Paul Ryan visits Danville


South Boston News

With only 48 days before the November general election, Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan came to Danville to share the “Romney Plan for a Stronger Middle Class.”
Ryan spoke to a crowd of a few hundred people at Piedmont Precision Machine Company in Danville.

Brothers Adam and Carson Sneed were hoping to hear Ryan say that the Romney Plan would reduce taxes and eliminate the healthcare mandate. The two own a small event-planning business in the Danville area. “We can’t afford to buy healthcare for our employees and keep our business running,” said Adam Sneed.

Congressman Robert Hurt of Chatham – standing in front of the national debt counter saying, “In the last 25 years, we have seen hard times” – set the tone for the rally early. “Four years ago when then-candidate Barack Obama came to Martinsville and promised to make things better, he said then that if he were elected: ‘I’ll wake up every day in that White House thinking about those people in Martinsville.'”

“On the day he was sworn in, the unemployment rate in Martinsville was 15 per cent. During the last four years, Martinsville’s unemployment rate has been up to 21 per cent and today it stands at 16 per cent. As I travel across Virginia’s 5th District, the folks I represent ask me now, ‘Where are the jobs the President promised four years ago?'”

Ryan took to the stage telling the cheering crowd that he and Romney, in fact, had a plan to help Southside Virginia, which like the rest of the country has faced more than 43 straight months of 8 percent or higher unemployment. Their plan, according to Ryan, is similar to what Romney accomplished as governor of Massachusetts: a balanced budget that does not impose new taxes, and that increases the average annual household income of a family by $5,000.

As Ryan ticked off the energy resources he and Romney want the country to develop – coal, oil, natural gas – he never mentioned the one resource of major interest to many living in Southside Virginia: uranium. Instead, he pointed to offshore oil, and spoke of the problems besetting the coal industry and the loss of more than 1,200 jobs in the past week, which he blames on over-regulation from the Obama administration.

“We need to make more things in America, and sell them oversees, so we can create more jobs at home.”

Ryan then asked the crowd, “What if your President had known it [the 2008 economic crash] was coming before it happened, why it was happening, and how to prevent it, but didn’t do anything about it because it was not good politics? That’s what happened under our current president. This president has not done anything.”

A roar erupted as Ryan delivered the punch line: “We don’t need demagoguery; we need leadership, not someone who stands idly by, hurting people in their retirement and lowering our standard of living.”
Ryan said the 15 percent of Americans who are living below the poverty level – which he claims is the highest in a generation – is proof that America needs a change in leadership.

“Never have a man and a moment met so beautifully.”

Calling Romney a man with bedrock principles and a moral compass who has led a life of achievement, Ryan assured those present, he and Romney would “not spend the next four years blaming others.” After getting the runaround for four years, “America needs a turnaround. That is why we need to elect Mitt Romney as president.”

“This country is an idea, the only one founded on an idea. And that is that our rights come from nature and nature’s God and not from government. Every veteran who put on a uniform has preserved this for us. Thank you.” And with that, Ryan left the stage, shaking hands with audience members and posing for pictures.

Speaking with the crowd after the rally, they voiced enthusiasm and optimism about the Romney-Ryan ticket and their chances for election.

Rick Hazelwood, a 36-year veteran of Piedmont Precision Machine, said he liked what he heard. Kenlyn Snow and Jen Gitner, criminal justice majors from Liberty University in Lynchburg (which brought two busloads of students to the rally), also were impressed by the candidate, and claimed that after today, they definitely were voting for Romney. They were even contemplating volunteering.

The best compliment – or perhaps challenge – came from 11-year old Noah Adams. After attending his first political rally, he announced his own intention to run for president.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *