Republicans and Democrats sparred Sunday over Mitt Romney?s choice of Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) as his running mate, seizing on his proposals in Congress to highlight differences between the parties over taxes, spending and entitlement programs.

Politico has an interesting background piece on Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) which includes an anecdote showing his "keen sense of how his status had changed once he won his first election to the House in 1998."

A reporter he knew from his days as a congressional aide approached him to wish him well.

"Congratulations, Paul," said the reporter, who was several years older than Ryan.

"It's Mr. Ryan, now," he replied.

Ron Brownstein: "Mitt Romney's selection of Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate could deepen the intrinsic tension between the Republican policy agenda and the voters it relies on to win elections."

"Ryan's ambitious budget blueprint, as passed twice by House Republicans over the past two years, crystallizes the GOP's highest policy priority: shrinking the size of the federal government, largely by dramatically restructuring entitlement programs led by Medicare and Medicaid. But the GOP today is increasingly dependent on the votes of older and blue-collar whites who -- while eager to scale back government programs that transfer income to the poor -- are much more resistant to retrenching entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security that largely benefit the middle-class."

Rep. Mazie Hirono (D) scored a decisive victory over former Rep. Ed Case (D) in the Demo­cratic primary for U.S. Senate, 57% to 41%, and will now move toward a November showdown with former Gov. Linda Lingle (R), the Honolulu Star Advertiser reports.

Maggie Haberman posts a video of Rep. Paul Ryan addressing the Ripon Society in March 2010 in which he called President Obama's agenda as "Bismarckian" and said he and congressional Democrats had a vision that was "antithetic to the vision of America."

"Some of his toughest barbs come toward the end of the clip, when he talks about the taxpayer burden from Obamacare and what it would mean to the nation. The whole thing is worth a watch, and it underscores why the election is now a clear choice on governing philosophies."

The Burning Man organization, host of an annual event expected to attract over 60,000 participants to a dry lakebed northeast of Reno later this month (see: http://www.burningman.org) has provided funding to an art project titled “Burn Wall Street” with the following description:

Burn Wall Street is a large scale, outdoor art installation that is sprouting powerful conversations countrywide.  By bringing individuals from the Occupy and Tea Party movements together, this project asks participants to put their political identities aside in order to talk about common principles and goals for financial reform.  Forged from the financial unrest and injustice that has incensed the American public, Burn Wall Street?s core intention is built on participation, one of the Ten Principles of Burning Man.  . . . This art project is sponsored by Veterans for Peace, a 501c3 non-profit. . . . We see the Tea Party and the Occupy movements as very similar. They are both well-intentioned groups of Americans that know that things must change.  Unfortunately, one group has been hijacked by Right-wing extremists and the other by Left-wing extremists, and both groups have been used as pawns through the use of political wedges to keep each other from the actual goal of reforming Wall Street and saving our economy. . . .  So BWS is asking these disparate groups to put down their Bibles and their Communist Manifestos in order to unite, share ideas and come up with actual solutions from a rational perspective.

BWS will consist of 5 buildings and a central park. . . .

The NYSE. The main building is the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Its façade will replicate the infamous porch under a giant American flag where people can dress for success and be or pretend to be 1%ers jeering at the hippies across the way. Inside the NYSE will be the stairs to the balcony and the deck where ?the bell? will be wrung each morning at 9am. At that bell ringing, there will be a key note speaker who will discuss their viewpoint and present possible solutions. Every day, this guest will address one of the many issues that affect our economy. Speakers will share diverse perspectives, and each intends to provoke meaningful conversation.

The Park. The center part of the art installation is the park. We are naming this community space ?Tecate Park? after the cheep Mexican beer (which conveniently rhymes with the iconic Zuccotti Park). It will be ringed by lights and benches with a bull sculpture at the front center. The bull will have internal lighting and will glow red at night. We will also be setting up a small mock encampment in the center of the park. We are confident this encampment will attract participants to protest.

The Bill of Rights. On the ground in the park and in front of the entrance to the NYSE building will be the Bill of Rights. Its location represents how bankers and traders tread on the Constitution on their way in to sell off our country. We hope that participants will take a moment to study the Bill of Rights, understand their own rights, and how this vital document is key to both the Occupiers and the Tea Party. We are particularly curious to see who goes around it to enter the NYSE, and those who tread over it. If the Bill Of Rights is in good enough condition at the end of the event, it will be donated to a high school inOakland,California, so the students can be reminded of their rights every day.

