Letter: Paul Ryan Doesn't Stand for America's Ideals

I’m a retired Army combat veteran and a member of the Connecticut Veterans’ Hall of Fame. When I served in Vietnam, I wasn’t told that I was fighting for the freedom of some Americans. I wasn’t told I was fighting for religious freedom for some American;  I wasn’t told I was fighting for freedom of speech for some Americans. I was told I was fighting to uphold the ideals of America. I believed that until I watched the debates. I heard Mr. Ryan state that his and Mr. Romney’s religious beliefs will govern them and their policies if elected; Mr. Bidden said that he would not impose his beliefs on others. I heard Mr. Ryan state that Social Security and Medicare must be, in essence, eliminated as we know it today. I heard that women are not capable of controlling their own bodies, but rather that this should be done by legislators, perhaps in the fashion of that infamous panel of GOP men who wouldn’t even let women testify before them on women’s issues. I heard clearly from Mr. Ryan that it’s my way or the highway. I don’t recall anything depicting these types of ideas while I was fighting in Vietnam. I may be growing old but I still retain my faculties.

I heard Mr.  Ryan comment on the high unemployment rate. It sounded to me that to the GOP going to war is a way of reducing unemployment. I heard that putting our brave soldiers in harm’s way will help the economy. Is it their motive to reduce the unemployment rate through attrition of the brave men and women who go to war? It’s true that fewer soldiers returning home alive will reduce the number of people needing jobs, but wait, this will also create family members left behind to collect death benefits from the loss of their love ones. Do they now become part of the 47% who live off the government? This will be a great opportunity for the Republicans to now TAX them. This will make them feel better about their loss because they will be elevated into the 53%.

On social security, I heard Ryan state its going bankrupt. It will become a burden on our country. I also heard, almost in the same breath, that it won’t be there for him or other people of his generation when they reach retirement age. It seemed Ryan does not want be one the 1%, but one of the 47% when he reaches 65, or because he already has wealth, perhaps it doesn’t matter to him. He’s taken care of.

One reason Social Security is not solvent is that the Republicans have been tapping off the fund since Nixon was president. Social Security could be self-funded only if the politicians would keep their hands off of it.

Remember one thing, when people get elected to any public office, they no longer represent just their parties. They then need to represent all the American people, even those who need help with being part of America, and even those with different religious beliefs to theirs. I know we need to be active participants in the world scene, but not at the cost of our own people. Haven’t enough of our young people been lost to these recent wars? We don’t need to enter our country in a new war just as we’re winding down the current ones, even if war is good for the economy.

Roger G. Paulmeno

Old Greenwich