Chester Daily Local
As a sea of people waited to catch a glimpse of Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, local politicians took the opportunity to speak on the upcoming election, emotionally charging the crowd to prepare them for the Wisconsin congressman’s arrival.
“I have not been this excited, well, since Mitt Romney nominated Paul Ryan to take back the White House,” said Chester County Commissioner Ryan Costello, addressing thousands of eager supporters Tuesday at the American Helicopter Museum & Education Center. Costello was joined by Val DiGiorgio, Chester County Republican committee chairman; U.S Rep. Jim Gerlach, R-6th of West Pikeland; U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent, R-15th of Lehigh County; and state Sen. Dominic Pileggi, R-9th of Chester.
“I know one thing, I know you believe in hope and change like I do, because I hope and you hope and we hope that we are going to get change in November and we are going to have new leadership in the White House come January,” Costello said. Building their case, each speaker addressed election issues such as boosting the economy, helping small business and reforming Medicare.
“The federal government is not reason you have a successful business; if you have a successful business, it’s probably in spite of the government,” Pileggi said, mocking comments made by President Barack Obama in July. Pileggi discussed that Obama has spent $9 billion in one month on new regulations for business and manufacturing jobs have ended because of big government which has taken the form of big regulations.
According to Pileggi, getting the economy back on track requires a reduction in federal spending, reductions in spending entitlements and implementing regulation reform. “It’s harder for our children and our grandchildren to pick up the pieces than it is to make the difficult choices now,” Pileggi said.
Critical of the county’s progress since 2008, Costello judged Obama’s performance, saying he has ignored challenges to entitlement programs like Medicare. “Every single week money comes out of your paycheck for Social Security and Medicare, but the fact that this president isn’t tackling the difficult problems means in a generation it could be gone because it will be bankrupt because we don’t have a president that has the courage to solve our problems.”
Other speakers used the opportunity to highlight why Ryan deserves to be the Romney’s running mate.
In his experience, Gerlach said, Ryan has shown himself to be an intelligent, approachable person who is always working on good public policy. If called upon, Dent said, Ryan would be equipped to be commander in chief.
Dent said Ryan is determined to enact pro-growth policies and that Romney understands the need for a pro-domestic energy policy. Before Ryan made his entrance, Gerlach took the stage and said the Republican members of the House were proud to hear Ryan received the nomination. “What Gov. Romney’s selection really means is that he is serious about turning this economy around, he is serious about dealing with our long-term national debt, he serious about reforming Medicare so it’s there for future generations, and he is also very serious about having a vice president that is going to be a substantive partner and adviser on issues important to our nation,” Gerlach said.