Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan criticized President Obama on U.S. trade with China during a campaign stop in Stark County Thursday.
Ryan called for aggressive free trade and accused China of currency manipulation.
(Ryan: President Obama promised he would stop these practices. He said he'd go to the mat with China. Instead they're treating him like a doormat. We're not gonna let that happen.)
The President has filed trade complaints against China on auto imports, steel tubing and rare earth minerals. In his speech at Walsh University in North Canton, Ryan also accused The President of raiding Medicare, overspending, and dragging down job growth.
(Ryan: What we are going to offer are solutions. In particular, the Romney-Ryan plan for a stronger middle class is a plan designed to get growth and opportunity turned back on in America. It's a plan to create 12-million jobs in the next four years. That in Ohio means 452-thousand jobs if we get this economy growing like it should, and we can get this economy growing like it should at 4 percent.)
A group of protestors outside the speech accused Ryan of attacking the middle class with his plan to replace Medicare with a voucher program. Ryan also condemned the economic stimulus package, though businesses throughout Ohio say they benefited from it as well as from the auto industry bailout. Meanwhile, Ryan has claimed he never asked for stimulus money for his state. But the Associated Press reports that three years ago, he sent formal requests to the U.S. Energy Department asking for more than 20 million dollars in stimulus funds for Wisconsin companies. In an interview with a Cincinnati tv station Thursday, Ryan again denied asking for the stimulus cash.
