Define: "Middle Class. Do you mean the Taxpayers (private sector) of the Tax Beneficiaries? (public sector)

Paul Ryan has an understanding of economics and money that is based upon Reality and real world experience and knowledge - unlike Rob Zerban.

Professor Niall Ferguson speaks on the stages of Empires and what causes Nations to collapse. Paul Ryan has met with Prof. Ferguson, who was quite impressed
with Congressman Ryan.

Empires on the Edge of Chaos (note -skip the 9 min intro) : http://fora.tv/2010/07/28/Niall_Ferguson_Empires_on_the_Edge_of_Chaos

Rob Zerban represents change alright - he'll have you living a hunter-gatherer existence in no time. That's not the change you are looking for.

Ardeche -

Did you get lost on your way over to the Daily Kos? :-)

Zerban is a joke - he brings nothing to the table other than anti-Ryan/conservative rhetoric and only ever iterates the Obama and DNC talking points.

Are you even paying attention?

@ Mr. Scott -- Middle class describes all of those who make between one half and two times the average salary in a given nation-state.

How fascinating -- so when it suits your purposes Mr. Scott -- the real businessman has no real world experience and the man who has never been outside the ivory towers of academia except to enter the marble halls of government has a real understanding.

So then, there really is no compass other than party affiliation to you, is there Mr. Scott? Why not just be honest enough to admit that and stop the nonsense then?

And as for "Mr. Hoffa" -- Besides making a fool of yourself, James Hoffa would NEVER post the drivel you post here -- what are you hoping to accomplish by a raw attack?

Rob Zerban at this point has momentum and has raised more money than the last SEVEN Democrats to run for this seat combined. You may not like it sir, but I would not be at all surprised to see Mr. Ryan lose. He's lousy in person (try engaging him at a meeting sometime, not that he holds many) and he is extremely arrogant. You may find that tickles your "authority" bone -- but it surely isn't the reason he wins reelection. He has passed himself off to the people in the First CD as FAR more moderate than he is -- now he has ripped his own mask off with the "Ryan budget" while he also is facing a competent opponent, regardless of your feelings about the man.

We shall see.

While the Patch has many fine articles, and Heather does an excellent job of reporting, Patch is funded by Multi-Millionaire and Corporate CEO of AOL, Tim Armstrong who has links to the Huffington Post. I previously exposed this. Nothing is free in life, so you can expect some Corporate directed bias from AOL and Huff Po as well as some professional posters to direct "group think"

Bandwidth ain't free!

This is not pro Zerban or anti Ryan, this is reporting of the event. An invitation was given to the patch to come to the event. If/When Ryan has events and invites the patch to be apart of it I am sure the patch or Denise will go and report it unbiasedly. I've met Denise and she is more conservative then I am, I am a liberal, and we have good educated discussions. So to say she is bias to the left is funny in the sense that she herself is more conservative then liberal. Just saying. I think she does a great job reporting the facts and not being biased one way or the other.

We held this story in order to garner a response from the Ryan campaign (as stated in the article), but did not receive one. It is always my goal as editor to present what each side has to say on an issue, and full disclosure (and as mentioned in my profile) I lean conservative, so I was disappointed not to receive a response. In addition, BOTH sides have been invited to blog or post columns. Patch sites are charged to be politically neutral, and as such I/we won't endorse candidates. Any favoritism you perceive is not intentional.

You will worry yourself to death trying to gain the risk and cost free life at the expense of everyone else. Reality - it's just not for you.

Tim Scott, we pay for Medicare and Social Security through our taxes. Medicare isn't a handout.

Bren - It is a handout. Technically it is an intergenerational wealth transfer, since there is no actual mmoney in non-existent trust funds they refer to.

At the heading of the LAW, which designates a TAX, is the words Social Security, and Medicare. The law deals with a tax, which, when collected, goes into the general fund. It's all mixed together there - all funds co-mingled - all taxes into one fund - general revenue. NOW - there are separate SPENDING programs Congress administers. Some of them have names like Medicare and Social Security. Money is taken from the general revenue fund and given to those funds, where the money is handed out. NOW - to add to the confusuion, if the TAX revenue for a so-named TAX exceeds the SPENDING for a like named SPENDING program, an I.O.U. is generated and placed in a trust fund. That I.O.U. means nothing, and it will never be paid. It is part of the theatre put on by the Politicians to entertain you. IF the SPENDING program exceeds the TAX revenue generated by the same named programs, Congress moans and cries, threatens to raise Taxes, and then asks the nice Chinese to buy some Treasuries and fund some debt.

