# The Principal Themes of the RNC Convention are Built on Lies and Misrepresentations **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 29, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037 "2012-08-29T15:44:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037/101 "2012-08-30T15:15:33Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I, and the Republican party, disagree. We all paid for that infrastructure when it was built. We did? So now that it’s built, we can just stop? Nothing should ever change? There will be no advancements to discover? All the roads and bridges that have already been built and paid for will just last forever? Infrastructure is an ongoing project. We didn’t pay for it when it was built because it’s not done \*being \*built. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037/102 "2012-08-30T15:19:48Z")
On another lie of the RNC, let’s discuss Paul Ryan’s claim that a Janesville WI GM plant that closed in 2008 was Obama’s doing. Not so much [the facts of the case](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/08/17/paul-ryan-used-government-funds-and-power-to-try-and-save-gm-plant-in-his-district.html), which seem clear enough, but what it means for Ryan to be using a factually simple lie to buttress his case against Obama. I mean, you’d think he’d be able to find a few examples that are actually true to illustrate his case. The fact that he has to use an example that he knows to be false tells you (it certainly tells me) that he’s desperate to find any evidence that he can briefly make plausible, even if it’s certain to be quickly and definitely exposed as false. Of course if you want to make the argument that this was an innocent mistake, then what does that tell you about a policy wonk’s familiarity with his own district in recent times? I know what it tells me. If I were on Ryan’s side, I’d opt for “bald-faced liar” over “totally incompetent doing his job,” but it’s a close call. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037/103 "2012-08-30T15:37:31Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > Tomato to-mA-to. > > There’s no substantive difference between the two. Yes. There is. Republicans started out saying that the credit for the success of a business goes 100% to the owner and 0% to society, hence we need to lower taxes because that money is rightfully the business owner’s. Obama said no, that’s not true, it’s more like 61% owner and 39% society, and it’s perfectly reasonable to keep some of the money the company or owner make in taxes to pay America back for its aid. (I’m half-assing the numbers here, mostly for illustration, they’re not precise in any way.) That’s ‘the owner isn’t solely responsible’ - he did indeed make the company, but he couldn’t have done it without society’s help. This is uncontroversial and obvious, even **Bricker** stated as much, though I’m sure we’d differ on the exact proportion. The Republican response, including yours, has been to scream their heads off that Obama claims it’s 0% owner and 100% society and that _no_ credit at all goes to the owner. Can’t you see how that’s bullshit? ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037/104 "2012-08-30T15:38:07Z")
A further link on Ryan’s bald-faced lies last night are[here.](http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/106730/ryan-most-dishonest-convention-speech-five-lies-gm-medicare-deficit-medicaid?utm_source=The+New+Republic&utm_campaign=c0743606fc-TNR_Daily_083012_AB&utm_medium=email) Is there anyone willing to argue that any of these are not simply lies? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037/105 "2012-08-30T15:49:51Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > But my point is that they are not completely out of context. My point is that, much as **BobLibDem** has helpfully illustrated, the underlying thesis of Obama’s comments is precisely that the presence of infrastructure creates or justifies an obligation on the part of businesses – small, medium, and large – to somehow “pay back” society for that infrastructure. > > I, and the Republican party, disagree. We all paid for that infrastructure when it was built. The fact that someone was able to use his own intelligence, talent, and initiative to wrest greater profits from the business world does not create some larger obligation to pay more back. This is a perfect example to me as to why this is an important point to reiterate, rather than a tautology or an obvious fact. You say that the infrastructure has been built. You see it as static. It’s already done, so we can just sit back and reap the benefits. Where would we be if the infrastructure was complete in 1990? We would be lagging behind the rest of the world who have moved on to develop the utility of the internet and wireless communication devices. Where would our national defense be, if we regarded it as fixed and static? Would we need a patent office? Would we need the Supreme Court? Infrastructure is not static, it has to be maintained and developed over time. And in terms of the real point of what the individual owes to America, America is more than just hard infrastructure. We’re all seeing clearly what the effects of low levels of revenue are for current success. A successful