Ryan says Obama fails to lead at home and abroad

Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. speaks during a campaign event, Monday, Oct. 8, 2012, in Swanton, Ohio. / AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

SWANTON, Ohio - Vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan accused President Obama of failing to offer "spirited and principled leadership" at home or abroad here Monday, echoing ticket-mate Mitt Romney's wide-ranging critique of the president's foreign policy earlier in the day.

Ryan also defended the Republican budget he wrote against a claim from the Obama campaign that it cuts $11 billion from the Department of Veteran's Affairs.

"He is mischaracterizing our support for veterans. Let me make one thing very clear, in the House budget that we drafted and that we passed, we fully met and exceeded the president's request for...veterans funding by $270 million," Ryan said during a rally in an airport hangar. "We didn't think the president's went far enough and we expanded it because we know this is a promise that must be kept. These people put their lives on the line and in a Romney administration we will always keep our promise and our commitment to our veterans."

Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, has written a 10-year budget blueprint that brings non-security domestic discretionary spending down below 2008 levels. As a result he proposes spending $5.3 trillion less than what Obama's 10-year plan envisions, according to FactCheck.org.

Ryan doesn't say what he'd cut but the Obama campaign assumes a 19 percent across the board cut in discretionary spending, including $11 billion from veterans programs. The GOP campaign says the Ryan budget would actually spend $16.4 billion more; the discrepancy, according to a Washington Post analysis, is because the Obama administration assumes more veterans will be receiving higher disability benefits over the decade.

After Ryan's speech, the Obama campaign stood by its claim. "Romney has suggested privatizing veterans' health care and their budget includes unspecified cuts to domestic spending that could mean deep cuts to Veteran's Affairs. No matter their rhetoric four weeks before an election, those are the unfortunate facts about their policies," said spokesman Danny Kanner.

Before Ryan began his rally, viewers were able to watch a live stream as Romney concluded his own foreign policy speech at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Va.

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"We just watched what leadership looks like," Ryan said when he took the stage after the speech concluded. Expanding on Romney's themes, he focused in particular on turmoil in the Middle East, including the attacks in Libya that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. The administration initially said protests against an anti-Islam video may have triggered the attacks, but more recently has said they were terrorist attacks possibly related to an arm of al Qaida.

Ryan said that in a Romney administration, "when we know that we are clearly attacked by terrorists, we won't be afraid to say what it is. If terrorists attack us, we will say we had a terrorist attack and more importantly, we will do what is necessary to prevent that from happening by having a strong military, by making sure that our adversaries do not test us, do not think that we are a weak and in retreat."

[infantryman1968]

Ryan says Obama fails to lead at home and abroad
LOL!
Our enemies used to fear us. Now they are laughing at us.

[PourpaixPourpaix]

Actually, I'd rather they laugh at us, like the Canadians or Kiwis. Nobody seeks to kill Canadians or Kiwis when they are abroad. More suitable targets are from aggressor states like America and Great Britain.

Fear leads to resentment, resentment leads to revenge. Do you think those who fear us just scamper away like scared rabbits? Don'tcha think some will hide in the shadows and take pot shots at us? Do you see scared rabbit stories or pot shots in the news? We get no benefit by teaching the world to fear us.

[sharkboy234]

Joe Biden will win the VP debate,Obama will win 2 debates.

[Jaylah54200]

If he means that Obama doesn't go out and start multiple wars, he's right.

Good thing.

[bbglow]

... and, who leads with the RNC in control ... Norquist?

[GOP-R--Con-Men]

Ryan a person that favors the philosophy of russian atheist philosophor Ayn Rand over the teachings of Jesus has no credibility with me.

[lesserof2evil]

By leading, the con man Ryan meant doing it the republicon way or the highway.

[nearl451]

Little smartas$.

He runs a 5 minute mile too.

[sandy 1027]

Romney-Ryan are advocating radical upheaval in the Medicare System,the Veterans' Administration and health care,Social Security( long-term, privatization), and despite Romney's new-found love for teachers and firefighters last week, he has proposed downgrading the Dept. of Education and putting it under the auspices of another agency.[ He has argued for most of these positions no more than 9 mos. ago; and despite what he said last week, no one should think that the far-right will let him back-track, even he wants to].In addition to all of this, it's clear from Romney's speech today that he would escalate international tensions.Some of his language suggests more military aggression.I'm pretty sure that most of the American people are not on board with any of this.

[0bama2O12]

Not to mention that median household incomes have fallen only 8.2% since President Obama has taken office. Even though a drop from 8.1 to 7.8% is statistically insignificant the economy is definitely improving.

[Dancing-in-the-Streets]

One month till Election Day! : )

And the Unemployment rate hits a 4 year LOW!

Dow Jones Industrial Average hits a 5 year HIGH at 13,610!

Federal Deficit is down 200B since 2011

And the Presidents Approval Rating hits a 3 year HIGH at 54%

: )

[VeggieVal]

@Dancing-in-the-streets: I didn't know the asylums gave you folks computers, but glad to see you're getting out more. Hope the new meds help... :)