One Week Later...

It has been one week since Romney names Paul Ryan as his running mate and here are my impressions. He is an incredible campaigner that has the potential to attract independent voters as well as some Democrats. He is charismatic and is an articulate spokesman for conservatism. He has given new energy not just to the Romney Campaign, but to Romney himself.
It is still early and neither side has been able to define Ryan. but whoever is successful in doing so will probably win in November. The Obama Campaign will try to paint Ryan as a radical who will destroy medicare to pay for tax cuts for the rich, something very far from the truth. The Romney Campaign will try to define Ryan as a conservative reformer trying to rein in big government. This is true, and Ryan has the battle scars to prove it. When the Democrats were in charge with huge majorities in 2009-10 he did try to reach out to Obama but was rebuffed and even singled out for attack at an event the President invited him to.
But the Romney/Ryan ticket does have some problems: they are short on specifics and seem to be unwilling to provide them.
What tax loopholes will they close? We don't need to know them all, but a couple would be nice. Is Ryan's medicare plan the same Romney will implement? I understand that even if it is Romney might want to tweak it around the edges but at least tell us that. What specifics do they have to start to bring down the deficit? We don't need to know everything but some specifics would help. End waste fraud and abuse? Great but we need more than that.
They have the potential to win big in November but they will need to be bolder, they will have to tread that careful minefield between bold and inspiring and radical without stepping over the line. But cautious will not give them a big victory, in fact it might just deny then victory.
There is reason for conservatives to be excited, but we will need more than just exciting campaigning and great speeches.

Reality Check: The Bush Tax Cuts

The left rails against the Bush tax cuts for high income Americans but what they won't tell you is that letting them expire will only bring in $680 billion over the next 10 years: or about $68 billion a year. This number comes from liberals who want them to expire.
The deficit is well over $1 trillion dollars, $1.299 trillion in 2011 according to the Treasury department. So even if you let the Bush tax cuts expire you still have a deficit of over a trillion dollars. When does the rest come from? Do you honestly think the Democrats will agree to cut that much in spending? Moreover do you think they don't have new spending ideas that will eat up at least another $68 billion?
Letting the Bush tax cuts expire will go to new spending and we'll have taken even more money out of the private sector that could have gone to expanding businesses that would have given us jobs. Or worse, businesses will have to cut their workforce to pay for the new taxes Obama wants.

If the Democrats are serious about cutting the deficit let them bring up letting the tax cuts expire when the deficit is less than $68 billion.