person in America benefits from having a population of people who are in a position to consume or support whatever the successful person is doing to succeed. An ignorant, poor population is not going to foster the success of the provider of handheld e-reader content. America is a dynamic thing. America exists today because of yesterday. Sure, perhaps you and the Republicans think that it’s fine to come in here and use what America provides to help create Facebook and then split. But I - and the non-Republicans - love America and want it to continue to be successful even after I am gone. I want to continue to support it so that not only will we have great examples of very successful Americans, but we’ll have more people whose success involves nothing more than life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. While you and the Republicans may feel that helping people with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is just charity and should be disdained, the nice thing is that the more of them there are, the more chances for people with greater talents to succeed. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037/106 "2012-08-30T16:01:10Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Republicans started out saying that the credit for the success of a business goes 100% to the owner and 0% to society, hence we need to lower taxes because that money is rightfully the business owner’s. > > Obama said no, that’s not true, it’s more like… This wasn’t a debate. Obama was talking to a friendly audience. This was an unforced error. What Republican, specifically, “started out saying that the credit of a business goes 100% to the owner and 0% to society” that Obama was referring to? ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037/107 "2012-08-30T16:11:06Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > some more on Ryan’s speech > > [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/08/30/paul-ryans-speech-in-three-words/](http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/08/30/paul-ryans-speech-in-three-words/) Wow. Even Fox?? > [@](#): > > On the other hand, to anyone paying the slightest bit of attention to facts, Ryan’s speech was an apparent attempt to set the world record for the greatest number of blatant lies and misrepresentations slipped into a single political speech. On this measure, while it was Romney who ran the Olympics, Ryan earned the gold. > The good news is that the Romney-Ryan campaign has likely created dozens of new jobs among the legions of additional fact checkers that media outlets are rushing to hire to sift through the mountain of cow dung that flowed from Ryan’s mouth. Said fact checkers have already condemned certain arguments that Ryan still irresponsibly repeated. They go on to tear apart some of the lies. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037/108 "2012-08-30T16:14:20Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > We did? So now that it’s built, we can just stop? Nothing should ever change? There will be no advancements to discover? All the roads and bridges that have already been built and paid for will just last forever? > > Infrastructure is an ongoing project. We didn’t pay for it when it was built because it’s not done \*being \*built. No, you mistake the thrust of my comment. We built it, and we jointly will continue to build (and repair, and improve) it. That does not create a greater obligation from somebody who became successful to contribute more than others. His additional use of the roads is already covered by his additional gasoline tax, his additional payment of tolls, his additional weight payments for his trucks. He does not incur some generalized obligation to pay more because he used his talent and drive to become successful. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037/109 "2012-08-30T16:16:10Z")
The reviews on Paul Ryan’s speech are in and it is a BLOCkBUSTER! [Fox News: Paul Ryan’s Speech in three words](http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/08/30/paul-ryans-speech-in-three-words/) > [@](#): > > 1. Deceiving > On the other hand, to anyone paying the slightest bit of attention to facts, Ryan’s speech was an apparent attempt to set the world record for the greatest number of blatant lies and misrepresentations slipped into a single political speech. On this measure, while it was Romney who ran the Olympics, Ryan earned the gold. [AP: FACT CHECK: Convention speakers stray from reality](http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j-oHGoQbH0RmoY7rNL47-I6BYziA?docId=dc7b2d4bcfab405989965fd9505a1aff) > [@](#): > > Laying out the first plans for his party’s presidential ticket, GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan took some factual shortcuts Wednesday night when he attacked President Barack Obama’s policies on Medicare, the economic stimulus and the budget deficit. [Paul Ryan repeats Auto Bailout, Medicare Lies](http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/robert-schlesinger/2012/08/29/paul-ryan-repeats-auto-bailout-medicare-lies) > [@](#): > > In his acceptance speech Wednesday night, as he denounced the usual politics of divisiveness, GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan repeated a hoary and deceiving tale about a shuttered factory in his home town of Janesville, Wisconsin. He also repeated now standard GOP Medicare half truths. