Romney Rips Paul Ryan: Calls Running Mate’s Vote For Defense Cuts ‘A Big Mistake’

[DonViejo]

Source: ThinkProgress


-snip-

NBC’s David Gregory, in an interview with Romney scheduled to be aired in full tomorrow, noted that the cuts were part of the compromise to end the debt ceilling crisis and were supported by the entire GOP leadership. An excerpt:

MITT ROMNEY: Well, I want to maintain defense spending at the current level of the GDP. I don’t want to keep bringing it down as the president’s doing. This sequestration idea of the White House, which is cutting our defense, I think is an extraordinary miscalculation in the wrong direction.

DAVID GREGORY: Republican leaders agreed to that deal to the extend the debt ceiling.

MITT ROMNEY: And that’s a big mistake. I thought it was a mistake on the part of the White House to propose it. I think it was a mistake for Republicans to go along with it.
Among the GOP leaders who made “a big mistake” and voted for the cuts was his running mate, Paul Ryan. That hasn’t stopped Paul Ryan, however, from also crticizing the sequestor on the campaign trail.

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/09/08/816571/romney-rips-paul-ryan-calls-running-mates-vote-for-defense-cuts-a-big-mistake/

---

Romney actually responds as if he didn't know what Lyin Ryan and the rest of the GOP did.

[russspeakeasy]

1. So mitch can't keep up with lyin ryan's lies either ?

[reflection]

2. He reeks of desperation.

He's just throwing haymakers at this point, he has no focus and he doesn't care who he hits, he's just desperate to land a punch.

[babylonsister]

4. I think he reeks of ignorance; he doesn't even sound like he knows what he's

talking about.

[The Magistrate]

6. Exactly, Ma'am

He really does not pay much attention to anything but chiseling on his taxes and pocketing laid-off workers' pensions.

The only reason he is running for the office is to loot the largest pension fund in the world, namely the Social Security system, which can be sure he has a plan to do, and which plan will somehow manage to put a billion or three into the pockets of him or family members ( who will hold it in name only for him ). Other than that, he has no interets, nor has had for a long time....

"Romney loves America like a tick loves a dog."

[Samantha]

34. This would make a great bumper sticker

PROTECT THE SOCIAL SECURITY TRUST
FUND FROM VULTURE CAPITALISM
Re-elect President Obama

Always nice to read one of your posts, Magistrate.


Sam

[CoffeeCat]

28. This will be great...

Lyin Ryan won't appreciate that Romney talked smack about him, and the relationship will start to sour.

Nothing like some tension and infighting to keep this lying, losing combination in total disarray.

I wonder...Ryan is the darling if the tea party and the crazy neocons. Dick Cheney has said that he is in awe if Ryan. Romney does not jive with the nut job wing of the party. He's a pure corporatist. I wonder if there is some tension between the two? The campaign isn't going well and they know it. That can create stress and finger pointing.

I bet the neocon crazies forced Romney to pick Ryan, and Romney probably realizes that he's just the figurehead (like Bush Jr.). And that the wingnut brigade and Ryan would be really running things (like Cheney and his ilk really called the shots).

If Romney really is the figurehead--and he's fucking it up with his stupid comments, lack of communication skills and inability to connect with voters--there's got to be some extreme frustration behind the scenes.

[reflection]

41. Good point.

Ryan may believe he is the message and Romney is just the vehicle to deliver it.

At the end of the day though, Ryan is a politician, and I truly do believe he is a pathological liar, which means he's not emotionally connected to anything he says. Like you said, if he's mad about anything it would be that Romney is just crapping the bed at this point.

[CitizenPatriot]

3. So, Romney was for it

and then he was ---

yeah.

As for him not knowing what took place, I actually believe it's possible that he has no clue and has no intention of ever learning -- even if he wins.

He just doesn't give a crap about process- he proved that in MASS.

[freshwest]

5. Darth must have reprogrammed the Mittbot 2012 model again.

They need to quit with the upgrades for a while, they're confusing the lemmings. We gotta have them all going in the same direction as they jump off the cliff.

