John Nichols of the Nation, has done a great job in exposing the sadistic pleasure Paul Ryan gets from the working man and woman’s misery. This article originally appeared on the Nation, and has been reproduced word for word by Common Dreams. I partially reproduce the CD version below.
The Republican vice presidential nominee made the break with himself by talking about “guys I went to high school with (who)worked at that GM plant" in Janesville.Like a lot of other guys, and gals, across America, those guys lost their jobs when a multinational corporation shuttered a productive plant.
The problem is that Ryan's has never taken the side of those guys, and of all the working Americans who will march Monday in Labor Day parades from Janesville to Detroit to Toledo and Pittsburgh.
Ryan however, has contributed to the destruction of these industries. These jobs have been outsourced overseas, where the wages are much lower and the cost of production much cheaper than in the U.S.
Janesville used to be a major manufacturing center. Now it has fallen on hard times. Like so many manufacturing communities in the Great Lakes region, it has been rocked by the outsourcing of U.S. jobs. That's not Ryan's concern, however. Since his election to the House in 1998, Ryan has voted for free-trade pacts — including the extension of most-favored-nation trading status to China — that have been absolutely devastating to his hometown and other communities in his southeastern Wisconsin district.
When working families lost these jobs thanks to outsourcing and thanks to Paul Ryan the defender of outsourcing, they looked towards the government to intervene and save them or at the very least alleviate some of their misery via government assistance. However:
In 2008 -- during the presidency of George W. Bush -- General Motors announced that the sprawling plant that had been Janesville's top employer for nine decades was closing. Thousands of jobs were lost.
Unemployment soared. Working families in Janesville and surrounding Rock County are still struggling.
What was Ryan's response? He proposed schemes to gamble Social Security funds in the stock market and to gut Medicare and Medicaid.
The most disgusting personality of Paul Ryan is that he seems to get a kick, a sadistic thrill at relishing the misery of the poor and downtrodden. During the Labor Day parade of 2011 in Janesville, a constituent came up to Ryan and asked him:
"So what should I have to work for to get a job?" the man asked. "Should I have to work the same wages as in China? Should I have to work for $1 an hour?
"
Ryan initially brushed him aside and said:
"C'mon, we're all here to have a good time."
Seeing that his constituent was persistent, Ryan relented and offered some hope and help:
"Would you like some candy?" Ryan asked. "Would you like a Packer-Badger schedule?"
In the words of John Nichols:
Candy or a sports schedule.
That's all job-seeking Wisconsinites ever got from Paul Ryan.
And the American people should not expect anything more or better from him.
Here is some action Paul Ryan got on Labor Day: