Mitt Romney announced this weekend that Paul Ryan would be his running mate in the 2012 election.
At first blush, the mainstream media thought Romney had mistaken Ryan for Palin.
Then people speculated that Romney, like McCain, wanted to choose a Maverick, and “energize the base.” Like John McCain, Mitt Romney hopes that his Vice Presidential pick will help him rise in the polls. Yet Ryan doesn’t have the number of children Palin does, he doesn’t have the same tongue appeal of Palin,
he doesn’t wink,
and nobody wants to catch his kisses!
Ryan doesn’t even have any leopard skin shoes!
Romney is behind in the polls and given his choice of Paul Ryan, it appears likely that he will lose the election. The assumption of the American people is that Romney WANTS to be the President. If he wanted to be the President, surely he would have shown better judgment in selecting a running mate. Surely he would have selected someone with experience in something other than making money on inside information. Surely he would have selected someone who would be ready to respond if the phone range at 3:00 am. So, we should consider the possibility that Mitt Romney was covering his bases in the selection of Paul Ryan. If Romney wins in November, Ryan helps Romney invest his money while President. If Romney loses in November, Ryan helps Romney invest his money while NOT President.
You think this is a joke? Think again. In the last 10 years Ryan’s net worth has increased by 130%. That was an increase during a decade marked by a deep recession and a volatile stock market.. Romney’s net worth is estimated to be $250,000,000.00.Romney is only 65 years old. If he lived to be 85 years old, and increased his net worth by 130% every 10 years, Romney would be a billionaire by the time of his death. (increase of $325,000,000 the first decade, and increase of $747,500,000 the second). Ryan has a few tricks he could use to ensure this return on investment. Ryan’s first idea is to eliminate the payment of all taxes by Romney. In Ryan’s 2010 budget he proposed for the United States he eliminated all taxes on capital gains, interest, and dividends. Romney would benefit from this plan as he has no income from a job, and instead relies on money made off of investments, like capital gains on the sale of stock, interest income, and dividends paid.
The second advantage of having Ryan as an investment advisor is that he has access to secret information available only to the people in government with inside information. By way of example, see the article documenting the trades of Paul Ryan based on information only available to a select few within the government. While Ryan used information obtained through this meeting, which was clearly unethical, he stated:
“Insider trading should never occur and should never be tolerated. This is why I was pleased to support the House amendment to the STOCK Act, which represents a bipartisan effort to preserve the public trust by increasing the oversight and transparency associated with financial disclosures.”
It’s great to have an investment advisor who isn’t ethical, but says he is. It’s like producing two years of tax returns, and saying that you have provided your tax returns.
Speaking of tax returns, Mitt Romney has indicated that he is unwilling to produce more than two years of tax returns, but when vetting his potential running mates, he required that they produce a “bunch” of tax returns.
At least if Romney doesn’t win in November he can make a new reality television series, “Who Wants to be a Billionaire.”















11 comments
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August 13, 2012 at 12:34 pm
rumsey10
THiS is a story!
August 13, 2012 at 1:56 pm
malialitman
rumsey10,
It just amazes me that we know so much in such a short time! Did Romney not know this, or …did he just not care?
August 13, 2012 at 2:11 pm
lisabeth
They will just say that what he did was perfectly legal. Who cares about immoral right? Just like Mitt paying very little in taxes. I bet this is how they will respond to the insider trading accusation.
I think Ryan was a really bad pick.
August 13, 2012 at 2:23 pm
malialitman
lisabeth,
It sounds like at the time, it was unethical, but not illegal.
August 13, 2012 at 2:02 pm
Millie
Some say that Romney is already a billionaire!!!
August 13, 2012 at 3:56 pm
MissSunshine
OMG! The leopard skin shoes!! Haha, I am still torn between laughter and horror that this ignorant floozy got as close to the WH as she did.
As for the Romney/Ryan ticket, I don’t believe I have ever seen a more shamelessly self-interested agenda. “Vote for me, so I can (continue) to pay almost nothing in taxes!”
They don’t even pretend to understand what the average American household is going through. Most people are about one serious medical emergency away from bankruptcy.
HuffPost has an article up analyzing Ryan’s stock trades during one year. Summary: he was using insider information to try and make a killing, and also, he wasn’t really very smart about the trades. So; unethical and not particularly bright.
August 13, 2012 at 4:50 pm
gary truga (@123truga)
Based on your article, do I guess that you are going to vote for Obama again and, if yes, why when considering how poorly the country’s economy is doing?
August 13, 2012 at 9:03 pm
malialitman
gary,
You betcha!
August 13, 2012 at 10:12 pm
jk
You better believe I’m voting for BO again. The country was doing poorly when he was elected (thanks to the man for whom I’m guessing you voted…twice!). The republicans in congress have thrown a tantrum ever since, blocking the president left and right. And, of course, the GOPs ticket has an economic policy diametrically opposed to my own (not to mention their stances on every social issue).
August 14, 2012 at 5:01 pm
MissSunshine
Gary, I was raised in a very conservative family and always voted for Republicans or Independents.
Until George W. Bush, Dick Chaney and Donald Rumsfield.
I watched in horror as our election process was hijacked, and war and torture were normalized by these men. I take some small comfort in the knowledge that these men will not even travel to Canada, they are so disliked and correctly judged to be war criminals by the rest of the world.
In the next election cycle Sarah Palin was selected to capture the “women” vote from Hillary Rodham Clinton. There is not space enough for me to write how insulted I was by that choice.
In 2008, for the first time in my life I voted for the Democratic ticket; for Obama. He was clearly the best choice. Where W. had sickened me, Palin left me horrified. He is still the best choice in 2012.
Something terrible has happened to the Republican Party in the last 20 years. Now I laugh at Romney and Ryan. I have never seen such an arrogant grab for money and power; and careless dismissal of the poor, sick and elderly.
I expect them to spend an astonishing amount of money promoting themselves and their platform, only to be soundly smacked down in November.
Why? Because most Americans, even those whose income is high enough to qualify for tax reductions under the Ryan plan, are not sociopaths. (See the recent article by Stephen King.) And the kindness of the human heart is always a unexpected shock to the vampires of the world.
August 14, 2012 at 5:28 pm
malialitman
Miss sunshine,
I too could relate to what you are saying! Bush inspired me to get involved with the Obama campaign, and while I don’t think his administration is perfect, it’s a hell-of-a-lot better than the alternative.