US Presidential Elections: Paul Ryan: Poster Boy of Today's Extreme GOP - by Waymon Hudson

The Republican Choice For Its Presidential Team

While many in the media are focusing on the budget and fiscal views of Mitt Romney's pick as vice president for the Republican ticket, Paul Ryan is much more than just "wonky budget guy." In fact, Ryan's extreme social conservatism, which he prefers to hide under his fiscal views, is a perfect example of the state of today's GOP, which has been taken over by far-right ideologues who distract with tax and deficit talk as they seek to march civil rights back to the Dark Ages.

Yes, the Paul Ryan budget is extremely newsworthy for its uneven tax breaks for the richest Americans while gutting social safety nets like Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security, but Ryan's record on social issues and civil rights, specifically LGBT issues and women's rights, should not be glossed over by the media or by voters as November approaches. Despite the odd praise coming from conservative gay groups like Log Cabin Republicans and GOProud, Paul Ryan's record on LGBT rights is abysmal and far out of step with mainstream Americans.

Like most of the current Republicans in office, Ryan claims to want small federal government and strict constitutional reading... except when it doesn't fit their narrow social agenda. Paul Ryan has voted twice, both in 2004 and 2006, for an amendment to the federal constitution banning marriage between same-sex couples, a position presidential hopeful Mitt Romney also holds. In fact, Ryan bragged about his vote to amend the constitution in 2004 in a press release, saying, "I had hoped that this amendment wouldn't be necessary, but increasingly it appears that laws such as the Defense of Marriage Act will not be sufficient to protect marriage from certain courts that distort state and federal constitutional law."

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