employee Brad Dutcher and UAW Region 4 Director Ron McInroy join Ed to give the true story. Watch it.
It seems most of the speakers this week were "all about me" rather than Romney. Rand Paul, Chris Christie, Marco Rubio as well. More about them than Romney. Pathetic.
Linda S Houston
9/2/2012 3:32:54 PM
I know the Dems want to keep the atmosphere positive at their convention but surely they are going to address some of the crapola that went on this week. They have got to answer to these lies. The nation will be watching.
SlawDogg
9/2/2012 2:40:51 PM
The ONLY auto that RYAN knows about is AUTOerotcia.
At least he know how to keep himself happy.
Buggzee
9/2/2012 11:52:45 AM
After observing Ryan and Cantor on this clip, again, have come to the realization that they care only for their positions of power. Ryan was rude and condescending to a small town reporter while at the Iowa State Fair and these examples show his character. There seems to be no genuine empathy when he comes into contact with or talks about regular Americans in their struggles. It's his sudden sincerity that seems phony. At the same time he talks about smaller gov. and people doing their own thing ...' the independence of Americans'....he then looks at the camera and says (can't remember exact quotes, but the jist) about.....' you look to your gov. to be there for you (huh?) and all you see is the dull adventure of entitlements". He then talks about Mr. Obama as the central gov. manager and I can't help but see that as calling him a communist without actually saying the words.....he leaves that up to the vast right-wing conspiracy, Limbaugh, Hannity, etc. Sounds to me like he has fully digested Any Rand's philosophy.
I have a feeling he is salivating over becoming president as this nomination for vice-pres. could be a stepping stone and will say and do anything to get there.
As Donnajoy put it, the Obama campaign has to really watch that it keeps honest and know that any slight stumble of words, as in the 'a small business not being built alone' example will be seized upon in huge faux rage. They know perfectly well what was meant, but found that small opening.
blueb
9/2/2012 5:08:24 AM
i'm liking all responses i read on this thread.
I admit, reading rex's response brought tears to my eyes.
there is some kind of really nasty group dynamics happening with ordinary republicans?
some kind of heard mentality going on.....its infiltrated my cousins & aunts, you would not believe the kind of filth that is coming out of them, all justified by hiding in a republican group, using a type of heard mentality...my grandparents would not have let occur. they would expect personal individual accountability. no hiding within a heard.
if the rrr ticket wins, this might become the social norm. scary
Puyallup Girl
9/2/2012 3:07:23 AM
My husband thinks, that the Romney campaign, or the GOP in general, got Eastwood to come to that convention to do some of their dirty work for them. Yeah, that way, they could tell anyone who objects, to what happened, and to what was said, that it was Eastwood doing it on his own, not them. Sounds right!
Puyallup Girl
9/2/2012 12:47:24 AM
The GOP is falling apart, and all they can do is spend tens of millions of dollars, and lie about everything, and do appalling things to the man who occupies the White House, and to try to take away votes. They sure don't have anything that will help the Country, and the average person, that is for certain. I believe that they are going to re-gret all that they have done, sooner than they think. I think it will hurt them for years to come.
Rex, Moorhead
9/1/2012 10:45:26 PM
The GOP is in a world of hurt right now. Bleak might be a better word for the Romney/Ryan ticket hopes. Pennsylvania has been written off by the Super-PACs of Karl Rove and others as a Obama's margin stays above the an insurmountable lead that is consistently 5% to 9% with some polls with slightly bigger margins. Furthermore, a lawsuit is challenging Pennsylvania's new restrictive Voter ID laws to the state Supreme Court in Harrisburg. Pennsylvania was one of those must come close swing states including Ohio and Florida in order for Romney to have much of a chance to mathematically approach 270 electoral votes.
