Who Is Paul Ryan and Why Is He Saying TheseThings?

Paul Ryan is the congenial representative from Wisconsin's first congressional district. The district was badly hit by the implosion of the automobile industry, with scheduled closures of automobile production in both Janesville and Kenosha leaving thousands of workers and their families in dire straits.

Now Ryan is joining with Democratic colleagues to try and save the Kenosha plant. Wis. lawmakers to meet with top Chrysler exec

MILWAUKEE - The future of the Chrysler engine plant in Kenosha is on the minds of Wisconsin lawmakers scheduled to meet with a top executive of the automaker.

U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl's office said Kohl, Sen. Russ Feingold and Reps. Paul Ryanof Janesville and Gwen Moore of Milwaukee plan to meet with Chrysler Group LLC Deputy CEO Jim Press at Kohl's office in Washington Thursday afternoon. Ryan is a Republican and the others are Democrats.

This is the same Paul Ryan who characterized President Obama's budget plan and fiscal rescue plans as "European Socialism."

This is the same Paul Ryan who was the featured speaker at the April 15, 2009 "Tea Party" attacking opposing tax hikes.

Ryan says frustration is running high among many of his constituents. 

"I think the message is people are fed up with this notion of chasing ever-higher spending with ever-higher taxes.  There's a limit to how much you can soak the taxpayer."

This is the same Paul Ryan who voted for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 - The Bailout.

Who is Paul Ryan and why is he saying these things?

Comments

[buckyblue]

One word, RE-ELECTION. Maybe Ryan doesn't have the guts to run on his Free Market platform when many of his constituents are out of work because of those Free Market practices. Come on Ryan, tell your out of work constituents that Chrysler has every right to close down the plant, regardless of its impact on private lives, and they will get a similar paying job when another company decides to locate a factory or plant in that city. Until then you're SOL. Maybe Wal-Mart's hiring.

[John]

"Why is he saying these things?" And why is anyone still voting for this utter political failure? Like when he defended the insurance industry by comparing them to his daughters lemonade stand. http://tinyurl.com/m6pt9f

Or how about the time Ryan opposed federal spending cuts for the postal service because his constituents mail came later in the day. God tax cuts are so painful. http://tinyurl.com/ngcfx8

[Jonathan]

Goodness Paul, you've got a fixation with WMC and Paul Ryan. You trash each at every opportunity however stretched and contrived your reasoning. I'm thinking that you may just fear their respective influence and success. I'm thinking that you may fear the fact that a good bunch of folks respect this organization and this congressman.
The problems, in Lafollette's lexicon, were big government, big business and big labor. You seem instead to love big government, slobber over big labor so, you may have one target right but your rhetoric is so 1950's.
Stalin would have described you as a 'useful idiot.'
LaFollette would have identified you as being 2/3rds of the problem.

[antpoppa]

I'm not sure who Paul Ryan is. But I'm sure that if I really got to know him and his family, perhaps invited him over..he'd kill me in my sleep.

[R.J.]

He must be doing something right or you wouldn't have this compulsion with him.

[jk]

I cannot understand why Janesville and Beloit cannot find someone to represent them who actually provides leadership and direction to their needs. Paul Ryan is just an opportunist; he reminds me of so many Bush "lite" politicians who vote with the prevailing wind. He definitely does not represent working people. His positions have been in support of multinational corporate entities that care little for what happens to the people of his district.

By the way, keep up the pressure on WMC. They also do not represent the people of this state.

[Brian]

Paul's focus on Ryan is warranted. Here's a guy whose entire economic philosophy has been discredited, not in the classroom, but by real life.

And what is Ryan's solution: more of the same.

[Gary Schepp]

Can't understand why Janesville and Beloit can't find someone to represent them?

How about because Beloit is not in the 1st District and the District consists of Walworth, Racine, Kenosha, and part of Rock, Milwaukee and Waukesha counties.