[Ikonoklast]

11. No, there's six or seven of them wandering around, as they are fairly high maintenance.

They tend to break down frequently, so they have rotate them out on a daily basis.

You never know which one will get sent off the bus, and the handlers have a hard time keeping track which unit has had its software updated for the latest talking points.

Those guys are tearing their hair out trying to keep up.

Clinton's speech alone made three of the Mittbot programmers start crying.

Governor Granholm put two in the hospital.

[freshwest]

15. LOL!!

[chuckstevens]

7. There is Something Wrong with this Man

Seriously, does he have Asberge's Syndrome or what? The man has ZERO people skills. I have no use for Paul Ryan or any of his views, but who criticize the man HE picked to fill in in the event of something happening to the President? It's like going to London and questioning if they are ready for the Olympics. Did Romney bring the leaders of Israel a ham? CLUELESS!

[DonViejo]

18. Summering in Vermont

Romney's campaign announced Myth was honing his debate knowledge and skills all of last week (while staying at a mansion in Vermont). It appears he ain't passing the knowledge part of the vacation.

[Auntie Bush]

21. Welcome, DonViejo

Eeeekkkk...Romney is in VT. He's contaminating the place. Get your ass out of here...go to one of your own states! We don't want you.

[PMcDee]

29. I imagined him

addressing a crowd in Israel with, "Greetings, future Mormons!"

[tanyev]

37. "Your ancestors have been baptized as Mormons. You're welcome."

[CoffeeCat]

30. Here's the big secret...

...that Mitt Romney had doors open for him--his entire life--because he came from a well-known, rich family. The schools he got into, the jobs he landed--all due to connections.

He is a total empty suit who seems to lack the ability to connect to people or have any empathy. His job at Bain was to maximize profits by forcing people out of their jobs and creating untold misery for others. He didn't care. Only a sociopath could do that job.

He's superficial and not a thoughtful or insightful person. He's one dimensional. He knows how to monetize people on paper and then call himself brilliant when firing people makes him a multimillionaire.

He really is a robot and that is why his convention sucked and why he can 't connect with the American people.

[Berlin Expat]

42. There's a part of

me that wonders just how serious Romney is in his endeavor to reach the White House.

Maybe he just figures that having run for President, he can increase his speaker's fees, or get a job as a pundit, and it doesn't look bad on your resumé, even if you don't win. How many of us can say we've run for President of the United States, and got "X" number of votes, after all?

[asjr]

8. Taking that stance will go over very well with

the older Republicans such as McCain, Graham and probably McConnell but will create another rift in the party. And I thought they had gotten the leader they wanted. We will soon realize it is a Ryan/Romney ticket.

[shanti]

13. you're right

it seems the cons, since reagan at least, like to put up bonehead presidential candidates, with a hardcore vp - and guess who ends up being the puppetmaster? personally, i think they may steal it AGAIN and the thought terrifies me.

[DonViejo]

16. 1968

Nixon started it in 1968 when he nominated Spiro "The Zero" Agnew.

[shanti]

44. what i meant

was the opposite. nixon was definitely in charge then, not agnew. now, it's the vp who's really in charge.

[sofa king]

39. Boneheads are easier to control.

Agnew might have been the first "throwaway" candidate, but Reagan and his senility provided GOP controllers with the best opportunity to destroy America. So they went looking for someone so stupid he may as well have been senile from birth... and found him.

Honestly, Romney's opaque mendacity confuses me. I cannot decide if he is an evil genius with a plan to steal this election, or if he is so deeply stupid and narcissistic that he is unaware of how awful a candidate (and a person) he really is. He is certainly smart in some ways; he may be both evil and stupid in equal measures, a dark archon fused from the screaming souls of Nixon and GWB.

The mechanism of control over Romney may be different. His secrecy certainly conceals things which can be used to blackmail him--at this point, becoming President may be the only thing between him and voter fraud and tax evasion charges. It would appear that some groups, at least, are already trying to extort money from him.

