Dueling Records: Russ Feingold vs. Paul Ryan for Senate in Wisconsin
Bill Kaplan considers the possibilities for a Russ Feingold Senate run in 2012 now that Wisconsin’s Herb Kohl has announced his retirement:
Two potential front runners, former Wisconsin Democratic Senator Russell Feingold and current Wisconsin GOP Representative Paul Ryan, have completely opposite voting records:
Feingold Issue Ryan NO Bush tax cuts YES NO Iraq War & fighting wars with borrowed money YES NO Patriot Act YES NO TARP YES NO Repeal of Glass-Steagall Act YES My nod goes to Feingold, who always fought for the common good and successfully reached across the partisan divide to his GOP colleagues to pass groundbreaking legislation.
There are other comparisons to be made in the legislative records of Russ Feingold and Paul Ryan. Consider their voting and cosponsorship records in the 111th Congress:
Feingold
Issue
Ryan
YES
Extending Unemployment Insurance
NO
YES
Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization
NO
YES
Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Repeal
YES
COSPONSOR
Employment Non-Discrimination Act
NON-COSPONSOR
YES
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
NO
COSPONSOR
Uniting American Families Act
NON-COSPONSOR
Russ Feingold and Paul Ryan stand for two starkly different visions of America: one in which the civil liberties of Americans are preserved, discrimination is brought to an end and we lend a hand to those who need it, and another in which government prerogatives matter more, discrimination is made legal and struggling people are left on their own. If Feingold and Ryan end up as their parties’ nominees for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin, I can’t imagine a clearer race.
I can’t imagine a clearer choice either. Feingold’s philosophy of Big Government is Better is the reason that we are in this mess. Paul Ryan for Treasury Secretary!