By Miriam Raftery

April 11, 2018 (Washington D.C.) – House Speaker Paul Ryan has announced that he will not seek reelection, the Washington Post reports. 

Some political pundits have speculated that predictions that Democrats may take back control of Congress after the November mid-term elections could have been a factor in Ryan’s decision.

By Tommy Tidrow

November 8, 2015 (Washington D. C.) – New House Speaker Paul Ryan and his friends in Congress (most of whom have signed the Republican operative Grover Norquist’s “No New Taxes” pledge) have come up with a plan to fund a highway bill by privatizing the part of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tasked with collecting back taxes from individuals who owe as little as $200 dollars in unpaid income tax. 

The measure would have private collection agencies act on behalf of the government to collect delinquent taxes.  These are the people who have been sued for predatory practices, harassment and misrepresentation for years.    

These debt collectors will not be going after billionaires and corporations who put $150,000,000,000 Billion dollars in off-shore tax havens like the Cayman Islands.  Nor will there be any reform to the tax code that allows giant corporations like General Electric to pay no taxes at all.

Video, full text, analysis, polls, and fact check links

By Miriam Raftery

October 14, 2012 (San Diego’s East County)—In a combative debate, Vice President Joe Biden and VP candidate Paul Ryan faced off at Kentucky Centre College last Thursday on both foreign and domestic policy issues.

Unlike President Barack Obama, who drew criticism  from supporters for being “too polite” in failing to counter attacks and even misleading statements by Mitt Romney in the presidential debate, a scrappy Biden defended the administration’s record with the aggressiveness of a prize fighter, calling out Ryan repeatedly on factual errors or exaggerations. Unflapped, Senator Ryan fired back some verbal barbs of his own as he made his case for a Romney-Ryan ticket and assailed the adminstration's record.

By Mark Gabrish Conlan

September 17, 2012 (San Diego) – Well, now we know. The 2012 Presidential election won’t just be between incumbent Democrat Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, but between two starkly different philosophies not only of politics, or how to revive the economy and preserve the capitalist system, but also of life itself and what it means to be human. It won’t be a serious debate over how much government the American people want, or how they propose to pay for it. Nor will it really be about the budget deficit or the national debt, however much Republicans — especially their vice-presidential candidate, Congressmember Paul Ryan —might claim the moral high ground on that issue even though their giveaway tax cuts to the ultra-rich will actually make the national debt bigger, not smaller.

By Nadin Abbott

August 30, 2012 (Rancho Bernardo)-- At a gathering today in Rancho Bernardo outside the Republican party’s county headquarters, members of labor and the Democratic Party reacted to the Romney\Ryan ticket.

August 30, 2012 --  (San Diego’s East County) – ECM World Watch helps you be an informed citizen about important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflecting all voices and views, we include links to a wide variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:   

• U.S. economy expands more than anticipated  (BBC)
• Isaac reduces to tropical storm, lashes Louisiana (USA Today)
• Do wind turbines cause forest fires? (Bangor Daily News)
• Army issues multi-billion dollar solicitation for large scale renewable and alternative energy production for federal installations (Foley) 

• Republicans highlight Romney nomination, but poll shows low popularity (ABC News) 
• Romney: I’d cut PBS, Obamacare, arts subsidies (CBS News)
• McCain: America “can’t afford” another Obama WH (CBS News) 
• President Obama answers questions on Reddit-AMA; read his full answers (CBS News) 
• publicans hate Obama’s defense cuts. The trouble is, they voted for them (Washington Post wonk bl
• Vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan on abortion: Rape is just another “method of conception”(RawStory)
  
• Paul Ryan’s speech in 3 words (FoxNews.com) 

• Al Qaeda followers call for death of Seal who wrote Osama bin Ladin capture book (Washington Post) 
• Venezuela investigates alleged massacre in Amazon village (Reuters) 
• Romney: Nuclear Iran “unacceptable” (CBS) 

August 17, 2012 --  (San Diego’s East County) – ECM World Watch helps you be an informed citizen about important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflecting all voices and views, we include links to a wide variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:   

• Paul Ryan is Mitt Romney’s pick for Vice Presidential nominee (Washington Post)
• A brief introduction to the potential second lady:
• Flood won’t delay start of solar farm near Blythe:
• New homes burn faster, but states resist sprinklers (Reuters)
• For unpaid college loans, Feds doc Social Security (Smart Money)
• Right wing extremism terrorism as deadly a threat as Al Qaeda? (CNN)
• Blind mice given sight after device cracks retinal code (Bloomberg)

• Thousands rally in Tunisia for women’s rights(Reuters)
• Magnitude 7.3 quake hits eastern Russia (UT San Diego
• China’s ghost towns and shopping malls (BBC)
• Sewage-munching microbes may generate electricity (Reuters)   

In the 52nd Congressional District represented by Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon),  a Democratic analysis estimates the plan would shift thousands of dollars in costs onto individuals --$182,000 to $287,000 per person for those ages 44-54--while sharply cutting benefits for those over age 54 and the disabled.

June 19, 2011 (Washington D.C.) – How will the bill passed in April by House Republicans’ to cut $1 trillion in Medicare costs impact people in East County and San Diego?

The plan would eliminate Medicare for those now under 55, making them use vouchers for private insurance instead. Some benefits for current Medicare beneficiaries and the disabled would be cut immediately. Seniors would pay more for prescriptions and government reimbursement to private insurers would not keep pace with the rising cost of medical care, resulting in seniors paying higher costs.  That's based on numerous independen analyses, from the Wall Street Journal to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).
 

Now ranking members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee have posted a breakdown by Congressional districts that shows majorl impacts on seniors and even greater cuts to those currently under 55.