US now needs a turnaround: Paul Ryan

Criticising US President Barack Obama for his "failed" policies and "surviving on slogans", Paul Ryan, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, has said the country now needs a turnaround.

"Now all that's left is a presidency adrift, surviving on slogans that already seem tired, grasping at a moment that has already passed, like a ship trying to sail on yesterday's wind," Ryan said in his address to the Republican national convention in Tampa, Florida.

"After four years of getting the run-around, America needs a turnaround, and the man for the job is Governor Mitt Romney," Ryan, Mitt Romney's running mate, said amidst a big applause as he alleged the Obama Administration has now run out of ideas.

"I have never seen opponents so silent about their record, and so desperate to keep their power. They've run out of ideas. Their moment came and went. Fear and division are all they've got left," he said.

"With all their attack ads, the president is just throwing away money, and he's pretty experienced at that.

You see, some people can't be dragged down by the usual cheap tactics, because their ability, character, and plain decency are so obvious, and ladies and gentlemen, that is Mitt Romney," Ryan said.

Accusing Obama of his failed economic policies, Ryan said right now 23 million men and women are struggling to find work.

"Nearly one in six Americans is living in poverty. Millions of young Americans have graduated from college during the Obama presidency, ready to use their gifts and get moving in life. Half of them can't find the work they studied for, or any work at all," he said.

"So here's the question: Without a change in leadership, why would the next four years be any different from the last four years?" he asked.

Ryan alleged that the USD 831 billion stimulus was a greatest waste of all times.

"Obamacare, as much as anything else, explains why a presidency that began with such anticipation now comes to such a disappointing close," he said.

"It began with a financial crisis; it ends with a job crisis. It began with a housing crisis they alone didn't cause; it ends with a housing crisis they didn't correct," he added.

"It began with a perfect Triple-A credit rating for the United States; it ends with a downgraded America," he said.

Ryan said a Romney Administration will keep federal spending at 20 per cent 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," he said.

Ryan pledged that their administration would not budge from taking tough decisions and taking a dig at the Obama Administration said they will not spend the next four years blaming others.

"So here is our pledge. We will not duck the tough issues, we will lead," Ryan, the Congressman from Wisconsin, said in his address.

"We will not spend four years blaming others, we will take responsibility. We will not try to replace our founding principles, we will re-apply our founding principles.

The work ahead will be hard. These times demand the best of us, all of us, but we can do this," Ryan said.

"Together, we can do this," he added.

"We can get this country working again. We can get this economy growing again. We can make the safety net safe again. We can do this," Ryan said amidst loud applause and standing ovation from his party delegates attending the convention.

"Whatever your political party, let's come together for the sake of our country. Join Mitt Romney and me. Let's give this effort everything we have. Let's see this through all the way. Let's get this done," he said.

Ryan alleged that Obama is the kind of politician who puts promises on the record, and then calls that the record.

"But we are four years into this presidency. The issue is not the economy as Barack Obama inherited it, not the economy as he envisions it, but this economy as we are living it," he said.

Ryan promised to restore the American dream, which he said, has been shattered under the Obama Administration.

"By themselves, the failures of one administration are not a mandate for a new administration. A challenger must stand on his own merits. He must be ready and worthy to serve in the office of president," he said.

"We're a full generation apart, Governor Romney and I. And, in some ways, we're a little different. There are the songs on his iPod, which I've heard on the campaign bus and on many hotel elevators.

He actually urged me to play some of these songs at campaign rallies. I said, I hope it's not a deal-breaker Mitt, but my playlist starts with AC/DC, and ends with Zeppelin," he said.

"A generation apart. That makes us different, but not in any of the things that matter.

Mitt Romney and I both grew up in the heartland, and we know what places like Wisconsin and Michigan look like when times are good, when people are working, when families are doing more than just getting by. And we both know it can be that way again," Ryan said in his speech.

Romney, he said, has not only succeeded, but succeeded where others could not.

"He turned around the Olympics at a time when a great institution was collapsing under the weight of bad management, overspending, and corruption, sounds familiar, doesn't it?" he asked the audience.

"Unemployment went down, household incomes went up, and Massachusetts, under Mitt Romney, saw its credit rating upgraded," Ryan said.