WhatFinger

And we have a suggestion for the haters

House Republicans unanimously back Ryan for full term as Speaker

By Dan Calabrese ——--November 15, 2016

American Politics, News | CFP Comments | Reader Friendly | Subscribe | Email Us

I think this is probably going to go like every Paul Ryan post. I'm going to urge you to kick back and take a powder on the hate, and you're going to ignore me and breathe fire in the comments section. It's good that we had this talk.
But I'm going to try anyway, for two simple reasons. One, like it or not (and I know a lot of you don't), he just got unanimously re-nominated by the Republican majority (which probably means re-elected) for another term as House Speaker:
Ryan must now win a floor vote in January of all 435 House members. If about two dozen Republicans were to withhold their support, his election would be thrown in doubt. Several Republicans made clear this week that although Trump’s victory may have eased the internal party tensions that threatened Ryan’s speakership before the election, it has not eliminated them entirely. “I haven’t heard from him what he wants to change — what’s going to be different the next two years than the last two years?” said Rep. Raúl R. Labrador (R-Idaho), a co-founder of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus. “So far, I’m not hearing anything about changing the way we do business here in Washington, so I’m not ready to support him yet.”
Labrador is in a clear minority among House Republicans — Ryan (R-Wis.) enjoys broad support among the GOP rank-and-file — but his qualms reflect ongoing discomfort over how Ryan’s brand of Republican politics will meld with Trump’s. He was among a handful of members who said Tuesday they would still consider opposing Ryan then. The tension is manifest in Trump’s plans for his White House. On Sunday, he chose Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, a longtime Ryan friend and ally from Wisconsin, as his chief of staff while also tapping a campaign official who has sought to undermine Ryan, Stephen K. Bannon, to a coequal position as chief strategist. On significant matters such as trade policy, immigration reform and entitlement cuts, Ryan and Trump have crossed ways. And Trump’s enthusiastic backers in Congress bristled when Ryan distanced himself from his party’s presidential nominee — withholding his endorsement for several weeks after Trump clinched the nomination, for instance.
Second, you need to remember that it wasn't that long ago Ryan was considered a hero in conservative circles for his real talk on deficits and debt. Conservatives were pretty pumped when Mitt Romney chose him as his running mate in 2012.

Support Canada Free Press

Donate
Where conservatives started to sour on Ryan was when they didn't believe he was standing up strongly enough to Obama once he was elevated to the position of Speaker, and of course when he was tepid in his support of Trump. The one thing we've never been able to test about Ryan, though, is what kind of legislation he would send to the desk of a president who will actually sign it. You can protest all you want that he should have sent uber-conservative bills to Obama and forced Obama to veto them, just to prove a point. But since you know they never would have become law, we're merely debating over just how to troll a president of the other party. Once Trump takes office, the dynamic changes considerably, and that's when we'll have the best opportunity to get the measure of Ryan as a legislative leader. I think you're going to be pleasantly surprised, if only because your disdain for Ryan was based on some misinterpretations of what's been going on the last few years. As for his faint support of Trump during the campaign, there's no denying that. But at least at the moment, Trump doesn't seem to be too bothered by it. The fact of the matter is that Trump and Ryan are going to need each other, and in all likelihood they're going to agree a lot more than they disagree. If they can get past it to get things done, surely you can too. Right?
Subscribe

View Comments
Dan Calabrese——

Dan Calabrese’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain

Follow all of Dan’s work, including his series of Christian spiritual warfare novels, by liking his page on Facebook.

VIEW Comments

Sponsored