Tag: Paul Ryan

Paul Ryan whines about Democrats maybe doing what he did for years

The following article by Josh Israel was posted on the ThinkProgress website September 6, 2017:

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) expressed outrage Wednesday at the notion that Democrats would attempt to protect hundreds of thousands of DACA beneficiaries in an upcoming vote on the debt ceiling, warning that they should not “play politics” as the nation deals with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and prepares for Hurricane Irma.  But while he called such an effort “ridiculous and disgraceful,” his own record stands in sharp contrast to his rhetoric.

At a press conference, Ryan was asked about reports that Democrats would seek a three-month debt limit increase and might attempt to attach protections for children of undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as minors (a provision that President Trump demanded Congress consider). Continue reading “Paul Ryan whines about Democrats maybe doing what he did for years”

Trump’s Relationship with Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell Might Just Have Hit Rock Bottom

The following article by Jefferson Morley was posted on the AlterNet website September 7, 2017:

The president dumps the GOP for a fling with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi.

Credit: Business Insider

With the election of Donald Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan made a Faustian bargain. They embraced Trump—an impulsive and ignorant man, filled with racial animus—with the hope they could ride his popularity with conservative voters to enact their agenda of tax cuts and deregulation.

Their corruption caught up with them on Wednesday. Trump humiliated the Republican leaders by siding with their Democratic counterparts Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. In a White House meeting, Trump blindsided his allies and endorsed the Democrats’ proposal for hurricane relief and raising the debt ceiling. Continue reading “Trump’s Relationship with Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell Might Just Have Hit Rock Bottom”

How Paul Ryan’s Hypocritical Fiscal Hysteria Threatens Working Families

The following article by Harry Stein was posted on the Center for American Progress website July 17, 2017:

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, January 10, 2017.

After years of hysterical warnings about budget deficits under former President Barack Obama, Republican congressional leaders suddenly seem to have shed their concern for the deficit. In The Atlantic, Russell Berman questions whether “deficits still matter to Republicans” under President Donald Trump.1

While this changing approach to budget deficits is certainly hypocritical, it continues a consistent pattern of selectively using fiscal hysteria as a weapon to attack programs for low- and middle-income Americans. A recent article by this author for Harvard Law and Policy Review defines fiscal hysteria as “exaggerating the impacts of deficits and debt, thereby underestimating the extent to which the United States can afford to solve problems facing the American people.”2 While fiscal hysteria does not actually lead to sustainable fiscal policy—since it tends to be deployed selectively for political gain—it does lead to policies that enrich those at the top at the expense of everyone else.3 Continue reading “How Paul Ryan’s Hypocritical Fiscal Hysteria Threatens Working Families”

House GOP unveils budget plan that attaches major spending cuts to coming tax overhaul bill

The following article by Mike DeBonis was posted on the Washington Post website July 18, 2017:

House Republicans unveiled a 2018 budget plan Tuesday that would pave the way for ambitious tax reform legislation — but only alongside a package of politically sensitive spending cuts that threaten to derail the tax rewrite before it begins.

GOP infighting over spending, health care and other matters continues to cast doubt on whether the budget blueprint can survive a House vote. Failing to pass a budget could complicate leaders’ plans to move on to their next governing priority as hopes of a health-care overhaul appeared to collapse late Monday in the Senate. Continue reading “House GOP unveils budget plan that attaches major spending cuts to coming tax overhaul bill”

Russia sanctions stall in the House as Democrats object to being frozen out of restraining Trump

NOTE:  If you have questions about this situation, please contact Rep. Erik Paulsen’s offices to ask them. You can reach them here:  202.225.2871 (DC) or 952.405.8510 (MN).

The following article by Karoun Demirjian and Mike DeBonis was posted on the Washington Post website July 10, 2017:

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) has said he is in favor of the Russia sanctions bill. The measure is mired in a partisan dispute in the House — with Democrats saying a recent change weakens the legislation. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Popular legislation that would limit President Trump’s ability to lift financial sanctions on Russia is mired in a partisan dispute in the House, with Democrats charging that a recent change would weaken the bill.

The surprising roadblock emerged in recent days as Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Group of 20 summit in Germany and floated the possibility of joining forces with Russia on a cybersecurity initiative, to objections from both parties.

