tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post3877205081219778066..comments2023-10-16T07:13:12.123-05:00Comments on A plain blog about politics: Elsewhere: Smoking, Ryan in MontanaJonathan Bernsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-90303985835979554042012-06-22T18:35:04.473-05:002012-06-22T18:35:04.473-05:00I am a strong economic conservative and a staunch ...I am a strong economic conservative and a staunch Republican (member of the Republican County Committee here in Monmouth County, NJ), and even I think the Ryan budget is a bridge too far for electoral politics. The best means of holding down the size of the federal government is to defeat new spending programs and hold existing programs' appropriation increses down to the rate of inflation plus population growth. In the long run, that gradually shrinks government as a fraction of the GDP without alarming beneficiaries of existing programs. If the Ryan budget was actually implemented, older white voters (the core of the Republican base) would turn against the Republican Party in substantial numbers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-83238275013408603532012-06-22T18:23:35.416-05:002012-06-22T18:23:35.416-05:00Story today is that Ryan is being seriously vetted...Story today is that Ryan is being seriously vetted.<br /><br />Whether that means Romney's camp is paying fealty, doing due diligence on the whole list, or actually considering Ryan is anyone's guess.<br /><br />Personally, especially given the 2008 fiasco, I think it'd be foolish not to vet a large list. You tell every faction in the party you like them AND you're prepared in case some factions veto choices (Ridge/Lieberman) or your choice gets caught in bed with a live boy/dead girl between when you've made up your mind and when you announce that you've made up your mind.Matt Jarvisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-32398601859824242782012-06-22T17:21:57.635-05:002012-06-22T17:21:57.635-05:00saw your headline on my blogroll and thought you w...saw your headline on my blogroll and thought you were mocking people for "smoking Ryan" - dreaming he'd be veep.Andrew Sprunghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17601269968798865106noreply@blogger.com