memeorandum: Stephens: Paul Ryan's Neocon Manifesto (Wall Street Journal)

12:55 PM ET, August 14, 2012

Top Items:

GOP pros fret over Paul Ryan — You've heard them on television and read them on POLITICO — cheerful, defiant statements from Republican political professionals about Mitt Romney's bold masterstroke in tapping Paul Ryan as his running mate, and turning the 2012 presidential race into a serious …

David A. Stockman / New York Times:

Paul Ryan's Fairy-Tale Budget Plan — PAUL D. RYAN is the most articulate and intellectually imposing Republican of the moment, but that doesn't alter the fact that this earnest congressman from Wisconsin is preaching the same empty conservative sermon. — Thirty years of Republican apostasy …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Mahablog, Business Insider, The Raw Story, The Glittering Eye, p m carpenter's commentary, Paul Krugman, Hullabaloo, Taylor Marsh, Esquire, Politico and Prairie Weather

Guy Benson / Townhall.com:

Brutal: CNN Torches DWS on Medicare Falsehoods — Let me say this right up front: Congratulations to Wolf Blitzer for being a relentless, responsible journalist. If you value the truth, this interview is a pleasure to watch. If you have even an ounce of human compassion for the in-over-her-head target …

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Examiner, Scared Monkeys, Wake up America, The Other McCain, Weekly Standard, UrbanGrounds, AEIdeas and Business Insider

Susan Page / USA Today:

Gov. Chris Christie to deliver keynote at GOP convention — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will deliver the keynote address that launches the Republican National Convention in two weeks, telling USA TODAY he plans to make an “emphatic” argument on behalf of GOP approaches and shared sacrifice to face the nation's biggest challenges.

Discussion: Washington Wire, Weekly Standard, 2012 Decoded, NBC New York, Politico, Taylor Marsh, CNN, Outside the Beltway, Scared Monkeys, Hot Air, Washington Examiner, americanthinker.com, Gothamist, GOP 12, About.com US Politics, New York Magazine and Associated Press

Wall Street Journal:

Stephens: Paul Ryan's Neocon Manifesto — America's real interests, he understands, come from our deepest values. — Last summer, the chairman of the House Budget Committee made a foray into foreign-policy land with a speech to the Alexander Hamilton Society in Washington …

Discussion: The Glittering Eye and CNN

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:

Stockman Savages Ryan — If there's anyone in recent political history who is a definite precursor to Paul Ryan, it has to be David Stockman, another bright young congress-critter who combined conservative ideological totems (in his case, supply-side economics) with green-eyeshade budget credentials …

Rasmussen Reports:

50% Now View Paul Ryan Favorably; 43% Say He Was Right Choice — Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan's favorables are up after the first blush of national media exposure following Mitt Romney's selection of him as his vice presidential running mate. But as is generally the case with running mates …

Discussion: GOP 12, Ballot Box and Althouse

BuzzFeed:
The Return Of No-Risk Romney

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

William Kristol / Weekly Standard: Cut This Ad! Clinton COS on Ryan: ‘This Guy is Amazing.’

Emily Goodin / Ballot Box:
GOP concerned Ryan could cost party House and Senate seats

Discussion: ABCNEWS, CNN, Washington Post, emptywheel, ThinkProgress, BuzzFeed, Booman Tribune, Politico, The Caucus and The Hill

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic Online:
Are Liberals Being Unfair to Paul Ryan?

Discussion: Brad DeLong

Michael Levenson / Boston Globe:
Brown praises Ryan, but keeps distance

Discussion: Politico

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Romney Campaign Chair Contradicts Candidate, Says Romney's Medicare Plan Is ‘Very Different’ From Ryan's Plan

Discussion: The Raw Story, The Maddow Blog and BuzzFeed

Suzy Khimm / Washington Post:
Paul Ryan's biggest budget cuts are to Medicaid, not Medicare

Discussion: Angry Black Lady Chronicles, New York Magazine, The Incidental Economist, FT Alphaville, The Hinterland Gazette, National Review, Washington Monthly and PoliticusUSA

Mark Finkelstein / NewsBusters.org blogs:
Matthews: Ryan Wants To ‘Screw’ The Poor

Discussion: Hot Air and The Right Scoop

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
A strong solo debut for Ryan — with Romney's script

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ABCNEWS, ABCNEWS, New York Times and Washington Post

First Read:
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks with vice presidential running mate …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Plain Dealer, Mother Jones and Outside the Beltway

