What's Wrong With Paul Ryan (R-WI)?

Wisconsin's shame: two clowns

Paul Ryan has become the front man for the worst excesses and betrayals of the Republican Party. He's the less ugly face of the more ugly policies we all rejected at the polls in November when we elected Barack Obama instead of opting for a third Bush term-- including, by the way, a majority of the voters in the southeastern part of Wisconsin Ryan purports to represent. Wednesday we were looking at Ryan's anti-health care agenda the latest travesty he trotted out to simulate solving problems without actually offering any substantive solutions.

Yesterday the DCCC sent media alerts to all the press outlets in Kenosha, Racine, Janesville, Waukesha and Milwaukee so that Wisconsin residents would be aware that the state's entire congressional delegation-- minus Paul Ryan and Jim Sensenbrenner-- voted to pass the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act. And it did pass-- 300-114-- 60 Republicans joining the Democrats to protect consumers from predatory and abusive mortgage lenders. In Wisconsin everyone from Dave Obey (D-Wausau) to Tom Petri (R-Fond du Lac) got behind the bipartisan reform measure.

So the question is, why, with record foreclosures, did Ryan decide to protect predatory lenders who have been victimizing mortgage applicants? Do you think it could possibly have anything to do with the huge amount of money, "donations," Ryan has been receiving from the financial, insurance and real estate sector? After all, the FIRE sector gives to everyone, right? Well, almost everyone. But very few are as richly rewarded as Paul Ryan. These are the contributions from this sector that each Wisconsin House member has gotten (with the number of years they've been in office):

Paul Ryan- $1,593,345 (in 10 years)
Ron Kind- $786,911 (in 12 years)
Jim Sensenbrenner- $625,707 (in 30 years)
David Obey- $617,796 (in 40 years)
Tammy Baldwin- $330,648 (in 10 years)
Gwen Moore- $319,779 (in 4 years)
Tom Petri- $316,520 (in 30 years)
Steve Kagen- $131,835 (in 2 years)

They sure seem to like Mr. Ryan... a lot. And he has never once let the well-being of his constituents get in the way of his unswerving loyalty to the crooked bankers and insurance cheats who have financed his political career. True, Wisconsin hasn't been hit with the tidal wave of foreclosures that Florida, California, Nevada, Arizona and Georgia have. Oh, wait... there is a Wisconsin district that has been as hard hit as the California and Florida districts-- Ryan's district. The projected foreclosures over the next 4 years in WI-01 are 14,874. That's a lot of families being pushed out of their homes.
“Responsible Wisconsin families who played by the rules but are still losing their homes in this foreclosure crisis can thank Representatives Paul Ryan and James Sensenbrenner for voting to protect predatory lenders instead of trying to help them keep their homes,” said Ryan Rudominer, National Press Secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

The bill Ryan opposed earlier this month puts an end to the kind of predatory lending practices that helped lead to the current financial crisis and also prevents borrowers from misstating their income to qualify for a mortgage. It also establishes statutory standards for all lenders and places limits on high-cost mortgages. And one of the parts Ryan objected to most strongly-- since it hits his crooked campaign contributors-- is that it bars lenders from steering consumers to loans that they cannot reasonably be expected to repay and prohibits lenders from paying mortgage brokers for getting consumers into loans with above-market interest rates. At the same time, the bill also requires that tenants in foreclosed properties be given at least 90 days notice before having to leave.

Paul Ryan has never had a serious opponent. Blue America is trying to find one for 2010. We would really appreciate any help you could give us with that endeavor.