STATEMENT: Ryan Pick Shows Doubling Down on Politics Over Security
In response to today’s announcement of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) as Governor Romney’s vice presidential pick, NSN Executive Director Heather Hurlburt issued the following statement:
“Mitt Romney’s choice today to name Paul Ryan as commander-in-chief-in-waiting is at best cynical, at worst reckless — with consequences in lives and livelihoods. In his time in Washington, Ryan has proven himself to be less a courageous budget maverick and more a creature of politics – pitting himself against America’s military, diplomats and veterans.
Ryan’s flip-flopping on Pentagon spending –moving from agreement with the core of President Obama’s plan in his 2011 budget to a 2012 budget that imposes monies and programs on the military that they do not want – while being consistent about gutting veterans’ programs and diplomacy, shows that he lacks strategic vision for U.S. security. His choice this year to accuse the Pentagon’s uniformed leadership of lying to Congress about their needs suggest he is unready to be commander in chief, should that be required.
Like Governor Romney, Ryan seems to compensate for a lack of fully-formed national security views with rhetoric and, ironically for a budget hawk, dollar signs.
America faces the challenges of cementing our place in the 21st century, and recognizing — as Chairman Dempsey has — that America’s defense is only as strong as the economy and diplomacy behind it.
Willingness to choose politics over strategy and servicemembers will not get us where we need to go as a nation. The pick is a disappointment with dangerous implications.”
Additional Resources:
- The 2012 Battle Over Defense Spending, National Security Network, 4/6/11
- What’s Paul Ryan’s Foreign Policy?, Uri Friedman, Foreign Policy, 4/5/12
- Who’s Really Politicizing National Security?, National Security Network, 4/3/12
- GOP Budget Doesn’t Even Say the Word ‘Veteran’, Jon Soltz, Huffington Post, 3/21/12
Crafted by Cornershop