Politicians weigh in on NFL ref lockout

Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. speaks at a campaign stop at Byer Steel, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012, in Cincinnati.

/ AP Photo/David Kohl

Updated 7:00 p.m. ET

(CBS News) Republican VP nominee Paul Ryan and Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., publicly chided replacement referees after their home-state NFL team lost Monday night after a controversial call.

Ryan opened his rally in Cincinnati Tuesday calling for the "real refs" to return to the NFL, and Walker took to Twitter to call for the league's regular officials to return to the game.

"It is time to get the real refs," Ryan said in Cincinnati. "And you know what, it reminds me of President Obama and the economy. If you can't get it right, it is time to get out."

Ryan also said, "Unlike the Seattle Seahawks last night, we want to deserve this victory. We want to earn this victory."

Ryan was referring to Monday night's football game where the referees ruled that Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate caught a Hail Mary pass for a touchdown, resulting in a win over the Green Bay Packers.

This morning on Twitter, Walker called the outcome of the game "painful" and used the hashtag #returntherefs.

After catching a few hours of sleep, the #Packers game is still just as painful. #Returntherealrefs

-- Governor Walker (@GovWalker) September 25, 2012

Replacement referees have taken to the field to fill in for the officials locked in a labor dispute with the NFL over pay and pensions.

Both Ryan and Walker have come under fire from unions for their employer-focused policies. Walker's anti-public sector union policies eventually led to a recall election earlier this year, which Walker won. And Ryan's presidential running mate, Mitt Romney, has been highly critical of unions this campaign, especially during the recent Chicago teachers' strike.

AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka responded to Walker's comments with his own posting on Twitter:

Scott Walker discovers the value of union workers on.msnbc.com/PVyyxH

-- Richard L. Trumka (@RichardTrumka) September 25, 2012

Walker's press secretary, Cullen Werwie, denied that Walker's Twitter comment offered support of the union representing the referees telling CBSNews.com it "has nothing to do with unions and everything to do with a blown call."

Mr. Obama took a more bipartisan approach to the lockout, writing via Twitter that "NFL fans on both sides of the aisle hope the refs' lockout is settled soon." It was signed "-bo," meaning the tweet was authored by the president himself.

NFL fans on both sides of the aisle hope the refs' lockout is settled soon. -bo

-- Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 25, 2012

A few minutes later, the campaign tweeted a link to a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article about a radio interview with WTAM-AM Cleveland from last week in which Obama said, "Is it just me or do we have to get our regular refs back?"

He added: "I can't get involved in it, but I'm just expressing my point of view as a sports fan."

White House spokesperson Jay Carney told reporters Tuesday that instead of debating if the call was the right one, the game showed that both sides need to reach an agreement so the original referees can return to the field.

Later Tuesday, GOP nominee Mitt Romney weighed in on behalf of his running mate, although it was not clear that he had seen the game. "I sure would like to see some experienced referees with NFL experience come back onto the NFL playing fields," Romney said when asked about the controversy by CNN's Jim Acosta.

"Paul Ryan called those referees out today. Are you glad that he did that?" Acosta asked. "That's just fine," Romney said. "Paul was very angry that the Green Bay Packers, he believed won, and the referees took it away from them."

[J2289]

Obama needs to work on his DISMAL FORWARD FAILURE ECONOMY...not NFL football referees!
1. Fact: Ryan's medicare plan will not change anything for people age 55 or older. Watch this video to learn the truth about Ryan's medicare plan:http://wwwwakeupamericans-spree.blogspot.com/2012/08/video-flashback-paul-ryan-we-can-save.html#.UDaEj0SSc4S
2. Fact: Black unemployment is at RECORD HIGH levels under obama. Read this: http://news.investors.com/article/617960/201207121851/mitt-romney-speaks-to-naacp-convention.htm
3. Fact: Hispanic unemployment is at RECORD HIGH levels under obama. Read this: http://hispanic.cc/obama_economic_programs_have_failed.htm
4. Fact: Obama's stimulus is a FAILURE. A year ago (June 2011) there was 1.9 million MORE Americans unemployed because of obama's failed stimulus. Read this: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/19-million-fewer-americans-have-jobs-today-when-obama-signed-stimulus

Here's what we need to do:
A. Watch the movie "2016" to see the real obama. Read this about the movie: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/sep/20/impact-of-2016-on-2012-presidential-race-uncertain/

B. Read the internet article by the Washington Examiner newspaper titled "The Obama You Don't Know". You owe it to YOUR COUNTRY to read this article. KNOW AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE ABOUT SECRETIVE OBAMA. Here is the website: http://washingtonexaminer.com/obama#.UFsyRxiFdQZ

C. Read the book "The Amateur: Barack Obama in the White House" by Edward Klein.

D. Don't listen to or believe the polls or the biased mainstream media [CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, AP, Reuters, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, NY Times, Miami Herald...they are not journalists...they are liars for FORWARD FAILURE liberals.

E. Nov 6th: you and your friends kick out job killer not my fault not quite shovel ready muslim sympathizer FORWARD FAILURE nobama and all tax and spend politicians. GET INVOLVED; TAKE AN ACTIVE PART IN KICKING OUT OBAMA.

F. Repeal nobamacare and replace it with a better system not run by the Government.

G. Pass mandatory national E-Verify to stop illegals from stealing our jobs.

H. Pass mandatory national Voter ID to stop illegals from stealing our vote.

[shelleyfannin]

Good Summary!!! I've read all except Klein's book. I even read Obama's book to verify things. Don't know if you are familiar with Thomas Sowell, he has a talent for succinctly outlining issues...check him out @ tsowell.org.

[hhandyman]

R&R Presidential candidates should walk out and keep walking till Feb 2013 all the way to China where the outsourced jobs went. see if they need an assistant chairman to guide them in Ayn Rand version of Free enterprise once they learn that method then their country too can fall from crooked banks and misguided stock sales people that have the Me first ego-ed and Holier than though Ego.

[WHAT-IS-HE-SMOKING]

FLIP-FLOP-FLIP-FLOP, UNION, NO UNION, UNION, NO UNION Is this their new plan?

[davidd5063]

Wow, it's like the Packers lost a game on a bad call, and now blaming the officials is easier than defending your policies. The Packers records is always a political issue in WI I guess.

[GoUnion86]

Romney and Ryan can relate to these replacement referees. Both are incompetent and making all the wrong calls.

[TimeToEvolve]

So Lyin Ryan and Snot Walker are now supporting the socialist referees union. And you wonder how these hypocritical wackos got their nicknames?

Maybe Lyin and Snot want to just force them to go back to work without hearing anything else.

[jdow79]

@ballwyllo.... so when your skin is in the game (public union), you give a crap. but when it's not (private union), you don't give a crap.

right.

[The_Todd100]

Its nice to see Paul Ryan understanding the need for the union workers over cheap labor .

[The_Todd100]

Its nice to see Paul Ryan understanding the need for the union workers over cheap labor .

[oldjones]

Yup, everyone wants em' (both teachers and refs) to do the job! But, as always: The devil's in the details. People want em' good and people want em' cheap. There comes a time when the wanting em' "cheap" overtakes and severely diminishs getting em' "good". Want to solve the problem? Pay both the teachers and the refs what they're really worth; which, in my opinion, is substantially more than they're being paid now..