Top 70 Paul Ryan Quotes

We are all representatives of the American people. We all do town hall meetings. We all talk to our constituents. And I’ve got to tell you, the American people are engaged. And if you think they want a government takeover of health care, I would respectfully submit you’re not listening to them.

President Obama was asked not long ago to reflect on any mistakes he might have made. He said, well, ‘I haven’t communicated enough.’ He said his job is to ‘tell a story to the American people’ – as if that’s the whole problem here? He needs to talk more, and we need to be better listeners?

After four years of getting the run-around, America needs a turnaround, and the man for the job is Governor Mitt Romney.

Everyone is equal. Everyone has a place. No one is written off, because there is worth and goodness in every life… That is the Republican ideal. And if we won’t defend it, who will?

If a person wants to be the nominee of the Republican Party, there can be no evasion and no games. They must reject any group or cause that is built on bigotry. This party does not prey on people’s prejudices.

If we didn’t propose these reforms, we would not have proposed a budget that got the debt under control.

Hope and change? We’re not doing that anymore. They’re doing attack and blame. And so, I just think people are going to see through this. They want real leadership. They want us to get this country on the right track.

If we don’t make tough decisions today our children are going to have to make much, much tougher decisions tomorrow.

Our debt is out of control. What was a fiscal challenge is now a fiscal crisis. We cannot deny it; instead we must, as Americans, confront it responsibly. And that is exactly what Republicans pledge to do.

This is a government takeover of our healthcare system. It is the government basically running the entire healthcare system, turning large insurers into de facto public utilities, depriving people of choice, depriving people of options, raising people’s prices, raising taxes when we need new jobs.

We think there are better solutions to fighting poverty because we see what the War on Poverty has produced. It produced tens of trillions of dollars in spending. It has been a 51-year exercise, and yet the poverty rates in America today are not much better than when we started the War on Poverty.

The American people are ready for solutions, and Donald Trump offers a chance to move in a new direction.

We wonder if we will be the first generation in American history to leave our children with fewer opportunities and a less prosperous nation than the one we inherited.

Some of our best and biggest allies in this struggle and fight against radical Islamic terror are Muslims, the vast, vast, vast majority of whom are people who believe in pluralism, freedom, democracy, individual rights.

When Governor Romney asked me to join the ticket, I said, ‘Let’s get this done’ – and that is exactly, what we’re going to do.

I accept the calling of my generation to give our children the America that was given to us, with opportunity for the young and security for the old – and I know that we are ready.

Are we interested in treating the symptoms of poverty and economic stagnation through income redistribution and class warfare, or do we want to go at the root causes of poverty and economic stagnation by promoting pro-growth policies that promote prosperity?

When you take a look at the problems our country is facing, debt is No. 1. The math is downright scary and the credit markets aren’t going to keep on giving us cheap rates.

Mom was 50 when my Dad died. She got on a bus every weekday for years, and rode 40 miles each morning to Madison. She earned a new degree and learned new skills to start her small business. It wasn’t just a new livelihood. It was a new life.

Everyone who feels stuck in the Obama economy is right to focus on the here and now. And I hope you understand this too, if you’re feeling left out or passed by: You have not failed, your leaders have failed you.

I’m tired of divided government. It doesn’t work very well.

Look, only in Washington is not raising taxes considered a tax cut. Nobody’s getting a tax cut here. We’re not cutting taxes. We’re preventing tax increases from occurring.

I cannot and I will not give up my family. I may not be on the road as often as previous speakers, but I pledge to make up for it with more time communicating our vision, our message.

There is a consensus of willing leaders from both parties coalescing around the right way forward in health care. Reform should address government-imposed inequities and barriers to true choice and competition.

We believe a renewed commitment to limited government will unshackle our economy and create millions of new jobs and opportunities for all people, of every background, to succeed and prosper. Under this approach, the spirit of initiative – not political clout – determines who succeeds.

People like me who are reform-minded ignore the people who say, ‘Just criticize and don’t do anything and let’s win by default.’ That’s ridiculous.

We will not spend four years blaming others, we will take responsibility.

You’re going to hear a lot from President Obama and yes, from Joe Biden, you’re hearing a little bit about Medicare these days. What they will not tell you is they turned Medicare into a piggybank to fund ‘Obamacare.’ They took $716 billion dollars to pay for the ‘Obamacare’ program.

And to this day, my Mom is my role model.

Before the math and the momentum overwhelm us all, we are going to solve this nation’s economic problems. And I’m going to level with you: We don’t have that much time. But if we are serious, and smart, and we lead, we can do this.

In a clean break from the Obama years, and frankly from the years before this president, we will keep federal spending at 20 percent of GDP, or less. That is enough. The choice is whether to put hard limits on economic growth, or hard limits on the size of government, and we choose to limit government.

This debt crisis coming to our country. The wall and tidal wave of debt that is befalling our nation. Medicare and Social Security go bankrupt within ten years, we have a debt that is looming so high that in the last year of President Obama’s budget just the interest payments on our debt is $916 billion dollars.

So, in Europe, they’re cutting people’s retirement and health benefits. And that’s what we want to avoid from happening. They’re raising taxes, entering a recession. That’s the kind of economic program that President Obama has put in place.

Look, I am not worried about Washington cutting too much spending too fast. I mean, the kinds of spending cuts we’re talking about just right now are $100 billion out of a $3.7 trillion budget.

What I’m concerned about is endless borrowing, which is going to compromise our economy not only today but in the future. Because we know the decisions we make right now really dramatically impact us in the future, and the debt is literally getting out of our control.

And if small businesspeople say they made it on their own, all they are saying is that nobody else worked seven days a week in their place. Nobody showed up in their place to open the door at five in the morning. Nobody did their thinking, and worrying, and sweating for them.

And the biggest, coldest power play of all in Obamacare came at the expense of the elderly.

Mitt Romney and I know the difference between protecting a program, and raiding it. Ladies and gentlemen, our nation needs this debate. We want this debate. We will win this debate.

A bold reform agenda is our moral obligation. If we make the case effectively and win this November, then we will have the moral authority to enact the kind of fundamental reforms America has not seen since Ronald Reagan’s first year.

This is our job as leaders: to offer positive solutions and empower people. Our duty is to tackle our problems before they tackle us.

Class is not a fixed designation in this country. We are an upwardly mobile society with a lot of movement between income groups.

To my great disappointment, it appears that the politics of division are making a big comeback. Many Americans share my disappointment – especially those who were filled with great hope a few years ago, when then-Senator Obama announced his candidacy in Springfield, Illinois.

I have never seen opponents so silent about their record, and so desperate to keep their power.

What matters to me is that I do what I think is right and I see, I’m a numbers guy, that’s my attitude. I know we have a debt tsunami coming, we are bankrupting this country and I’m in a position where I can actually advance ideas to prevent that from happening. That’s exactly what I should be doing.

A Romney-Ryan administration will protect and strengthen Medicare, for my Mom’s generation, for my generation, and for my kids and yours.

I do not think a Muslim ban is in our country’s interest.

We need to reclaim our American system of limited government, low taxes, reasonable regulations, and sound money, which has blessed us with unprecedented prosperity. And it has done more to help the poor than any other economic system ever designed.

If you’re running for president, you’ve got to do a lot of things to line up a candidacy. I’ve not done any of those things. It’s not my plan. My plan is to be a good chairman of the House Budget Committee and fight for the fiscal sanity of this nation.