Perhaps Ryan is the Hope and Change that has been promised for the last 3 years. I find that our youth does not even understand our Yankee Ethic heritage.
Yes this is "...what we can do for our country".

It's a real battle but in the end I believe more people will, vote for themselves i.e. what government can do for them. Those who have must give to the have-nots. It's only 'fair'... redistributionism the name of the game. The machine is already in place and it's only a matter of time (a few presidential elections?). From cradle to grave Big Daddy-Brother will dictate the terms, or else.

Whenever someone calls our President a socialist, their opinion is meaningless for they obviously don't know what socialism is. A vote for Romney/Ryan is a desire to
live under an Oligarchy.

Ryan's personality will make the ticket more appealing.

The republicans are why we are in this mess in the first place, giiving tax breaks to the 5% of the wealthiest....republicans did NOTHING to help the middle class nor did they want work with the existing President..they thumb their nose to the whole mess they created which was to stimulate the economy..romney is a pompous A**

Really Mr. Sears? What is so appealing about a man who professes to be a devout Catholic while saying that he has based his life on the philosophies of Ayn Rand? She was a horrible human being who claims that selfishness is a virtue.

I don't understand why this is matters so much in the election. Unless Romney has to step down from the Presidency, Ryan really won't have that much of a role in the government except. Granted he could become President at any time, but I don't get why this will make such a big difference in the election.

My thought is that the Ryan choice echoes too much of Romney, making the Republican side very heavily weighted to one extreme while the Democratic is weighted on the other. The two are now totally polarized. While the Republican emphasis is on economics, as is essential at this time, I'm afraid of them chopping through our benefits like a soldier with a machetti.

What I fear with Romney is that he will take TOO much of our benefits/entitlements/programs away leaving the people who these programs are designed to assist in dire need.

My fear with Obama is that he will give too much of what we have left--i.e., nothing!--away to anyone in the universe!

I'm wishing there was a balanced choice, and I'm wishing that anyone and everyone in Government would protect the American way of life by first trimming the illegal outsiders who are sucking up our programs faster than Lassie at her water bowl. I know our Democratic leaders think we should give anything and everything to anyone who sneaks in here illegally and steals whatever they can from our homes, but does it make sense to take the goods away from the people for whom they were designed instead of coming down on the thieves? And, I fear Romney doesn't quite know how we Middle Class people really struggle and Lower Class people really suffer.

I like how the republicans label Obama as a socialist for going after the top 5% of the wealthiest to pay their full share of taxes..what a hoot...Mass also has Romney care.

I don't get why it matters who pays what in income tax. The people who earn their money, whether they are the top one percent or bottom of the tax brackets are all entitled to take advantage of the tax deductions that are currently written in the tax code.

I don't get this feigned outrage at the rich who pay 15% of their earned income after all the deductions they can take especially since we all find deductions to limit our tax liability and maximize our tax refunds.

Look at it this way, it takes about 18 people earning $55,000 a year to provide the same tax revenue that one $1 million dollar earner contributes if they are both taxed at 15%.

Perhaps we should look at a scheme where everyone pays something, even the bottom earners should pay $5. In a system where over 40% pay nothing in taxes this seems more that fair.

They should repeal those loop holes created for the wealthiest back in the '80's under Reagan's economic policy called trickle down effect. The wealthiest have'nt been creating jobs but are shipping their hard earned tax breaks overseas in to blind trusts. What you don't see you don't know ie.Romney

What we have today is "trickle up poverty".

What we have is a scary man....if you pick someone who supports these values than you must in some ways support them yourself.

From Paul Ryan's own page , Ryan is an "ardent, unwavering foe of abortion rights", he "expressed his willingness to let states criminally prosecute women who have abortions, and "would criminalize all abortion, as well as in vitro fertilization and some forms of birth control," with no exceptions in cases of rape or incest.
Ryan opposes same-sex marriage, supports a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, opposed the repeal of the don't ask, don't tell policy, opposes allowing same-sex couples to adopt, and voted against the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
Ryan has "championed the rights of gun owners"and has been described as "very, very pro-gun." He voted against a bill for stronger background check requirements for purchases at gun shows and supports federal concealed-carry reciprocity legislation, which would allow a person with a permit to carry a concealed firearm in one state to carry a firearm in every other state, a top NRA priority.

Romney is just a huge hypocrite and says whatever he thinks his audience wants to hear. For crying out loud he bashed Massachusetts. It's funny because you think the people of Massachusetts learned of how big of a two faced liar he is but they haven't.

@ Kevin N - Dividends are taxed at a lower rate because they are investments. Investment money is deemed already earned so there is a flat, across the board rate for capital gains, its the same for Bill Gates, its the same for you and me. You have to imagine that the money to invest had to come from somewhere. So instead of tracing every single investment dollar the government just sees it as previously taxed income.

The purpose of the lower rate, aside from reasons stated above it to ENCOURAGE investing in business new and old alike. Investing is what gives businesses capital to run. Do you really think that it's all million and billionairres that start companys and make them grow?

If you want to tax capital gains at a higher rate, thats fine, elect someone who will do that and then the rich won't invest and business expansion will be slow if happen at all.

The tax code is what it is,the rich make their money within the system that is created before them.

As they say, don't hate the player hate the game.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/08/11/paul-ryan-s-extreme-abortion-views.html

BTW Jessica, do you know that there is ONE candidate in the Presidential election that has signed a bill limiting a woman's access to abortion? President Barak Obama in 2009 signed an amendment prohibiting federal funding of abortions AND prohibited women who receive federal subsidies from purchasing insurance policies that cover abortion! By Democrat logic, he hates women and wants to see them die in alley ways. Right? How radical!

Malcom Nichols: "it was clearly the democrat's policy". . . you don't recall the footage of George W. Bush talking about the state of things and saying that (my paraphrase) more people than ever before now own their own home."? He was taking credit for that becoming possible, and he's a Republican. Just clarifying a little. here.

And, personally, I don't believe the collective "We" can put all the blame on U.S. Citizens who were manipulated into buying homes they--in the end--couldn't afford. The Bankers knew what they were doing; they fund home sales every day, all day. The Citizens only buy one home in a lifetime, on average. It's both, and weighted on the Bank's end, clearly.

And the 2012 tewksbury patch spelling bee winner is............Janellen27. Thank you Professor Janellen for correcting my spelling, grammar, ect. By correcting me, were you in a hurry to make me wrong?? I would hate for you to start a downward spiral to hell. I do not need to read it again " It's both, and weighted on the Bank's end, clearly." it sounds like you want to blame the banks and I clearly am putting blame on homeowners. I should have known better not to reply to you

No Janellen27, I will not go away. You started this, not me. I made a simple post with a simple point, but all you could do was correct my words, warn me about the downward spiral to hell, and now you are acting in your usual ignorant manner. Now I will start reading your posts again. I have been skipping over them for a while now because the never make any sense. Who wants to bet that Janellen27 keeps going here until she gets the last word????? Kind of like a 10 yr old