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037/110 "2012-08-30T16:19:16Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > This is a perfect example to me as to why this is an important point to reiterate, rather than a tautology or an obvious fact. You say that the infrastructure has been built. You see it as static. It’s already done, so we can just sit back and reap the benefits. > > Where would we be if the infrastructure was complete in 1990? Answered in my previous post. > [@](#): > > While you and the Republicans may feel that helping people with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is just charity and should be disdained, the nice thing is that the more of them there are, the more chances for people with greater talents to succeed. You’re absolutely right: this is a basic question of philosophy, of what the proper role of government is. I don’t agree that the proper role of government is to take something more from the most successful, even for the noble goal of trying to create an environment where even more can be successful. I don’t dispute the claim that many people disagree, and see it as an entirely proper role of government. This is why we have elections. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037/111 "2012-08-30T16:23:09Z")
Since \*\*Bricker \*\*continues to assert that Obama was trying to justify higher taxes on the rich, rather than contending that Romney’s plans for taxes and spending are a bad idea, I’ll just continue to flag his actual words: > [@](#): > > Well, first of all, like I said, the only way you can pay for that – if you’re actually saying you’re bringing down the deficit – is to cut transportation, cut education, cut basic research, voucherize Medicare, and you’re still going to end up having to raise taxes on middle-class families to pay for this $5 trillion tax cut. That’s not a deficit reduction plan. That’s a deficit expansion plan. > > … > > But you know what, I’m not going to see us gut the investments that grow our economy to give tax breaks to me or Mr. Romney or folks who don’t need them. So I’m going to reduce the deficit in a balanced way. > > … > > There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me – because they want to give something back. They know they didn’t – look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something – there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. (Applause.) > > If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business – you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet. > > The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together. There are some things, just like fighting fires, we don’t do on our own. I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service. That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037/112 "2012-08-30T16:28:03Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > I agree with Kessler that what Romney has done with “you didn’t build that” is the equivalent of transforming Romney’s out-of-context “I like to fire people” into the entire basis for a campaign. Out of context? Hell, his statement is actually WORSE when you put it in context! Out of context you can laugh “oh ho ho, look at the rich guy saying he likes to fire people.” In context he was specifically talking about health insurance companies. Don’t like your health insurance company? Fire them and get a new one! Ta da! Except it doesn’t work that way and everyone in the United States except for Mitt Romney realizes this. You get health insurance in this country one of three ways: 1. Through your place of employment. But you accept what you’re given because you have zero negotiating power, and zero power to switch to another health insurance carrier if you want to “fire” this one. Oh sure, you can quit and find a new job solely because you want better health care coverage, but nobody does this. It would be time consuming, possibly futile and thoroughly insane. 2. On the open market. Your job sucks and doesn’t even give you health care. Or you don’t have a job. Well, better hope you don’t have a pre-existing condition making you completely uninsurable. And better hope they don’t drop you when you get sick (and yes, I get that these have changed under the ACA, but since the Republicans fought like bastards to make sure we didn’t get these rights, they don’t get to claim these newfound powers as benefits in our ability to “fire” people). But either way, a single person has zero negotiating power. 3. Through the government. And why would you fire them? Satisfaction with government health care for those who have it is fucking through the roof. Is this a tangent to the thread? You betcha. But I needed to vent. The Romney quote isn’t taken out of context. The context is this: Romney has zero understanding of what life for the average American is like. We don’t get the option to “fire” our health insurance company even if we’d really really like to. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037/113 "2012-08-30T16:36:29Z")
