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Speaker Paul Ryan
So, yesterday Speaker of the House Paul Ryan gave a press conference:
Any thoughts?
I thought it was impressive. I like the phrase, “The people’s house.” I like the idea of bills coming to the floor for debate, and bills being passed even if they don’t have a chance of being signed by the President. I like the idea that he wants the members to feel they’ve got a voice even if they’re not in leadership positions.
I don’t remember John Boehner giving weekly pressers. Which is probably a good thing, considering how weepy he is …
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Years ago, before they realized they hated the tea party, there used to be weekly podcast from the Senate and the House.
I only made it a minute 50 into this conference, as it sounded like it was directed towards the members not the people. Maybe that’s the right answer, I don’t know. He seems very hesitating but I figure that’s just part of being new at the job.
Me likes.
This makes me worried:
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/258592-democrats-like-what-they-hear-from-ryan
I don’t like it when the Communists praise us. I’m just throwing this out there. I am not trying to say that Ryan is a Commie. I am just passing this along because I don’t think many here have seen it.
Of course they like him. He hasn’t done anything yet. The Right was very pro Obama early January 2009.
Until proven otherwise they reckon their cocktail circuit can suck him in.
I hope you guys are right. I like Ryan. I have for a while. I just get a little look that is similar to the look my dogs give me when I start speaking to them like they can understand me whenever Democrats start praising our guys. Especially when just a few years ago they were running ads featuring a Ryan doppleganger throwing granny over the cliff.
I enjoyed the 12 minutes, he said the things I want to hear. I think that Ryan is one of just a few members of the House who truly takes his job as a legislator seriously, the way we think he ought to. I’m excited to see what he can get done. I realize that we won’t have many legislative victories while Obama is the president, but I sure hope we see some fight coming out of the House under Speaker Ryan.
I agree completely with this, and I believe this is why if there really is a cabal of power brokers and establishment politicians (of either side) they will try to destroy him. My hope is that members of the House quickly figure out that they do actually get a say, get to introduce bills and amendments that will get a shot through the process and come to support him because of it.
I’m reminded of Bryan Suits discussing the first elections in Iraq. The Iraqis would ask him who they were supposed to vote for, he’d tell them they got to make their own choices based on their own desires, and they couldn’t understand the concept. I’m afraid our reps kind of have that mentality now.
I hated to see Ryan give up his chairmanship of Ways and Means and don’t think he can even be replaced there, BUT, he is impressive in any context. I see good things ahead. That said, no one can please everyone all the time. He will fight a good fight with some wins and some losses. His critics will concentrate only on the losses. I will concentrate on the wins. I do appreciate his openness and especially his grasp of the issues and the process.
I hope he has the internal fortitude and cojones to continue in this vein. He’s saying the right things, but soon we’ll see if a 5,000 page trade monstrosity emerges. He is expert at pulling the levers of government, but is he committed to reducing the number of levers? Maybe this is the right job for him, as he is a man of integrity.
We can leave the needed leadership component for our upcoming conservative president, who can pull Congress and the administrative branch together for the purposes of real reform and downsizing the Behemoth.
My impression is that Ryan gets into the details of legislative proposals much deeper than the previous speaker and pays less attention to an establishment agenda to undo the non-establishment wing of the party. So he may have a better understanding of where we need to go and be able to work with the House members to get somewhere.
Transparency = good.
Well, I’d say this is a noticeable improvement over the Boehner regime for the references to a more open legislative process where all the members can openly weigh in and discuss/argue on bills and amendments with enough time to do so before they reach the floor.
And he didn’t get weepy once.
I would like to see a departmental budget start in committee go through the entire House, get passed to the Senate, and then go to Conference. Can we just get that so we don’t have a 50 pound omnibus bill?
I think he is committed to that, but you have to also remember that in order for him to remain in the House, he has to win in a purple state. And he’s got a lot of Democrats, and still over a year of a Democrat in the White House. That means he has to compromise sometimes. So when that time comes, let’s not burn him at the stake.
He sounded promising. Whether he delivers on those promises is another story, but I liked what I heard so far.
The Democrats say they like him now so when they lambaste him later they can say, “We gave him a chance but it turns out he’s as evil as the rest of the Republicans.”
What an impressive guy. He knows what he’s talking about. He has a correct sense of how a legislature should function. He wants to be fair to the members and to the vision of the founders.
It makes me weep to think that he isn’t our vice-president right now.
I like that he doesn’t shrink from conservative positions and try to avoid conflict by waffling on positions.
His answer to the guy’s question about guns was that he believes in the 2nd Amendment. He didn’t directly answer the question because it was a distraction from the main issue.
I’m hopeful.
I’ve always been an admirer of fiscal wonk Paul Ryan. Although I haven’t always agreed with every point de vue, he is one of the few in government who has worked hard to understand and master the financial complexities of the U.S. economy.
“It makes me weep to think that he isn’t our vice-president right now.”
Don’t grieve MWA; he has the most powerful voice in the House right now and that’s a good thing.
I feel a whole lot better with him as spokesman for our party than Boehner. He comes across as articulate, serious, committed, principled, experienced, and likable. Very rare and admirable combination in a Washington insider. I think we’re fortunate to have him.
Thank you, Freedom Caucus!
That is a Senate problem. The House has passed a number of appropriations bills the Senate Dems are currently filibustering.
Could not the Senate use the reconciliation process rules to limit debate to 20 hours before a vote just as was done to get the Healthcare Bill passed. If Democrats object, the Parliamentarian could rule on the objection.
Republicans don’t care about cocktail parties and I know it’s true because I read it here on Ricochet!
A plus that he’s not orange or weepy.
Too late. Once I start weeping I can’t stop. My axe is rusting.
Understand. I’m still mourning the loss of the Mittster.
I am no expert on the rules of the Senate but my understanding is it cannot.
Isn’t that exactly what Boehner said in January 2011?
I did not realize that because it just seems like the House hasn’t done anything since January. There used to be committee hearings and all that jazz, but it just seems like now there isn’t much in way or regular business.
If it was, is your point that Ryan is simply a paler version of Boehner who doesn’t smoke? If so, good luck with that.
Perhaps we should give the man a chance before hanging him up by his thumbs. Hey, there’s a thought.