But extorting concessions from a smart and thoroughly unscrupulous person is completely different from out-thinking a doofus like Shrub. The smart guy will only play along until he finds out who you are and can kill your family.

I think that makes Romney a far more dangerous candidate than a Reagan or a Bush. He has no allegiance to anyone but himself, and he'll crush everyone who stands in his way, if he thinks he can.

[Javaman]

9. that's what the repukes are all about...party unity...

[Kingofalldems]

10. Romney to America: 'Do not use the front entrance, use the servant's entrance.'

[lexw]

12. It's hard to believe that Romney is the best the GOP could come up with...

They spent so much time and money working on making sure the economy didn't improve, that they forgot to prep someone for president.

[Berlin Expat]

43. It's really not that Romney

was the best the GOP could come up with.

It's that it was his "turn". Much like McCain was nominated in 2008, after having failed to secure the GOP nomination against Bush the Lesser in 2000.

It's just how the GOP works. I figure next time, it'll be either Santorum or Gingrich.

[madrchsod]

14. ryan was placed on the ticket

he was placed by the same types who placed old man bush over reagan`s objections.

[Vox Moi]

17. Is Mitt is as clueless as he seems or is this normal for a member of the entitled 1%?

To both propositions, the answer is 'yes'.
His weakness lies, ironically, with his own sense of entitlement.
Entitled people do not do details. They don't even need a coherent plan. They just need to get by this annoying election process.
Entitled people do not need to do their homework. Assistants and staffers do that. If an entitled person makes an error, a staffer will be there to patch things up.
The entitled do not learn from their mistakes, they take bury of them quietly, sometimes they even bury the staff along with the hard drives.
Entitled people are responsible for every victory within 5 degrees of separation by some sort of quantum entanglement that the rest of us un-entitled folk simply don't seem to have.
Entitled persons cannot stand 'entitlement programs' for poor people who, being poor, are obviously not entitled.
All of the above qualities are being illuminated in Obama's campaign strategy.
Mitt is a clueless candidate because for his whole life, having a clue was not important if you are given all the answers.
Mitt has no real plan because having a plan is not important if your future is assured anyway.
In short, Mitt is truly inept in this horrible imposition known as a campaign because he never had to apply for a job before.

[xtraxritical]

24. Don't forget Romney's a Mormon which is a religion that is all the lies of a sex addictied teenager,

Joseph Smith.

[oldsarge54]

36. Really?

I taught middle school. All teenagers are sex addicted. Bundles of hormones. BTW, and you may remonstrate with me if you wish. We can leave Romney's religion out of this. That is the Republican way and we are better than that. In fact, let the Republican social conservatives do the attacking for us. It is more amusing that way.

[xtraxritical]

45. Ok Mr. politically correct, how about they brought religion into it when they dissed the DNC

for not having the word "God" in the platform? How about Romney brought religion into it when he lied about the President wanting to take "in God we trust" off of US coins? If all teenagers are "sex addicted Bundles of hormones" why make a "biblical prophet" out of one and emulate his purely selfish polygamist teachings? I'll tell you why, to subjugate women, that's why. Mormons are an evil cult Romney is going to be influenced by their teachings in everything he does. Try Wikipedia to learn more.

[oldsarge54]

46. You do look for loopholes.

I didn't mention that god wasn't on the platform, because I don't care. What I feel about God is between that being and me. For all I know, Her and you. As for the mormons, I just thought is was stupid to say sex addicted teenager to describe Joseph Smith. You all you and I know he was pure as driven snow, no matter what the hormone state. You might note that a lot of the religions born in that era had peculiar sexual rules, the oneida's also come to mind. The thing is, that they were more popular with women than men. I suspect (would love an expert to drop into the conversation) that polygamy grew because there was a heavy surplus of women within the sect. And I don't trust wikipedia, it doesn't verify very well. Not as bad as Utoob politicals, but dicey on facts. I'd still say that real democrats can just leave religion out of the equation. Let the Republicans shoot themselves in the foot. It's amusing.

