Congressman Paul Ryan drew a crowd of more than a thousand Coloradans to the local municipal airport Thursday morning as he  stumped for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Ryan, Romney’s running mate, spent most of his time bashing Democrat President Barack Obama, and less touting Romney’s virtues. He slammed Obama most on the economy and on the national debt, which hit $16 trillion this week. Ryan said unemployment has gone up, family incomes have shrunk, and businesses have been stifled.

“President Obama can give great speeches. He can blame people in the past. But he can’t tell people we’re better off than we were,” Ryan said to cheers.

Obama has been spending like there’s no tomorrow, Ryan said, and his administration needs to check the country’s debt before it wrecks the nation.

“We simply have to stop spending money we just don’t have,” Ryan said. “We’ve got to get the budget under control before we end up like Europe.”

The congressman also said Obama is the most “acrimonious” president he’s worked with since he took office 13 years ago, and blamed Obama for the lack of accomplishments in Washington, D.C.

Ryan repeated his claim that Obama stripped $716 billion from Medicare. According to an Associated Press article last week after the GOP National Convention, Ryan advocated the same move in the budget he shepherded through the House of Representatives. And the $716 billion change under Obama didn’t directly affect recipients, “but rather reduce payments to hospitals, health insurance plans and other service providers,” according to The AP.

That didn’t sway Colorado Springs resident Gina King, who said she likes Ryan because he’s good with numbers and tells it like it is. She said she trusts Romney and Ryan more than Obama to get the economy running again.

“I want someone who will help me help myself,” said King, a former dental claims processor who was laid off a year ago. Since then, she and her family have been living on food stamps.

Plenty of other members of the audience gushed about Ryan and said he’s a perfect running mate for Romney.

Retired music professor Gordon England, who drove from Broomfield to see Ryan, said the congressman is “clear and factual.”

“Obama is raping Medicare, and he says that,” said England, who was wearing a top hat patterned after the American flag. “He has a brilliant presence. He speaks to the common man.”

Randy Kroeger, a retired engineer from the technology industry, counted off reasons he supports Romney and Ryan.

“A, they have a plan. B, I believe their plan will work. And C, I’ve followed the shenanigans of the Democrats for years,” Kroeger said. “And meanwhile, the lame-stream media has not vetted Obama at all.”

But not everyone was a fan of Ryan’s. Army veteran David Justice said Ryan’s speech was “a pack of lies.”

“It’s overwhelming. He said the president doesn’t reach across the aisle, when he’s bent over backwards to accommodate the Republicans,” said Justice.

He said he attended the rally out of curiosity, not because he supports the Republican ticket.

PHOTOS: Paul Ryan’s speech in Colorado Springs.

Vice-Presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan stopped in Colorado Springs for a rally on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012.(The Gazette/Jerilee Bennett) Photo by

Vice-Presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan stopped in Colorado Springs for a rally on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012.(The Gazette/Jerilee Bennett) Photo by

Vice-Presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan stopped in Colorado Springs for a rally on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012.(The Gazette/Jerilee Bennett) Photo by