"Pundits who claim the [Paul Ryan] pick was all about shoring up the right or the tea party fundamentally misunderstand conservatives, Paul Ryan and big-idea politics. 

"It’s not that Mr. Ryan is someone sufficiently conservative or someone who will rally the tea party folks to get behind a guy who has a sad track record of being a principled conservative only at the times that helped him politically. 

"Rather, all the hosannas arose from the farthest quarters of the Republican Party because in his first major decision as the party’s expected nominee, Mr. Romney decided to be serious. He picked one of the most — one of the only — serious people who have spent most of their adult lives working in Washington and trying to fundamentally reform it."

"Is America ready for a serious discussion of issues, rather than the superficial approach that has defined so much of modern politics? We're about to find out. There may be a remnant, a Puritan ethic, still living within our collective DNA that can remind us about the evil of debt, living within one's means and taking care of yourself first, rather than relying on inefficient and overreaching government.

"The Obama administration has done nothing to warrant a second term. If Ryan and Romney can force Americans to pay attention to the need for real change, instead of the unaffordable snake oil Obama has been selling, they will win handily and take back the Senate for Republicans. Anyone needing to be reminded of Ryan's debating skills should re-visit his criticism of the president's health-care measure before it passed with most of Congress not knowing what was in it. ...

"This election isn't about politicians; it's about us. Clearing the debris caused by broken and dysfunctional government, while maintaining a safety net for the genuinely needy, will not only restore the economy, it will restore optimism.

"Ronald Reagan (Romney-Ryan is another 'RR') ran for re-election in 1984 and inspired people to believe in themselves, not government. President Obama appears to want the opposite."

"He doesn't fit some of the standard criteria for vice president. He hasn't won a statewide election, held an executive position or become well-known nationally or even in much of Wisconsin. 

"But more than anyone else, more even (as impolite as it is to say) than the putative presidential nominee, Ryan has set the course for the Republican Party for the past three years, both on policy and in politics. From his post as chairman of the House Budget Committee, he has made himself not just a plausible national nominee but a formidable one by advancing and arguing for major changes in entitlement policy. 

"He has argued consistently that entitlement programs -- Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid -- are on an unsustainable trajectory. Left alone, they threaten to crowd out necessary government spending and throttle the private sector. ... 

"One more thing about Ryan, I think, appealed to Romney. He already has shown he cannot be intimidated by the most eminent opponent. ... 

"Romney's selection of Ryan shows he wants a debate on whether America should follow Obama on the road to a European-style welfare state."

"In 1988, Michael Dukakis famously said, 'This election is not about ideology; it’s about competence.' He lost. If Republicans want to win, Obama’s deeply revealing, teleprompter-free you-didn’t-build-that confession of faith needs to be hung around his neck until Election Day. The third consecutive summer-of-recovery-that-never-came is attributable not just to Obama being in over his head but, even more important, to what’s in his head: a government-centered vision of the economy and society, and the policies that flow from it. 

"Four years of that and this is what you get. 

"Make the case and you win the White House."

"The welfare reform of 1996 stands as perhaps the most important entitlement reform in the nation’s history. Its successes stem from a core requirement that able-bodied parents must work, search for work, or train for work to be eligible for public assistance.
 
"But now, under the guise of providing states greater 'flexibility' in operating their welfare programs, the Obama administration claims unjustifiable authority to weaken or waive the work requirements at the heart of the reform law. There’s just one problem: The law is clear that those requirements can’t be waived. ... 

"To waive those requirements is to violate the 'workfare' law, the Constitution’s vesting of legislative power in the Congress, and the president’s fundamental duty to faithfully carry out all the laws."

"Lately President Obama has done everything except seduce an intern in his attempt to morph into Bill Clinton. In virtually every speech, he invokes Clinton’s name, trying to link his policies with those of the popular former president. He has even called upon Clinton to place Obama’s name in nomination at the Democratic National Convention. 
 
"But, try as he might, Barack Obama, is no Bill Clinton. ... 
 
"In the end, President Obama would increase taxes more than Bill Clinton did, and cut spending a lot less. ... 

"Given the last twelve years, a little Clinton nostalgia is understandable. But Bill Clinton will not be on the ballot this fall. Barack Obama will be, and that is a big difference."

"There’s something liberating about not caring about your reputation, your institution or the truth.
 
"By those standards, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is a blissfully free man.

"The Nevada Democrat maintains that Mitt Romney didn’t pay taxes for 10 years. Reid’s charge is an intellectual and moral mess that makes the notorious question 'When did you stop beating your wife?' seem rigorous by comparison. ... 

"Republicans have condemned Reid’s unsupported allegations as modern-day McCarthyism. Old Tail Gunner Joe was deflated at the Army-McCarthy hearings when he was confronted with the famous question, 'Have you no sense of decency, sir?' In the case of Harry Reid, it isn’t even worth asking."

"If there is any justice in this world, the name Solyndra will live on through the years as the exemplar of crony capitalism gone wrong in America, even after President Obama is safely away from the White House.

"Ever since the solar manufacturing firm went bankrupt, sinking last year with Obama's $527 million investment aboard, it has been generally acknowledged as a policy and public relations disaster. ... 

"And all this time, Solyndra's private owners were laughing their way to the bank. Solyndra investor Tom Baruch described 'getting business from Uncle Sam' as 'a principal element of Solyndra's strategy' and Solyndra CEO Chris Gronet referred to the Obama administration as the 'Bank of Washington.'"

"From a friend watching the Olympics: 'How about that Michael Phelps? But let's remember he didn't win all those medals, someone else did. After all, he and I swam in public pools, built by state employees using tax dollars. He got training from the USOC, and ate food grown by the Department of Agriculture. He should play fair and share his medals with people like me, who can barely keep my head above water, let alone swim.'

"The note was merry and ironic. And as the games progress, we'll be hearing a lot more of this kind of thing, because President Obama's comment — 'You didn't build that'— is the political gift that keeps on giving. 

"They are now the most famous words he has said in his presidency. And oh, how he wishes they weren't."

"If Democrats are so supportive of Obamacare’s trillion dollar price tag, its devastating impact on jobs, its assault on religious freedom, its suffocating impact on small businesses, its middle class tax hike, and the higher health care costs that it’s already delivering, then vote against repeal. 
 
"If, on the other hand, they think all these things are an argument to start over, join us in voting it down. 
 
"This week, we learned Obamacare will also exacerbate a shortage of doctors nationwide. One would think lawmakers would welcome a chance to reevaluate their original votes in light of reports like this. 
 
"Sadly, the Democrats who worked so hard to pass Obamacare are now afraid to reaffirm — or repudiate it — with a vote. 
 
"They’re simply too afraid to cross the president, and they’re afraid to show the voters who sent them here that they continue to support this terrible law despite everything we’ve learned about it."