Ryan Has a Plan to Unravel Civil Liberties, Too

The focus in the coming days will be all about Rep. Ryan's budget. Let's hope the American people also get a debate about his blueprint for LGBT equality, immigration, voting rights, reproductive freedom and other constitutional issues. Indeed, it's just as abysmal as Romney's.
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The focus in the coming days will be all about Rep. Ryan's budget blueprint and Medicare proposal. Let's hope the American people also get a debate about his blueprint for LGBT equality, immigration, voting rights, reproductive freedom and other constitutional issues. Indeed, it's just as abysmal as Romney's.

On LGBT equality, opposed allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military and supported enshrining anti-gay discrimination into the U.S. Constitution twice and the Wisconsin Constitution as well.

Forget about Ryan joining the bi-partisan ranks in Congress who are trying to move our nation to a more humane immigration policy. He opposes the DREAM Act and voted for building a fence across the U.S.-Mexico border.

He's also in lock-step with the decades-old assault on women's reproductive freedom. He voted against Planned Parenthood funding and repeatedly voted to roll back abortion rights.

He also supports voter ID laws that would disenfranchise thousands of citizens in his home state.

There's no constitutional daylight between Ryan's civil liberties positions and Romney's and that means a pall of darkness over our Constitution and the rights it guarantees.

In the coming months, we need a vigorous debate about civil liberties, including a safe and free national security policy, for which President Obama and Vice President Biden as well as Romney and Ryan have less than stellar records.

Paul Ryan may end up a heartbeat from the presidency, but he'll be light years from civil liberties.

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