The federal judges ruling gave Ohioans those extra voting days that Governor Kasich had tried to eliminate. Also, just because a poll worker tells an Ohio voter to go to an incorrect polling place means that the ballot must be counted. Thousands of ballots were thrown out by election judges because poll workers told voters to go to an incorrect voting booth. So we could say Democrats got two good pieces of news this week in Ohio. President Obama will do reasonably well in Ohio because the auto industry has opened up or invested in several new plants that build automobiles. Saving GM and Chrysler was a wise and good move for America but also for President Obama's prospects in Ohio. The state Ohio GOP under Governor Kasich is appealing this ruling but many legal analysts say a federal court of appeals is rather unlikely to overturn the lower federal courts decision so close to an election and when the GOP lost so strongly barring new evidence of widespread voting fraud. One of the court's reasons for making this strong decision was a Congressional report that severely criticized Ohio election officials in the state government for the long lines, inadequate numbers of polls, and poor accommodation made for the voting public in the disastrously run 2004 election in Ohio.These extended hours also have to be good news for Sherrod Brown under just a flood of GOP Super-PAC money.
Florida is another state where a federal judge pledged to block Governor Scott's tough voter registration laws that have stymied new voter registration drives for new voters by Democrats. Democratic numbers were reportedly way down by Rachel Maddow on MSNBC this week. This federal judge's rule will open up registration under the previous state rules. Its late but there is still time to register new voters in Florida. These voter drives will also help Senator Bill Nelson who is up for reelection this year. Romney is up by a couple points but this federal judge's ruling will make the Florida race even tighter than it is with a surge of Democratic voter registration drives expected to make a big difference.
If this news was not bad enough for the GOP in Texas, a federal court rejected the state of Texas's redistricting plan and in another case rejected new Voter ID laws in Texas in court. The Federal court here said that the Texas voter ID laws were a disproportional burden on minorities that infringed on their right to vote. Governor Perry is probably a less than happy man right now.
We can only hope the Department of Justice remains vigilant against Voter ID laws in states like South Carolina, Virginia, and in many of the other states across America that have enacted these absurd laws. These court cases won't mean that President Obama is guaranteed reelection but the Romney/Ryan outlook has gotten bleaker. The GOP/ALEC strategy of trying to suppress the vote has essentially come unraveled but it could have impact in Congressional and state elections. I am sure that Romney will not have a very successful debate either against President Obama. I am waiting for his tax returns issue and his Cayman Island accounts to sink him in other blue collar states too once people start paying attention to politics after Labor Day. I am less concerned about President Obama but very concerned about Senate Democratic seats because of all the Super-PAC money. Senator Sherrod Brown in Ohio, hopeful Senate candidate Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota, and Senator John Testor of Montana have close races with the GOP Super-Pac money hanging over the entire electoral process like a big black cloud of negativity.
President Obama needs to articulate a new vision for his second term. Many of us would argue too much of his agenda was blocked in his first term and that many new ideas are really not needed except in the area of the antitrust breakup of the "too big to fail" banks and job creation. I think that President Obama should push hard for implementing his health care law by introducing a public option for Medicare. He should push hard to get a major infrastructure bill passed because we are $2.2 trillion behind in maintenance. Engineers will tell you that deferred maintenance is always maintenance that costs much more in the future. Plus President Obama should push a bullet train system in the northeast and possibly other places. We need major manufacturing stimulus bills in this country. Ezra Klein predicts a 2% Obama win but as Ezra said two percent is too close for comfort. President Obama has to work hard and Democratic voters have to turnout in big numbers in order for him to get reelected. So voter turnout is the big deal. The huge GOP Super-PAC money maybe beatable after all.
Paul Ryan showed ZERO leadership when it came to keeping the doors open at the Janesville Wisconsin plant..........in his own back yard!!!!!!!!!!!!..........it closed & Paul Ryan & his Republican Party lead by George Bush had no plan on the table to keep the doors open...........much easier to pass the buck & blame the next guy in line for something that didn't happen on his watch or his backyard.......a senator from Illinois "not even on the campaign trail yet" or in the office when Busch Policies & decision to close the plant under Bush's watch was made............