Those are facts.

You are confused -like most Americans and will want to argue with me.

GO TO THE LAW LIBRARY and spend some time in the US Statutes

Bren - and since I know you and countless others will tell me I'm wrong, etc. - Please read the following - it is taken from the Social Security website - it is the Nestor Decision. IT IS LAW, not your wrong opinion:

"The fact that workers contribute to the Social Security program's funding through a dedicated payroll tax establishes a unique connection between those tax payments and future benefits. More so than general federal income taxes can be said to establish "rights" to certain government services. This is often expressed in the idea that Social Security benefits are "an earned right." This is true enough in a moral and political sense. But like all federal entitlement programs, Congress can change the rules regarding eligibility--and it has done so many times over the years. The rules can be made more generous, or they can be made more restrictive. Benefits which are granted at one time can be withdrawn, as for example with student benefits, which were substantially scaled-back in the 1983 Amendments.

There has been a temptation throughout the program's history for some people to suppose that their FICA payroll taxes entitle them to a benefit in a legal, contractual sense. That is to say, if a person makes FICA contributions over a number of years, Congress cannot, according to this reasoning, change the rules in such a way that deprives a contributor of a promised future benefit. Under this reasoning, benefits under Social Security could probably only be increased, never decreased, if the Act could be amended at all. Congress clearly had no such limitation in mind when crafting the law. Section 1104 of the 1935 Act, entitled "RESERVATION OF POWER," specifically said: "The right to alter, amend, or repeal any provision of this Act is hereby reserved to the Congress." Even so, some have thought that this reservation was in some way unconstitutional. This is the issue finally settled by Flemming v. Nestor.

In this 1960 Supreme Court decision Nestor's denial of benefits was upheld even though he had contributed to the program for 19 years and was already receiving benefits. Under a 1954 law, Social Security benefits were denied to persons deported for, among other things, having been a member of the Communist party. Accordingly, Mr. Nestor's benefits were terminated. He appealed the termination arguing, among other claims, that promised Social Security benefits were a contract and that Congress could not renege on that contract. In its ruling, the Court rejected this argument and established the principle that entitlement to Social Security benefits is not contractual right."

IT IS NOT A CONTRACTURAL RIGHT - IT IS A SPEBDING HANDOUT!

IT IS NOT A CONTRACTURAL RIGHT - IT IS A SPENDING HANDOUT!

IT IS NOT A CONTRACTURAL RIGHT - IT IS A SPENDING HANDOUT!

THAT IS THE LAW!

https://www.socialsecurity.gov/history/nestor.html

Tim Scott, I don't believe that Flemming v. Nestor establishes a precedent for ordinary Americans. Social Security is a tax, and eligible Americans receive benefits based on certain criteria (age, employment, etc.). Like other tax revenues, Congress may make decisions about the fund, including, unfortunately, borrowing.

News Flash.... Ryan will win the presidency in 2016....thats if we have a country left

@Racine Progressive -

Still haven't woken up to reality I see. Enjoy your dream while we enjoy reality!

From your mouth to Gods ears

Robert, isn't "adult children" an oxymoron?

Gear, what would you call them, "adult offspring?"

Why don't you ask Gove Pat Quinn (D) that question?

In a post peak oil World, post peak credit, life boat ethics will finally grip America. You will suffer, then die. May your death be merciful. Soon - good health will be PRICELESS, all others will be dead.

"Gov. Pat Quinn wants to eliminate state funding for two health insurance programs that provide coverage for retired schoolteachers and community college instructors across Illinois.

The idea, part of the new spending plan the governor unveiled last week, would cut roughly $92 million from the Teachers Retirement Insurance Program and the Community College Insurance Program."

"Gov. Pat Quinn plans to call for major Medicaid cuts during his annual budget address Wednesday and issue a warning that immediate changes must be made or the state's health care system for the poor could collapse.

A Quinn spokeswoman said the speech will serve as a "reality check" for lawmakers who also will be asked to approve 9 percent cuts for most state agencies and further reforms to the costly state worker pension system."

"Gov. Pat Quinn plans to call for major Medicaid cuts during his annual budget address Wednesday and issue a warning that immediate changes must be made or the state's health care system for the poor could collapse.

