Romney pick gives voters a genuine choice

Editorials

Discussion

COMMENTING ON STORIES:

Welcome to our story comments feature. We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including the unpopular ones. We only ask that you keep your conversations clean, civil and on the topic of the story you are commenting on.

Coinciding with our websites redesign, we launched our new story comments feature through Disqus.

Disqus gives users the ability to log into our story comments feature so that they may be able to track their conversations, receive emails when their comments get a reply or to even have your comments update onto your Facebook or Twitter accounts.

For the time being, our story comments feature will continue to have the ability to post comments anonymously. We reserve the right to require registration in the future using your name and verified email address.

Not all comments are deemed printable. Some are disqualified at the newspaper’s discretion for a number of different reasons. Please follow our Online Rules of Conduct at all times.

RULES OF CONDUCT:

We reserve the right to remove comments that are unacceptable, to wit:

1. False and inacurate statements.
2. Personal attacks. Explicit name-calling.
3. Harassing, harmful, vulgar, obscene and defamatory language.
4. Threatening statements or statements that suggest violence.
5. Hate speech of any kind.
6. Intolerant comments on religion, race, age, gender, sexual preference or disabilities.
7. Accusations of criminal activity.
8. Content that is harmful to children and minors in any way.
9. References to any type of sexual activity and other private matters.
10. Random and inflammatory statements that are off topic.
11. Advertising of any kind.
12. Typing in all caps.

WE ENCOURAGE REASONABLE AND COURTEOUS COMMENTS THAT:

1. Create conversation on issues of interest and concern to fellow readers and local community members.
2. Express opinions and contrarian views.
3. Stimulate debate with respectful language.
4. Stay within the boundaries of these rules.

WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SUSPEND OR TERMINATE ACCESS FOR:

1. Violating any of these Online Rules of Conduct.
2. Deliberately disrupting discussions with repetitive messages, meaningless messages or spam.
3. Misrepresentation of identity or impersonating another user.

WE WELCOME:

1. Flagging violations of these rules that you observe to our attention.

MONITORING:

We monitor comments regularly Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Approval of comments outside of this time (including weekends) will be sporadic.

comments powered by Disqus

August 15, 2012

Romney pick gives voters a genuine choice

Anonymous Daily Star The Daily Star Sat Sep 22, 2012, 03:31 PM EDT

Both John McCain and Mitt Romney made bold choices when it came to selecting their Republican vice presidential candidates.

There is a difference, though.

McCain's 2008 choice of the charismatic but staggeringly ignorant Sarah Palin was bold and irresponsible.

Romney's selection Saturday of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan was bold and _ no matter what one might think of his politics _ utterly responsible.

While all vice presidential picks are designed to help win an election, Romney _ unlike McCain _ had an eye on governance after all the votes are counted.

It is not an exaggeration to say that Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, is the intellectual leader of the Republican Party.

Nowhere is the divide between Republicans and Democrats more evident than in Ryan's "Path to Prosperity" budget outline.

Republicans say Ryan's cuts in spending, reductions in the top rate of income tax, salary freezes for federal workers and changes to Medicare are necessary to balance the budget.

Democrats say Ryan would penalize the middle class and poor while making the very wealthy even wealthier. They gleefully point out that under Ryan's plan, Romney would have paid only 1 percent income tax on his 2010 earnings.

Democrats note that even Ryan admits that his plan would not balance the budget until 2040 and that independent analyses say that middle class taxes would rise.

We admire Ryan for having the political courage to actually put Medicare on the table. Polls have indicated that the program is immensely popular, particularly with senior citizens. To advocate creating a voucher system and ending Medicare "as we know it," is beyond risky for any politician, and Romney and Ryan have their work cut out for them with voters.

Already, Romney has indicated that he is distancing himself a bit from Ryan's plan. Massachusetts GOP Sen. Scott Brown, embroiled in a tight re-election campaign, was quick to point out Monday that he voted against Ryan's plan.

What the selection of Ryan does is bring into focus what had been a rather fuzzy distinction between the economic plans of President Barack Obama and Romney.

Democrats will do their utmost to define Ryan and his budget in the most uncomplimentary terms possible while the GOP will hasten to frame things in its own language.

"Do not say: 'entitlement reform,' 'privatization,' 'every option is on the table,'" the National Republican Congressional Committee said in an email memo after Ryan was selected. "Do say: 'strengthen,' 'secure,' 'save,' 'preserve, 'protect.'"

What is not in doubt is that unlike four years ago, the Republican vice presidential candidate is a serious, informed person, and Americans have been given a serious choice.