NORFOLK, Va. (WordNews.org) Aug. 11, 2012 – GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney is getting good grades for his pick of Congressman Paul Ryan as a running mate.

Romney announced his choice of the Wisconsin congressman today before a crowd of 2,000. [To watch the video].

Ryan is leader of the Republicans’ plan for tax cuts and is considered a budget expert as chairman of the House Budget Committee, where he works to bring fiscal discipline and accountability to the federal government. He also is a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee.

“Wisconsin Right to Life sends its deepest and sincerest congratulations to Rep. Paul Ryan on being selected as Governor Romney’s running mate,” said Barbara Lyons, executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life. “Ryan has been a wonderful friend to our organization and our great cause in defense of human life throughout his brilliant tenure as a public official.”

Ryan has been a featured speaker at Wisconsin Right to Life events and maintains a 100 percent pro-life voting record on issues including prohibiting the use of tax dollars for abortion, banning partial-birth abortions and protecting older Americans and those with disabilities from rationing of medical care.

“We look forward to continuing our friendship and collaboration with Rep. Ryan during his service as Vice-President of the United States,” said Lyons. “His vision, principles, integrity and sincere dedication to the value of life will serve our great country in the highest manner possible.”

Richard Viguerie, chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, call Ryan a good choice because of his strength on budgetary issues, but said he “is not the bold conservative leader or boat rocker grassroots conservatives and Tea Partiers were hoping for.”

“Ryan is a good man, a strong family man and one who by all appearances lives according to conservative principles; he will help reassure social conservatives that Republicans stand for traditional values,” Vigurerie said. “While Ryan gets a lot of credit among fiscal conservatives for having the gumption to propose a plan to balance the budget, his plan takes 28 years to do so. It is hardly the kind of radical change in Washington’s culture of spend, borrow and tax that Democrats make it out to be, and conservatives think is required to save our country from bankruptcy.”

Viguerie said Romney missed his chance of locking up the support of 4 million independents and right-of-center voters.

“In selecting Paul Ryan, Gov. Romney has chosen a running mate who has many small government constitutional instincts, but who has not set about translating those instincts into the bold action conservatives have been looking for,” he said. “However, Paul Ryan knows Obama’s spending problem better than anyone. If in choosing Paul Ryan as his running mate Governor Romney is signaling that he plans to make Obama’s spending, deficits and debt a centerpiece of his campaign — then Paul Ryan’s selection is a good sign to conservatives that the campaign is headed in the right direction.”