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
The Republican ticket's big Medicare myth

Discussion: Boston Globe, Swampland, Business Insider, The Incidental Economist, Forbes, National Review, ABCNEWS, PoliticusUSA, NewsBusters.org, Wake up America and Mother Jones

First Read:
Romney struggles to get square with Ryan's Medicare plan

Discussion: 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com and Applesauce

Noel Sheppard / NewsBusters.org blogs:
Soledad O'Brien Caught Reading Liberal Blog During Heated Debate With Romney Adviser

Discussion: Viral Read, RedState, The Maddow Blog, tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com, NewsBusters.org, Betsy's Page, American Power and The Other McCain

Scott Johnson / Power Line:
A day at the fair — If you look around the Web …

Discussion: protein wisdom, USA Today and WRAL-TV

Richard Danielson / Tampa Bay Times:
Marco Rubio to introduce Mitt Romney at RNC

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Politico, USA Today, GOP 12 and ABCNEWS

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
Medicare Rises as Prime Election Issue

Discussion: NO QUARTER, The Monkey Cage, USA Today, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Politico, Washington Post and Runnin' Scared

Niels Lesniewski / Roll Call:
Ron Wyden Takes Issue With Mitt Romney Linking Him to Paul Ryan

Discussion: Questions and Observations, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Maddow Blog, ThinkProgress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Washington Post

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

More questions raised about Fareed Zakaria's work — Columnist and TV host Fareed Zakaria, who acknowledged plagiarizing parts of a magazine article last week, appears to have also published without attribution a passage from a 2005 book. — Zakaria's 2008 book, “The Post-American World …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Daily Beast and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

PREMIUM FISHER:

My Sister Paid Progressive Insurance to Defend Her Killer In Court — I've been sending out some impertinent tweets about Progressive Insurance lately, but I haven't explained how they pissed me off. So I will do that here as succinctly as possible. There's a general understanding that says …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Mashable!, Boing Boing and PointOfLaw Forum

Jon Ralston / Las Vegas Sun Blogs:

McCain rebuts Reid on Romney, says “nothing in his tax returns shows he did not pay taxes” — Arizona Sen. John McCain said today that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is wrong about his assertion that Mitt Romney did not pay taxes for 10 years, saying his team that vetted the presumptive GOP nominee in 2008 found no such thing.

Discussion: The Hill, Angry Black Lady Chronicles, Politico, Daily Kos and Outside the Beltway

Francisco Alvarado / Riptide 2.0:

Mitt Romney Is Stumping in Miami at Eatery Owned by Convicted Coke Smuggler … Today, Mitt Romney is forgoing a Miami political campaign tradition by skipping over Versailles restaurant in Little Havana. Instead, Mittens will hobnob with a convicted cocaine smuggler.

Discussion: The Hill, The Buzz Florida Politics Feed, UrbanGrounds, The Hinterland Gazette, Business Insider and Naked Politics

Associated Press:
Host for Romney event is a convicted drug dealer

Discussion: New York Magazine, NewsBusters.org and Balloon Juice

Matthew Boyle / The Daily Caller:

Whistle-blower, documents: Ill. state workers forced to attend Pelosi, Jesse Jackson Jr. event on taxpayer dime — Documents and a whistle-blower affidavit obtained by The Daily Caller charge that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Illinois Democratic Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. …

Discussion: Hot Air, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Jawa Report and The Gateway Pundit

Evan McMorris-Santoro / livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com:

Boehner's Office Says Obama Avoiding Personal Responsibility For Drought — On its website and in an email Monday, House Speaker John Boehner's office said President Obama needs to take personal responsibility for the drought ravaging the Midwest. — Obama, “continues to blame anyone …

Discussion: Financial Times, Washington Post, The Maddow Blog, Balloon Juice, Speaker.gov, The Hill, Daily Kos, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Dependable Renegade

ABCNEWS:

Twice-Jilted Pawlenty Sat on VP Secret — REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK by SHUSHANNAH WALSHE (@shushwalshe) — Tim Pawlenty was passed over as a presidential running mate twice. But to a reporter sitting on his front lawn during what must have been a difficult time — getting passed …

Discussion: BuzzFeed and ABCNEWS

Rebecca Elliott / BuzzFeed:

Virgin America Enables In-Flight Voter Registration — Romney and Obama impersonators come along for the ride. — As part of the launch of its new direct flight line from San Francisco to Washington D.C., Virgin America debuted the first ever in-flight voter registration program this morning.