[xtraxritical]

47. You are plainly and LDS spokesperson, good luck with that.

[oldsarge54]

50. No, not really

In fact, not a member of the LDS. I am, however, picky about about prejudiced comments from left or right. At least you should get your facts straight rather than out of fevered imagination. Leave that up to Republicans. They don't know better.

[mountain grammy]

19. It's creepy how incompetent the Rmoney camp is.

almost like they know the election is already stolen. Just hard for me to swallow that they are this dumb, but then....it only took 9 months of W in office before we were attacked. They were pretty dumb but managed to steal the 2000 election.

[olddad56]

49. I agree, It is starting to feel like 2000 all over again.

[Iliyah]

20. In Mittens religion there is a person who has direct contact with GAWD.

Forget the Pope here cause this person truly has the spirit line, severely. This person tells Mittens who is a Bishop, that being a chameleon is the way to secure control over the less spiritual. So, its ok to lie, cheat and steal, and only take care of the people who believe in planet Kolob.

[BREMPRO]

22. Romney is full of simple minded criticisms.. with no coherent solution to our complex problems

and besides.. he's just creepy!!

[VPStoltz]

23. Don't you love it when they eat their own?

[oldsarge54]

40. Will there be a Republican Party

after this election if they lose bad enough? This may not be a good thing, being the Tea party seems to have taken up the fascist philosophies to heart.

[jsr]

25. Still freakin' clueless

[imanamerican63]

27. Now that is funny!!!!

[imanamerican63]

26. Flipper or Flopper????

These two people are can't figure out what the other one is saying or said!!!!! I can't imagine how they get their shoes on the foot!!!!!!!!!!!

[alcibiades_mystery]

33. Ryan was for the defense cuts before he was against them

[lexw]

31. I think since the DNC did such a powerful job of making the GOP look bad...

Romney is distancing himself. What choice does he have?
Wow! Has any candidate been as unfocused as Romney, this late in the game?

[alcibiades_mystery]

32. Obama's political brilliance with the sequester continues to pay dividends

Oh, to go back in time and see the gnashing of teeth on this forum: "this is the end of Social Security and Medicare! Obama gave away the store!" Needless to say, neither SS nor Medicare were to be at all affected by the sequester. But defense would be, equal to the rate of cuts across the board. As Obama knew then, there's no way the GOP could live with that. But he made them vote on it. He made them vote for the very thing they could not live with. And they're all on record having done so. The GOPers thought the Dems would cave on the Supercommittee. Why not? How many DUers thought the Supercommittee would give away the store, the end of SS and Medicare, oh WOE. You can admit it. The search function reveals the worst of the panic-mongers. But the Dems did not cave on revenue in the Supercommittee. Far from it: they insisted on tax increases, which of course sent the GOP members packing leaving us to the....

THE SEQUESTER, ladies and gentleman. If you guessed THE SEQUESTER, you win the Grand Prize! We would also accept "The Defense Cuts the GOP VOTED FOR that are Now Fucking Them Royally." Thank you.

The GOP has two choices: deal on tax increases or eat the sequester. That is, deal on tax increases for the wealthiest (revenue) as deficit reduction (what Clinton called "arithmetic&quot or eat drastic cuts to their own core constituencies, and especially their big hardware manufacturing donors, all strategically slotted in their own fucking RED ASS districts."

That's the position Obama has them in. And now Ryan has to explain his own vote for the sequester, or Romney has to say his own running mate made a mistake in judgment on a vote. It's hilarious. It's a metaphor for the coming GOP bloodbath, when the rank and file Congress folks have to choose between tax increases on the uber wealthy and massive cuts to defense contractors.

Obama long-gamed their asses.

[hue]

35. Rmoney vs Ryan=NOT a TEAM (just a couple of crazies!)

[tanyev]

38. C'mon, Paul, time to go rogue!

[KamaAina]

48. The same David Gregory who fellated Scott Brown instead of moderating the other night?

Amazing.