Ryan gets rousing send-off at old high school

• Rep. Paul Ryan

Rep. Paul Ryan

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JANESVILLE - Congressman Paul Ryan spoke to almost three-thousand supporters at Janesville Craig, where he graduated from high school Monday afternoon.

The gymnasium at Paul Ryan’s old high school in Janesville was packed two hours before he was scheduled to speak. Many in the crowd were holding Romney-Ryan signs and shouting “USA” as loud music sounded. The signs on stage read, “Bring it Home, Paul” and “Paul Ryan – The Pride of Janesville.” About 50 protestors had gathered outside the school by mid-morning, and police had asked them to move a considerable distance away from the gym entrance. Two of Ryan’s critics from Kenosha and Racine counties said the House Budget Chairman drafted budget proposals that would have hurt the middle class had they been adopted. Another said Ryan’s proposals hurt women’s rights.

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The Janesville event was supposed to be a send-off for Ryan to the Republican National Convention in Tampa. But instead Ryan worked with aides in Janesville yesterday before heading off to the Florida Gulf Coast today. He’s scheduled to address the convention on Wednesday night. he’s expected to officially accept Mitt Romney’s vice-presidential nomination in a speech on Wednesday night. According to the Romney campaign, Ryan was expected to tell his supporters about the values he learned while growing up in Janesville and quote, “how they are needed in Washington right now.” Ryan said his family’s story was not any different than others – stories of people who worked hard to build their lives in America. He also talked about charities in the Janesville area which quote, “brings us together.”

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Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker says he’ll discuss his last 19 months in office when he speaks to the Republican National Convention tomorrow night. In a conference call with reporters today, Walker said he’d keep his address tight and to-the-point – and he’ll highlight one resident who benefitted from his policies. Walker faced a three-point-six billion dollar state budget deficit when he took office in January of 2011. He and a Republican majority in both houses of the Legislature approved deep cuts to state agencies, local governments, and public schools – and they made public employees pay more for their retirements and health insurance. Walker triggered massive protests and an unsuccessful campaign to recall him, after he approved the near-elimination of collective bargaining privileges for most public employee unions in state-and-local governments and public schools.

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