Paul Ryan Calls for Reaffirmation of the Idea of America

Congressman Paul Ryan (WI-01)
U.S. House of Representatives
April 22, 2009

At the end of the day, what its really all about is freedom.

With the government taking more and more money out of your pocket, with the government growing and making more and more decisions here in Washington you have less freedom.

The President and the Majority here in Congress are proposing a dramatic and radical increase in the size of government.

This is a huge moment for America. It is a moment where America may abandon its tireless principles, the timeless ideas that built this country: the idea that the goal of government is to protect our rights and to equalize opportunity for all so people can stake their claim and make the most of their lives.

This budget seeks to replace that with more of a Europeanized notion where we try to micromanage the results of peoples lives, where people are less concerned with their liberty, and more concerned with security.

We believe in having a safety net to help people who cannot help themselves. We believe in having a safety net to help people when theyre down on their luck.

But we reject the philosophy and the approach of this budget, which says we need to have a society where more and more Americans become dependent on the government itself for their own well-being.

We want people to maximize their potential. We want people to make the most of their lives. We dont want to lull people into lives of complacency where they become more and more dependent upon the federal government.

We have seen what those ideas do. We see them on display in foreign capitals all around the world: higher unemployment; lower standards of living; stagnant wages; decaying societies. That is not America. That is not what this country is. Its not the idea of America.

We want the idea of America that we have known for the 20th Century to be the idea of America in the 21st Century. Thats what this budget is about. That is what this debate is really all about.

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Congressman Ryan references a Congressional Budget Office [CBO] report that states, whether financed by higher marginal tax rates of higher levels of debt, our economy cannot sustain the unrestrained rate of Federal spending. If financed by tax increases, the marginal tax rates for every bracket, along with corporate tax rates, would need to more than double, which would in turn cripple economic growth.
To read then-CBO Director Peter Orszags letter to Congressman Ryan: http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/92xx/doc9216/05-19-LongtermBudget_Letter-to-Ryan.pdf

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To learn more about the House Republican Budget Alternative: http://www.house.gov/budget_republicans/hbcrepbudget.shtml

http://www.house.gov/ryan
http://www.house.gov/budget_republicans
http://www.twitter.com/reppaulryan
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Paul-Ryan/7123827676
http://www.americanroadmap.org

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[myangels7]

I started losing sleep as soon as obama took office...I am dreading the worst!

[WhereDidItAllGo7]

Very sincere speech.

[2846odlab]

P: Ron Paul and VP: Paul Ryan 2012

[engine2truck6]

Paul Ryan is a SOCIALIST, because at 04:00 he admits that he supports the idea of Government Welfare. Just like Senator DeMint, mr. Ryan THINKS he believes in Individual Liberty, but then he accepts the underlying principle of collectivism when he advocates using the government as a "safety net".: the idea that gov't FORCE be used to take money from one person and hand it over to another.

[thequietkid10]

so your saying that running up the deficit leads to increased prosperity.

[gooner13for4]

no he increased military spending by a huge margin, which ran up the national deficit. you can look it up if you want

[iamtheinfantry07]

gooner? lol it should say gober lol! cause ur a freakin retard. ROFL. noone since reagan has a better economy.

[gooner13for4]

funny because Ronald Reagan ran up the deficit a shit ton. I guess he didn't value freedom.....

[EonnIRISHOConner]

Paul ryan or mitt romney in 2012 . Difinitly

[oishiiloops]

Vice Pres Paul Ryan

Ron Paul for PRES 2012!!!

[WhereDidItAllGo7]

Whoaaaa!!!!