Paul Ryan is the Republican vice presidential nominee for presidential candidate Mitt Romney. He is originally from Janesville, Wis. He is married and has three children, a son and two daughters. He has a degree in economics and politics from Miami University of Ohio.
Ryan’s political career began in 1992 when he was hired as an aide to Republican Senator Bob Kasten. He then moved on to become an adviser for Empower America, a conservative think tank where he also served as a speechwriter. After his time there, he took a job as a speechwriter for his former boss Jack Kemp in 1996. At the time, Kemp was the V.P. nominee for Bob Dole.
After spending a year as the legislative director for Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, Ryan was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives out of Wisconsin’s First District, where he still holds office today in the midst of his seventh term. Right now, Ryan serves as the Chairman of the House Budget Committee and a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, according to his website.
Ryan has voted yes on issues that impact students here at Eastern Michigan University. He supports a budget plan that would supposedly sustain the current $5,500 Pell Grant limit and provide a “more consistent maximum grant award that will help students and families plan for the cost of college,” Ryan said on his website.
Ryan introduced the “Path to Prosperity,” his own budget plan that alleges to avoid sequestration cuts across many different avenues of government spending. His plan would cut spending from 24 percent of the current gross domestic product to 20 percent by 2015.
Ryan also supports a largely bipartisan bill, H.R. 5854, which authorizes $71.7 billion for military construction and Veterans Affairs of which $60.7 billion is allocated for Veterans Affairs. The bill also allows for $54.5 billion in advance spending for 2014, it is not extra money; it draws against the budget for 2014.
Ryan voted in favor of H.R. 4310 which authorized $554 billion in direct funding for the war on terrorism and another $88.5 billion in overseas contingency operations. He also said that Israel is a key ally in the Middle East.
In 2011, Ryan voted yes on a bill that would limit funding to the United Nations provided they, among other things, changed their budget so that 80 percent of funding came on a voluntary basis instead of being regularly assessed.
Ryan also opposes Obamacare. He argues that it takes over $700 billion from Medicare and would make Medicare non-existent by 2024.
Ryan is also pro-life. His voting record consistently shows he has not deviated from that belief.
He made headlines over the summer when he defined rape as a “method of conception,” but seemed to clarify what he meant in time for the vice presidential debate a couple weeks ago.
Ryan also has two favorite bands: Led Zeppelin and Rage Against the Machine.