John Mace, please answer as to how a budget plan can call for lower total spending than we presently spend on defense alone without gutting, well, everything? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037/114 "2012-08-30T16:43:36Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Answered in my previous post. > > You’re absolutely right: this is a basic question of philosophy, of what the proper role of government is. I don’t agree that the proper role of government is to take something more from the most successful, even for the noble goal of trying to create an environment where even more can be successful. > > I don’t dispute the claim that many people disagree, and see it as an entirely proper role of government. This is why we have elections. This has nothing to do with how the Republicans are distorting Obama’s words – they are distorting them to make it seem like the business owner had nothing to do with building his/her business. “If you have a business…you didn’t build that” is all they quote. They are not making a nuanced argument about whether taxes at the high end should be 30% or 33% or 39%, they are bluntly lying by implying that Obama hates business. In any case, the infrastructure and social support we have today is NOT paid for – we still have $14 trillion in debt to work down. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037/115 "2012-08-30T16:45:32Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > John Mace, please answer as to how a budget plan can call for lower total spending than we presently spend on defense alone without gutting, well, everything? [bright cheery mystical voice] _tambourine shake_ Because they have magic beans… _tambourine shake_ [/bcmv] ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037/116 "2012-08-30T16:46:53Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Answered in my previous post. Well, at least responded to, if not answered. > [@](#): > > You’re absolutely right: this is a basic question of philosophy, of what the proper role of government is. I don’t agree that the proper role of government is to take something more from the most successful, even for the noble goal of trying to create an environment where even more can be successful. > > I don’t dispute the claim that many people disagree, and see it as an entirely proper role of government. This is why we have elections. At some level it becomes pragmatic. The money has to come from somewhere. You can pretend that it is moral and desirable if it comes equally from everyone. Similarly you can say that the desired amount of milk production should come from all members of the herd contributing the same amount. You’ll be scratching your head though, wondering why the bulls produce so little when you milk them. Not only is it pragmatic, but it’s empirical as well. We can look over history and we’ll see that individual household income is higher for all groups (or equal for the filthy rich) under Democratic presidents. It may make you feel like you’re climbing a rope in gym class to see the wealthy get tax cuts, but the math and the history says that it is better for America to get the revenue necessary to keep on keepin on. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037/117 "2012-08-30T16:50:10Z")
Ryan’s lie-fest isn’t getting a lot of attention here. Objective journalists pretty much agree that if he was Pinocchio, his nose wouldn’t have fit in the arena. It’s amazing the power that he credits to Obama- such as being able to close a factory while still running for president, for failing to adopt the debt commission recommendations that Ryan voted against, for the drop in the credit rating that was brought on by Ryan’s party holding the debt ceiling hostage. This on top of the welfare lie that has been repeatedly debunked. Not to worry- their campaign isn’t going to be constrained by factcheckers! ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037/118 "2012-08-30T16:59:27Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > Wow. Even Fox?? That surprises me. Maybe there is some hope for them yet.:dubious: I jumped around from channel to channel to see how Ryan’s speech was being reported (but didn’t bother with FOX), and almost universally people were saying, ‘It was a great speech. Full of lies and half truths, but lies are easy and the truth is complicated. The people he needs to win over don’t fact check.’ Sad if true. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037/119 "2012-08-30T17:02:52Z")
It is post-truth. It is a dare in the face of the American people. They are asking us, “Do you care if we have nothing to offer but bald faced lies?” It’s a challenge to their base, asking "How little integrity do you have? How much deceit are you personally willing to stand up for, in return for nothing but out team ‘winning?’ " ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037/120 "2012-08-30T17:22:38Z")
William Saletin is breaking up with Paul Ryan. Here’s his Dear John letter. > **[Why I’m Breaking Up With Paul Ryan](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2012/08/paul-ryans-medicare-flip-flop-is-a-betrayal-of-conservatism.html)** > > Dear Paul, [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-principal-themes-of-the-rnc-convention-are-built-on-lies-and-misrepresentations/633037.md?page=7)