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but I'm not hearing the followup which should be "we'll get the government out of your way." I'm just hearing "our government will do better than Obama's government."

You need to get your hearing checked.

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.

None of us have to settle for the best this administration offers – a dull, adventureless journey from one entitlement to the next, a government-planned life, a country where everything is free but us.

Listen to the way we’re spoken to already, as if everyone is stuck in some class or station in life, victims of circumstances beyond our control, with government there to help us cope with our fate.

It’s the exact opposite of everything I learned growing up in Wisconsin, or at college in Ohio. When I was waiting tables, washing dishes, or mowing lawns for money, I never thought of myself as stuck in some station in life. I was on my own path, my own journey, an American journey where I could think for myself, decide for myself, define happiness for myself. That’s what we do in this country. That’s the American Dream. That’s freedom, and I’ll take it any day over the supervision and sanctimony of the central planners.

I like some of those statements from Ryan. He speaks like a true supply sider and that's the only section of a speech that came close to sounding like getting rid of government was a goal of this ticket. 20% of GDP seems too high though. That's where we were under Bush 2 and we were racking up debt then. The Gingrich Congress had us down to 17-18%. Romney himself never talks like a supply sider. The main message from Romney is a variation on "repeal and replace." And talking about tax cuts isn't enough. Bush did that, but he still sought to expand government spending and went into debt to do it. With Romney it's a combination of not hearing the small-government philosophy explained definitively and not hearing enough specifics to counteract the doubts that come in the absence of that message. I'm with these Texans...

http://www.chron.com/news/politics/article/Texans-skeptical-Romney-Ryan-will-make-cuts-3833787.php

Texans skeptical Romney-Ryan will make cuts

TAMPA, Fla. - Mitt Romney may have thought he was adding some budget-cutting credibility when he picked Rep. Paul Ryan to be his running mate, but many Texans at the Republican National Convention said they aren't convinced that the presidential candidate has the will or the skill to pare federal spending.

"Romney claims to be very fiscally conservative, but I haven't seen much evidence of (that)," said Philip Eby, from Clifton. "I'm not sure what he can do to convince me. He's held so many different positions … it's hard to believe him."

Robert Lowry, a first-time delegate from an area north of Fair Oaks, Texas, said he hasn't heard enough details on how Romney and Ryan are "going to make the government smaller." "That's what we're not hearing," Lowry said.