I just listened to the 24 minute speech by Paul Ryan at the Economic Club of Chicago, given on May 16, 2011, discussing "Shared Scarcity versus Renewed Prosperity." (Video below)
The whole speech is well worth the time it takes to listen to it. He pulls no punches, not against previous Republican leadership nor present Democratic leadership and the fiscal irresponsibility shown by both political parties over decades.
"This crisis has been decades in the making. Republican administrations, including the last one, have failed to control spending. Democratic administrations, including the present one, have not been honest about the cost of the tax burden required to fund their expansive vision of government. And Congresses controlled by both parties have failed to confront our growing entitlement crisis. There is plenty of blame to go around. "-- Paul Ryan
You can see the entire transcript here, but I am going to highlight the four foundations of economic growth he envisions:
First, we have to stop spending money we don’t have, and ultimately that means getting health care costs under control.
Second, we have to restore common sense to the regulatory environment, so that regulations are fair, transparent, and do not inflict undue uncertainty on America’s employers.
Third, we have to keep taxes low and end the year-by-year approach to tax rates, so that job creators have incentives to invest in America; and
Fourth, we have to refocus the Federal Reserve on price stability, instead of using monetary stimulus to bail out Washington’s failures, because businesses and families need sound money.
He goes on to explain each of the four, in order and does so impressively.
Recently Ryan went from townhall meeting to townhall meeting, explaining "The Path to Prosperity" which is his baby, his plan to set America on a path to prosperity once again instead of the downward debt ridden country we are becoming under our current path.
In each of those townhalls, Ryan patiently and clearly answered every question thrown at him in a manner that all of us non-economists could actually understand.
The more I watched him, the better the understanding became about his plan, his ideas, and his desire not to change America but to get back to the America we once were.
I am left wondering why the GOP cannot find a candidate like Ryan to go up against Obama in 2012.
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