According to Dan Payne, not signing anti-tax activist Grover Norquist's pledge is a "job killer." Here, Norquist addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington on Feb. 11. (AP)

Naming Rep. Paul Ryan to Mitt Romney’s ticket has elevated the Ryan budget as a roadmap to prosperity. Opposing it (not one Democrat voted for it in March) is to Republicans a sure “job killer.” The plan would partially turn Medicare into a voucher program, privatize Social Security, and slash things like Stafford loans, medical research and food stamps, while boosting Pentagon spending. The Republicans wonder: What’s not to like?

An analysis of some 20 years of stories in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and Associated Press showed that the GOP was almost never challenged to explain how or why an something was a “job killer.” It happened only 10 percent of the time. Thus, congressional Republicans get away with saying that just about anything they don’t like is a jobs killer. Since 2008, Obama’s first year in office, their use of the phrase has spiked up dramatically. (See chart below, via:)

Here’s one man’s list of things that the GOP says are job killers, along with the Republican thinking:

1. Taxing millionaires, now called “job creators.” Bumping up their taxes would kill jobs. (They haven’t been doing much hiring anyway.)

2. Doing anything about climate change. What climate change? We’re just having a bad stretch of weather.

3. Obamacare. (Do I really have to mention this?)

4. Dodd-Frank. It burdens Wall Street with rules (that could prevent another financial meltdown).

5. Not building the Keystone pipeline. We won’t even meet you half way.

6. Banning assault weapons. Sales of AK-47s and large ammo clips will suffer.

7. Food and Drug Administration. It hurts profits. Nothing’s safe anyway.

8. Wind power, unless it’s owned by a utility.

9. Solar power, ditto.

10. A paper fan, ditto.

11. Stopping nuclear power. The Japanese disaster could never happen here.

12. Unions, collective bargaining. All hail, Wis. Gov. Scott Walker!

13. Policing credit card misconduct. Elizabeth Warren must be stopped!

14. Aid to 9/11 victims. They’ll get over it.

15. Environmental Protection Agency. Who needs clean air and water?

16. Not signing Grover Norquist’s no-tax pledge. He’s got us by the short hairs.

17. Voluntary healthy food guidelines. Life is short.

18. Holding federal student loan rates in place. Smoke a joint and call your parents.

19. Raising the minimum wage. We’ve bailed out banks, corporations and Wall Street and fought two wars. There’s no money left.

20. Re-electing Obama. He’s a born job killer. Romney says government doesn’t create jobs, but if he’s head of the government, he’ll create jobs.

Dan Payne is WBUR’s Democratic analyst. For more political commentary, go to our Payne & Domke page.