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USA TODAY 7:58 AM - 13 Aug 12 via Tweet Button · Details
Column: Romney goes back to basics with Ryan
In Inman Majors' terrific novel The Millionaires, a consultant explains that there are really only two themes to political campaigns: "It's A Bright New Day," and "Back To Basics." Barack Obama's 2008 campaign was "Bright New Day" raised to a higher power. Now, with the choice of Paul Ryan as his running mate, Mitt Romney has signaled that he's doubling down on "Back To Basics." That has risks, but they're risks worth running.
By Jacquelyn Martin, APHouse Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan shows his fiscal proposal.
By Jacquelyn Martin, AP
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan shows his fiscal proposal.
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The 2008 Obama campaign was all about hope and change. Obama's nomination was to mark the end of rising sea levels, his presidency was going to mark the end of racial strife, and he was going to deliver "net spending cuts" and reduce the budget deficit "by half"before the end of his first term.
The Obama administration sold its near trillion dollar "stimulus" plan by claiming that without it, unemployment would reach 9% while with it, unemployment would stay below 8%. Despite the bill, unemployment hit 10% and has, in fact, remained more than 8% for the past 42 months. The "stimulus" money, meanwhile, seems to have vanished into a welter of crony-capitalism deals of which the Solyndra debacle is only the most famous.
And all that "hope and change" from the administration has turned to "attack and blame" as Obama and his surrogates launch one assault after another in an effort to turn the conversation to anything besides the economy. So much for the promised Bright New Day.
With trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see, and the exploding national debt (which Obama called unconscionable when it was about half as big as it has become under his stewardship) it seems time for a Back To Basics approach. And that's clearly the direction favored by Romney, the turnaround artist who specialized in taking mismanaged entities and making them work. His choice of Ryan simply takes it to a new level. As Internet humorist IowaHawk tweeted on Saturday: "Paul Ryan represents Obama's most horrifying nightmare: Math."
Yes, math. Ryan is the expert on the often Byzantine complexities of the federal budget. His budget proposal last year, though rejected by Democrats in the Senate, represented a serious effort to rein in runaway spending. The only cogent criticism, really, was that it didn't go far enough.
In fact, the math shows our spending is unsustainable. Nothing can save it: Not higher taxes, not lower interest rates on federal borrowing, not financial jiggery-pokery from the Fed. If we continue on this path, the result will be disaster: We'll be Greece, with nuclear weapons.
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Romney's selection of Ryan shows that he understands the dire nature of the problem, and that he's serious about addressing it. But it also lays down a marker.
If Americans take the future of their country seriously, they'll reject the Obama approach, which has been disastrous, and elect Romney-Ryan, along with a substantial number of fiscally conservative members of Congress. That will give America a chance to avoid financial ruin.
But Back To Basics has its risks. Though most Americans realize that our spending is irresponsible and unsustainable, there remain quite a few who aren't prepared to end it, at least if doing so might interfere with their ability to suck, unmolested, at the government teat. The Ryan choice leaves them certain of where Romney stands. Only some of them will be patriotic enough to vote against their own pocketbooks.
But even if the Romney-Ryan ticket loses, it will have provided a valuable moment of clarity. If Obama is re-elected, there will be no doubt where the responsibility lies when the inevitable financial catastrophe occurs. And clarity, sometimes, has a value all its own.