A Quinn spokeswoman said the speech will serve as a "reality check" for lawmakers who also will be asked to approve 9 percent cuts for most state agencies and further reforms to the costly state worker pension system."

"SPRINGFIELD -- Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn will deliver a bad-news budget today, suggesting that Illinois close numerous prisons, mental health centers and social service offices, cut health care for the poor and shut down popular tourist sites for two days a week at times during the year.

Money for schools would remain essentially flat -- a better fate than the 9 percent cuts most state agencies would suffer."

REALITY = The money is gone. You are on your own. There will only be the Quick and the Dead. Good Health is PRICELESS - all others are dead.

Robert, that's why Medicare was established, because seniors have a difficult time getting affordable insurance because of their age and pre-existing conditions. In a perfect world, Paul Ryan's plan might be interesting, but the reality is that the health insurance industry is for-profit. Young healthy people = premiums paid but policies not used/high profit and older people = premiums paid and policies used/lower profits.

Concerning pre-existing conditions, I have a relative who had foot surgery. The current insurance company wrote a policy for this self-insured relative that covers their entire body, except the bottom of that foot, because of the PEC.

That means, if God forbid, this relative gets into an auto accident, etc., any injury to the bottom of the foot will not be covered. It is ridiculous, but it was the only way to get insurance.

@Bren -

He could have had his entire foot covered if he wanted to - he just didn't want to pay the additional premium.

Ryan has NOT "distinguished himself" on the "national stage" -- Ryan is a mid-level Objectivist. *shrug* he is not good in person, doesn't present himself well and is arrogant. You don't see that because you are so extremely partisan. I think it is likely that Zerban will give Ryan a very strong run and may even beat him - unless Ryan is tapped for VP - in which case I strongly suspect that its a romp for Zerban -- but we will see.

I miss Robert Novak. Brilliant man, I didn't agree with his politics, but I trusted him -- and I remember that in 08 he predicted - only weeks before giving up the column -- state by state that Obama would win and why. I still remember the rage among the "conservative faithful" - including those that wrote things in the blogs associated with Mr. Novak's site things like "America will NEVER elect a black man." Mr. Novak was right, they were wrong -- and Mr. Novak was right for exactly the reasons he gave. The GOP has moved TOO far Right to sustain power for long. I think Gearhead that you are going to be very unhappy in November.

You're a fraud, Mike. Just another lefty ranting his talking points in favor of "free" health care. You do not own a medical clinic. If you did, you'd realize how much you are getting screwed over by accepting medicare payments, which are always under-funded. And yet you want more of the same? 'Scuse me for laughing out loud.

And no, Ryan doesn't operate on a pay for play basis. You must be confusing him with former Governor Doyle. Diamond Jim, as some of us call him, who honed pay for play to a fine art, indeed. Where was your outrage then?

Mike, an acquaintance who lives in Paul Ryan's district attended a Town Hall meeting. A lot of the attendees were described to me by this acquaintance as "groupies." A lot of "God Bless you Paul Ryan!" etc. My issue with him has to do with the fact that he wants to privatize Medicare, when the entire purpose of creating Medicare was to fill the gap in private health insurance coverage for senior citizens. Basically a rollback to a time of challenge for seniors. That's not a solution. On a personal note, I do not appreciate Ryan's experimentation with a social program in which he has no personal stake. His Congressional pension and insurance policy ensure that he would not "feel the pain" if his voucher plan was enacted and proved unsuccessful.

Gear, just asking, why would Mike waste his time sharing his employment information as it is not essential to his missive? I would just say to Mike that the acquaintance I cite in a previous post was able to ask Ryan a question at the afore-mentioned Town Hall meeting. A straight answer to the question wasn't received, so at least he saved $1,500.

@ Gearhead --

Being a Leftist does not make one a fraud. Remember the founders? All of them? People like my grandfather many times removed, Colonel Ebenezer Reynolds who died in the Revolution? Those folk? They were establishing a democracy. That's a system where sometimes your side loses. It bothers me that only one side seems to remember that anymore.

I've been on both, I started out in the GOP, as my parents were -- and I left when too many people that sounded like you started running off at the mouth in the 90s -- and although I've donated to two or three Republicans since then, I won't go back, ever.

Nowthen, my doctor supports universal health care - so do a LOT of doctors, and most of the AMA. Did you ever wonder why we have this supposedly superior health coverage but people get booted off all the time when they are paying AND we rank 36th in terms of life expectancy?

No, of course you didn't.