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Ryan: “My hope is that we will stop rewarding the politician who keeps making empty promises to voters and start rewarding politicians who speak honestly with them”by DINESH RAMDE, Associated Press Ryan began with three quiet sessions in Waterford, Franklin and Oak Creek. However, at his final session in Greenfield, a small number of hecklers repeatedly interrupted him. One person shouted, “You lie!” as Ryan talked about the future of Medicare. Another shouted, “What are you hiding?” when Ryan presented a graph about his budget plan. But overall, most of the 850 people who showed up to the high school auditorium seemed to be Ryan supporters. They applauded when he talked about opening up American lands for oil drilling. And they gave Ryan a 30-second standing ovation, as if to send a message to the hecklers, after one person thanked him for taking a leadership role in Congress. Ryan acknowledged the hecklers’ right to speak. He said he understood he made himself a target by putting forth a substantive plan that his opponents could use as a weapon against him. “My hope is that we will stop rewarding the politician who keeps making empty promises to voters and start rewarding politicians who speak honestly with them,” he said. Ryan has been holding town hall meetings throughout his district in the last week to discuss the Republican budget plan, of which Ryan was the architect. The plan would fundamentally restructure Medicare and cut social safety-net programs such as food stamps and Medicaid. The Republican-sponsored legislation passed by the House this month envisions cutting government deficits by a total $6.2 trillion during the next decade. One of its most contentious provisions calls for eventually transforming Medicare into a voucher-like system in which private insurance plans, not the government, pay medical bills. The plan has drawn scorn from Democrats, including President Barack Obama, who want wealthier Americans to pay higher taxes to help reduce the deficit. Ryan and other Republican House members have gone back to their districts to explain to constituents how the plan would work. All eight of Ryan’s town hall meetings this week drew a standing-room-only crowd. Some venues were so crowded that attendees who didn’t get a seat stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the back. In some cases, police denied people entry due to capacity issues. Most of the audiences have seemed to back Ryan, hardly a surprise in an area where the seven-time congressman won his past few elections with more than 60 percent of the vote. Opponents generally voiced their opinions civilly, but Ryan did face booing in Kenosha on Tuesday along with the vocal hecklers Thursday. At one point in Greenfield, Ryan asked for a show of hands from those over the age of 55. When more than half the attendees raised their hands, Ryan said people their age wouldn’t see their Medicare benefits affected. “What about mine?” one man shouted. “You’re bigger than that, come on,” Ryan said, chiding him for his interruption. Some attendees asked why Ryan wasn’t doing more to help the federal government increase its revenue by letting the Bush tax cuts expire and by ending expensive wars. Ryan said letting the tax cuts expire wouldn’t make enough of a difference in addressing the deficit. And he said that at least he, unlike the previous president, included war spending in his budget. http://www.journaltimes.com/news/local/article_2c3506da-71ba-11e0-a57b-001cc4c002e0.html |
