By Shelli Dawdy

[ Editor’s note: Shelli Dawdy is the leader of Grassroots in Nebraska and a frequent contributor here on R3publicans. We were discussing the promotion of Paul Ryan by some in the DC elitist bunch and she reminded me of this post she had done earlier. Just in case you pay attention to the DC insiders, maybe this article will remind you of some salient facts that they seem to be forgetting right about now.]

It's time to dig a lot deeper . . .

Rep. Paul Ryan, Republican from Wisconsin, has been recently touted as a potential rising star. He is saying a lot of the right things. On the April 8 Glenn Beck radio show, Glenn mentions potential Republican presidential candidates for 2012, and among them was Paul Ryan.

Red flag. I recalled seeing him on John Stossel’s Fox Business Network show, the epidsode entitled “The Road to Serfdom”. I’ve always liked John Stossel, but since his move over to FBN, he has become my favorite TV personality. When I have the chance to catch his show I’m always amazed at the content. Just having a show episode called “The Road to Serfdom” in today’s political climate amazes me. But every time I’ve seen the show it’s been that way.

The other thing I like about Stossel is that I’ve noticed he’ll ask the questions you wish would be asked. When Paul Ryan appeared, Stossel asked the perfect question – about Ryan’s votes on the auto company and TARP bailouts.

Ryan’s explanation for his bailout votes doesn’t satisfy me. It doesn’t sound like an epiphany or a “Come to Jesus moment.” As far as I’m concerned, he sounded pretty darn great until that question popped up. The first time I heard about him and heard what he was saying, I thought, “Who is this guy? He must have been recently elected.” In other words, he didn’t sound like a long-term, establishment politician. Not one that’s served in Congress for over a decade. The bailout explanation does sound like a long term politician. So the things he’s been saying that sound so great and his bailout vote explanation don’t line up. I’m not a fan of things that seem incongruent.

Although Glenn Beck mentioned Ryan as someone recently getting a lot of buzz on that April 8 show, he did not stop with his musings, he did extract something Paul Ryan had written about Progressives. And Ryan got it wrong. The gist of the quoted writing was that the original progressive aims were perverted. He rather sound like a progressive himself, as a matter of fact.

In addition, in a brief examination of Paul Ryan’s Congressional career, I don’t find much different about his voting record over the course of his 11 years in Congress that is different from the average Republican. So he was a part of the same Congress that spent like drunken sailors.

Call me crazy, but is Paul Ryan’s current rhetoric so needed that he’s worth the risk? I don’t think so. Just because someone is talking the right talk doesn’t really mean anything. He apparently has a misunderstanding of history;  and at this point — don’t actions (his voting record) speak louder than words?

Reposted with permission; original post on Stubborn Facts (2010)