Bank of UnAmerica. To the left of the NYSE building will be the Bank of UnAmerica building. This towering red and blue building will have tellers inside to receive participants? foreclosure notices and bank statements showing bad banking practices. Of course, we advise everyone to be radically self-reliant and black out their social security numbers on any printed material they give to us (not that we are worried about identity theft, but this art piece is all about practicality?and you are better safe than sorry). These foreclosure notices and bank statements will be glued all over the inside of the Bank of UnAmerica where they will remain until they are burned with Wall Street. The reason why they are glued on the inside is so that the Burning Man community can see how these banking practices are affecting people in our own community; participants will be able to release the negativity of their experience when the building burns. Wouldn?t you want to burn your foreclosure notice in a giant towering Bank of UnAmerica?

Goldman Sucks. To the right of the NYSE is the huge shiny Goldman Sucks building, representing the huge power that Goldman Sachs wields in our world. The inside, however, will be a giant jungle gym representing how twisted Goldman Sachs is on the inside, as they sell stocks to their customers while betting against those same stocks. If one can climb this corporate ladder, they will be rewarded with corner office view; at 72 feet, this is the highest point in Black Rock City that you can get to this year.

Merrill Lynched. In the front left will be the Merrill Lynched building, with its grand top and pristine white outside, it will house four giant murals on the inside that will be painted by different muralists whose artwork will combine at the top. These murals will be accented by four search lights pointing up inside the building that will go through the four open spaces in the roof, creating a beacon of light at night. We will be projecting images of riots and fire on the building at night.

Chaos Manhattan. The last building, at the front right, is the Chaos Manhattan building. Here, donors will be able to turn in their receipt for the collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) for Burn Wall Street bucks. But be forewarned?the Chaos Manhattan will be a bank that will also have tellers, but these tellers will be charging participants schwag (gifts people give out at Burning Man) and Burn Wall Street Bucks for outrageous things like using the pen, standing on the floor, and breathing bank air ? just like banks seem to do these days. When we were young, banks paid you money in the form of interest to keep your money in their banks. Now it seems that they charge so many outrageous fees and give little, if any, literal or figurative interest. You lose money by putting it in a bank, which is wrong.

We are planning to blow the whole thing up in a spectacular show at 9pm on Friday night of the event!!! (August 31st)

All in all, this project will take around 50 people throughout three months of laborious volunteer work and about $100,000 (yes, real live money) to build.

More information on this Burning Man Funded Performance Art Project is available here:

http://burnwallstreet.net 

IPR readers and other interested Third Party supporters attending this year’s Burning Man who would like to attend the August 31st 9PM show as a group, and/or meet up at Burning Man earlier in the week, are encouraged to contact josephbuchman@garyjohnson2012.com prior to August 25th.

The American Independent Party of California, in convention, unanimously nominated me today for the office of President of the United States. I’ll be releasing a statement later this evening.

Ballot Access News is reporting that the California AIP has nominated America’s Party nominee Tom Hoefling. Eight delegates reportedly attended.

America”s Party is the party formed by Alan Keyes when he failed to secure the Constitution Party nomination in 2008. Hoefling was Keyes’ political adviser in 2008.

ABC News reports on how Mitt Romney's campaign and Paul Ryan "appear to have employed an elaborate cloak and dagger operation to spirit Ryan and his family, under the noses of reporters staking out the Wisconsin Congressman's house in Janesville, undetected to Norfolk for Saturday's announcement."

"Ryan was spotted by reporters in his driveway when he came home after the funeral Sikh memorial service for those killed in a tragic shooting in his district last week. Ryan went to his side door near his garage and was locked out. He said he had left his keys in a staffer's truck. He then said he thought his wife was not home. Ryan looked for a way in and a reporter shouted, 'Don't you want to show us where you hide a key under the door mat?' He laughed and said he knew another way and went into his backyard. This is the last time reporters saw him in Janesville on Friday."

"How he eluded the press and popped up in Norfolk, Virginia, remains something of a mystery. In the next three hours, he presumably snuck out of his house or had never entered, sneaking instead out the backyard."

Former Sen. Alan Simpson, the Wyoming Republican who has been at the center of a two-year effort to reduce the deficit, lauded Mitt Romney's selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate and said it would force the country to have a frank and necessary conversation about growing federal debt.