Paul Ryan Pleases Crowd, Tim Ryan Blasts Remarks
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Trevor Woolf, in the region on business, was excited to see that Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan was holding a town-hall meeting at Youngstown State University this morning.
"I came because I am very angry about what the current administration is doing with printing and borrowing money," Woolf said. "It makes me upset knowing that every American right now is getting raped and pillaged in their retirement, their 401(k), their [Individual Retirement Account], and that money they have under their mattress isn’t going to be worth anything if we continue to print the money the way that its going right now."
Woolf, of Salt Lake City, was among about 1,400 in attendance at Ryan's campaign stop this morning at YSU, just two days after Thursday's vice presidential debate. Ryan, he said, has a "better understanding than anybody out there" of the country's finances, and warned that if the United States remains on its current path "we'll have transgenerational welfare."
Former Youngstowner John Williams drove from where he now lives in Sewickley, Pa., to hear Ryan in person after having watched him debate Vice President Joe Biden on television this week. He hadn't seen some of the statistics Ryan offered in his power point presentations, including the projections on government borrowing.
At age 83, the Air Force veteran, who served during the Korean War and later at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station, says he remembers "the good times and what it was like," and warns he saw the results of the Obama Administration's kind of government when he lived in Cuba.
"Youngstown I know is predominantly Democrat but I hope that some of them are beginning to see the light after these last four years," he remarked. "I hate to say it – it's a socialist manifesto, what [President Obama] is doing. A lot of the things he's doing they did in Argentina. … Juan Peron did the same thing."
During Thursday's debate, Ryan "did an excellent job considering who he had across the table," Williams said. "He kept his cool and he delivered what he wanted to deliver, what their plan for the future is."
Wendy Graham of Canfield said she hopes people are "doing their research" so that they can make educated decisions, "hopefully a Republican decision," and not just choose the candidate they like better.
Graham, who attended the event with her 16-year-old daughter, Sierra, said she was impressed with Ryan's comments about Medicare and what he and GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney would do to improve it as well as the economy. She also said Ryan and Romney appear to be interested in pursuing addressing the issues facing America on a bipartisan basis. "They are aware that both sides, Republican and Democrat, have made mistakes along the way and they want to right the ship," she said.
The younger Graham, who is taking a class on the election this semester, said she liked the GOP ticket's ideas on small business and keeping taxes low, as well as the plan for Medicare.
Justina Mazarek of Cortland said she, too, is concerned about Medicare. A state-trained nursing assistant, she is already seeing cuts resulting from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly referred to as "Obamacare," and people are discussing what may happen if Obama is reelected.
She was also pleased that the vice presidential candidate came to the Mahoning Valley. "Sometimes we feel a little forgotten here in Trumbull and Mahoning County," she said. "It's nice that he came here and shared a lot with us today."
At the conclusion of Ryan’s appearance, the Obama campaign issued a news release responding to the vice presidential candidate’s remarks on what the Romney campaign sees as the administration's lack of action on China. The Obama campaign pointed to the administration's tariffs on imported Chinese tires and noted that Romney attacked the tariffs as "protectionism" and "bad for the nation and or workers."
The Obama campaign also pushed back on investments by Romney in China, some of which the Obama camp says were shed in August around the time Romney made "confronting China" a plank of his economic platform. Romney continues to have Chinese investments through a fund with Bain Capital, a company he formerly headed, the Obama campaign noted. And a Bain fund owns shares in a Chinese firm being sued by Microsoft for piracy.
"Congressman [Paul] Ryan's tough rhetoric can't hide the fact that Mitt Romney will never crack down on China' cheating – just look at his record," Obama spokesman Danny Kanner said in a statement. Kanner also cited projections by "experts" who say Romney's tax plan could create as many as 800,000 jobs overseas, and "independent economists" who say his plans could slow the U.S. economy's recovery and cost American jobs.
"A PowerPoint can't hide the simple truth: all Romney and Ryan are offering is the same failed policies that led to the [financial] crisis and punished middle class families in the first place," Kanner said.
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-17 Ohio, who represents the congressional district where Ryan campaigned, also fired back at his colleague over his China currency manipulation comments. “In 2010, Paul was one of only 79 members of the House of Representatives to vote against my China currency bill -- legislation that I have been working on for years,” he said. “What won't these guys say to try to get elected? Paul Ryan had his chance to stand up to China and he caved to the corporate interest. Now he wants us to believe he cares about this issue. Give me a break."
Tim Ryan's statement, emailed to news organizations, included a link to an article in the Washington Post headlined "In Ohio Democratic stronghold, Paul Ryan hits Obama on China Currency" (CLICK TO READ).
Prior to the start of the event, the Obama campaign also issued statements from local residents speaking out against Romney and Ryan.
“When Mitt Romney opposed the auto rescue, he opposed saving the biggest economic engine of this region," said Bill Padisak, president of the Mahoning-Trumbull AFL-CIO. "For them to come to Youngstown and say that they have the best economic plan is an adventure in absurdity.”
"I certainly don't want privatization of Medicare and Social Security," added Hank Sadinsky, a retired steelworker from Youngstown. "Had Congressman Ryan been successful in his push for Social Security privatization earlier in his career, we all would have lost anything that resembles a secure retirement,” he said. “His plan to turn Medicare into a voucher program is equally troubling.”
MORE: Ryan Lectures YSU Audience on Nation’s Fiscal Crisis
Copyright 2012 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.