WASHINGTON: Hitting out at Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's running mate, US President Barack Obama's re-election campaign on Saturday said Paul Ryan stood for "flawed" economic policies that would repeat "catastrophic" mistakes.

"As a member of Congress, Ryan rubber-stamped the reckless Bush economic policies that exploded our deficit and crashed our economy. Now the Romney-Ryan ticket would take us back by repeating the same, catastrophic mistakes," Obama for America Campaign Manager Jim Messina, said in a statement.

The Obama Campaign statement came soon after Romney announced in Norfolk Virginia that the seven-term Congressman from Wisconsin would be his vice Presidential pick for the November Presidential elections.

"In naming Congressman Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney has chosen a leader of the House Republicans who shares his commitment to the flawed theory that new budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthy, while placing greater burdens on the middle class and seniors, will somehow deliver a stronger economy," Messina said.

"The architect of the radical Republican House budget, Ryan, like Romney, proposed an additional USD 250,000 tax cut for millionaires, and deep cuts in education from Head Start to college aid. His plan also would end Medicare as we know it by turning it into a voucher system, shifting thousands of dollars in health care costs to seniors," Messina said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that by picking Ryan, Romney has "doubled down on his commitment" to gut Social Security and end Medicare.

"Romney's choice demonstrates that catering to the Tea Party and the far-right is more important to him that standing up for the middle class," he said.

"The months ahead will provide Americans with a clear choice between the Romney-Ryan plan to gut Social Security and Medicare, and Democrats' balanced approach to deficit reduction that combines smart spending cuts with asking millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share," Reid said.