The pending legislation, which passed the Senate on a 98-to-2 vote last month, is effectively a congressional check on Trump: any time the president wants to make a change to sanctions policy on Russia, lawmakers would have a chance to block him. Continue reading “Russia sanctions stall in the House as Democrats object to being frozen out of restraining Trump”

House majority leader to colleagues in 2016: ‘I think Putin pays’ Trump

The Post’s Adam Entous discusses a 2016 conversation of GOP leaders in which House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) made an explosive claim. (Video: Bastien Inzaurralde/Photo: Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

Why is Paul Ryan really defending Trump firing Comey?

The following article by James Hohmann with Breanne Deppisch was posted on the Washington Post website May 11, 2017:

THE BIG IDEA:

Paul Ryan tours a packaging factory yesterday in New Albany, Ohio. He came to talk about tax reform, but Donald Trump and the firing of James Comey sucked up all the oxygen and made it difficult for him to drive his message. (Ty Wright/Getty Images)

NEW ALBANY, Ohio—Paul Ryan desperately does not want the dark cloud hanging over the White House to distract congressional Republicans from advancing their ambitious policy agenda. Yesterday showed that he may no longer have a choice.

Donald Trump called the Speaker of the House to give him a heads up that he was going to fire FBI director James Comey, yet Ryan still waited more than 24 hours after the news broke to make any public statement.

Repeating the pattern of last year’s campaign, the president sucked up all the oxygen and put Ryan on the defensive. The 2012 GOP nominee for vice president rolled up in a long motorcade to a plant here in Central Ohio as part of an effort to jumpstart his push for comprehensive tax reform. Continue reading “Why is Paul Ryan really defending Trump firing Comey?”

Here Comes The Big Assault On Workers’ Rights

The following article by Christopher Cook was posted on the AlterNet website March 23, 2017:

Editor’s note February 15, 2017: President Trump’s nomination of fast-food executive Andy Puzder collapsed today amid widening concerns about his lengthy trail of labor violations, worker mistreatment, and personal scandals. It’s a big win for unions and worker justice groups that vigorously battled Puzder—but who’s up next for the job, and what’s the larger Trump agenda for labor and workers? Beyond the Puzder meltdown and the next nominee, Trump and the Ryan Congress have an extensive detailed plan to undermine workers and unions–a plan with deep roots in Republican and right-wing circles.

New Data Deliver Good News for Health Care and Bad News for Speaker Ryan’s Tax Reform Plan

The following article by Harry Stein and Alex Rowell was posted on the Center for American Progress website March 30, 2017:

AP/J. Scott Applewhite
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) announces that he is abruptly pulling the troubled American Health Care Act off the House floor, at the Capitol in Washington, March 24, 2017.

Shortly after Congress’ failed attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, new budget data confirm the sustainability of the federal government’s major health care programs. These budget data also illustrate a major hurdle for the tax reform plan advocated by House Republican leaders. This new information comes from the Congressional Budget Office, or CBO, and it includes updated projections for the cost of federal programs; tax revenue levels; budget deficits; and economic variables such as gross domestic product, or GDP.

The projected costs of federal health care programs have fallen dramatically since the passage of the ACA. Despite false claims to the contrary, federal health programs are not facing a “death spiral” of exploding costs. The United States has more than enough economic capacity to continue to sustain these programs in the future; repealing the ACA would have instead used American economic capacity to cut taxes for the wealthy. Continue reading “New Data Deliver Good News for Health Care and Bad News for Speaker Ryan’s Tax Reform Plan”

Why Republicans were in such a hurry on health care

The following article by Matt O’Brien was posted on the Washington Post website March 25, 2017:

Why were Republicans rushing to vote on a health-care plan that they’d barely finished drafting, that budget scorekeepers hadn’t had a chance to fully evaluate, and that, insofar as people did know about it, was widely despised?

In part, it’s because their plan was so unpopular and because it got more unpopular the more people learned about it. But it’s also because only by rushing to reshape a full sixth of the American economy without knowing exactly how they would be reshaping it would Republicans be able to use health care to pave the way for the rest of their agenda, including tax reform. In other words, the GOP didn’t want to let a detail like tens of millions of people losing their health insurance get in the way of two tax cuts for the rich. Continue reading “Why Republicans were in such a hurry on health care”