Finally, last night, Paul Ryan agreed to accept the post-Boehner Speakership. He offered the extremists in the so-called Freedom Caucus a bone, a delay in deciding what to do about the procedural motion-- a motion to vacate-- used, at least in theory, to remove a House Speaker. Should be interesting to see how many of the mental midgets fall for it.Ryan even said he was "ready and eager" and that the House Republicans are "ready to move forward as one, united team." The Party vote will be Wednesday (Ryan vs Daniel Webster, presumably) and then they have the official vote on Thursday, where the Democrats are allowed to vote too. In the letter he wrote to his GOP colleagues he noted that "Working families continue to fall behind, and they are losing faith in the American Idea: the belief that if you work hard and play by the rules, you can get ahead," he wrote in the letter. "At the same time, a weaker America has led to a more dangerous world. Our friends and rivals alike wonder whether we will pull ourselves out of this stupor."And that's where Republican harridan Ann Coulter comes in. She remembers Jack Kemp, who Ryan is as infatuated with as he is with Ayn Rand-- or almost. Kemp, who, as a young man, sold his booty to wealthy Reagan donors when Reagan was running for governor of California, is another Coulter bête noire.
After Paul Ryan helped Mitt Romney lose the 2012 election by doing the impossible-- losing a debate to Joe Biden-- he went on an intimate tour of poverty. It was a journey so personal, Ryan brought reporters, writers and documentary producers with him.So far, he's gotten one book and one documentary out of The Paul Ryan Intimate Poverty Tour-- we're still waiting for the tote bags-- and is currently promoting a major poverty-fighting initiative that he brainstormed during private moments of reflection, somehow captured by the press: "The Kemp Forum on Expanding Opportunity."Appropriately for an event named after Ryan's mentor, Jack Kemp, the forum will allow Ryan to showcase his deep concern for the poor without doing a thing to help them. This is the hallmark of the "empowerment" crowd. What matters is their own self-regard and favorable press notices, not accomplishing anything useful.In the 1996 vice presidential debate, Al Gore repeatedly praised Kemp for not being a racist-- unlike the rest of his party. After Gore called Kemp a "lonely voice" in the GOP, "who says we ought to be one nation," Kemp did not say:MY PARTY? YOUR PARTY HAS A FORMER KLAN MEMBER IN THE SENATE! YOUR FATHER VOTED AGAINST THE 1964 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT! YOUR PARTY DESTROYED THE BLACK FAMILY!No, Kemp's response was: "Well, I thank you, Al. I mean that very, very sincerely."For all Kemp's claims to being black America's truest friend, he didn't actually help any minorities. His famed "enterprise zones" were a renowned flop.By now there have been approximately 1 million studies on the effect of "enterprise zones," "empowerment zones" and-- Obama's version-- "promise zones." The conclusion: Every single penny has been wasted. Businesses game the system, relocate shops from just outside the zone to just within it, or take tax credits for doing nothing that they weren't already planning to do.The principal result of Kemp's enterprise zones was to double HUD's budget.But Kemp, like his protege Ryan, was everything big corporations and Wall Street love in a Republican: He'd give them tax cuts, cheap labor and moral self-righteousness. Washington is full of these Kemparatchiks, churning out documents and admiring quotes about one another to willing reporters.The Kemp boys think they're a big hit with poor minorities-- especially Hispanics. Ryan, for example, is a huge supporter of driving down Hispanic wages by endlessly dumping low-wage workers on the country. Empowerment!Two years ago, Ryan bragged to a Catholic radio station: "I actually campaigned with Jack Kemp against a thing called Prop 187."That "thing" was an overwhelmingly popular initiative to prevent illegal aliens from collecting government benefits. It gave Republicans their biggest victory in California in the last 30 years, was supported by a majority of blacks, a majority of whites, a majority of Asians and 31 percent of Hispanics.Two years later, the Dole-Kemp ticket got only 21 percent of the Hispanic vote. That's worse than Romney! (These empowerment types really have their finger on the pulse of ethnic America!)Like Kemp, Ryan acts as if he's the tribune of blacks and Hispanics, chastising Republicans for "preaching to the choir." He prefers to preach to the mariachi band-- one of which serenaded him on his visit to an immigrant rights group in Chicago, a few months after his failed vice presidential bid.How about Ryan run for mayor of Los Angeles? After he wins, he can lecture us about how his Jack Kemp message resonates with Hispanics.Ryan's big idea on poverty is indistinguishable from Kemp's: "Get money and capital and credit into the inner cities of America and the barrios and ghettos of America." This will "empower people"!The best thing I ever heard about Dick Cheney is that, after listening to Ryan drone on about how Republicans needed to create "a real ownership society" at a meeting with members of Congress, Cheney said, "Yeah, we're not going to do that," and then turned to a different representative.Imagining a photo of himself on the mantle of every black household in America, Ryan touts his forum on poverty, saying, "There are few challenges tougher than the fight against poverty, and we need all hands on deck."Wow. What a caring person. No one's ever talked about poverty before! (Have they?)About a decade ago, I met an actor, the hot new thing, at an agent's party. He excitedly told me his big idea: A war on poverty! I told him to look up "LBJ," but he earnestly persisted, saying, yeah, sure, maybe LBJ talked about poverty, but no one had ever called for "a war on poverty." See, that was the key-- the war part.That was a mentally impaired actor. Now a decade later, I'm hearing the same thing from the man House Republicans want to make their speaker.All of human experience has already taught us how to fight poverty, and it doesn't involve the words "opportunity," "empowerment" or "zone."Effective: Don't pay people not to work. The 1996 welfare reform act, with its time limits and work requirements, reduced welfare caseloads by an astronomical 65 percent, as former recipients entered the workforce.Ineffective: Self-flattering politicians jabbering about how much they care about poverty, then creating behemoth government programs that give corporations tax breaks for pretending to help the poor.Effective: Stop dumping millions of low-wage workers on the country to drive down wages. America's booming, prosperous middle class arose in the 40-year period after immigration was virtually shut down in 1924-- until Teddy Kennedy opened the floodgates to the Third World in 1965.Ineffective: Demanding an endless supply of cheap immigrant labor favored by your corporate donors, subsidized by the long-suffering middle class, while strutting around like you're Martin Luther King.
Yes, yes, she's mentally ill, but that isn't the point. The point is: poor Paul Ryan... the lunatic fringe isn't done with him, not by a long shot. Not even when he does the kind of right-wing crazy things the thrive on... like this:And... just in from the crackpots at the Madison Project. Yes, Coulter has company. Meet Jim Ryun, even more dangerous to American values than Paul Ryan, but with nothing but... the Madison Project. Last year his group invested in 6 Senate races and won just 1, the Ben Sasse contest in Nebraska. They helped elect lunatic fringe House members like David Brat (VA), James Bridenstine (OK), Ron DeSantis (FL), Glenn Grothman (WI), Jody Hice (GA), Barry Loudermilk (GA) and Ted Yoho (FL), each one crazier than the last. So here's their line on Ryan, who you can stop from becoming Speaker for just a $10 contribution:
How do you feel about Speaker Paul Ryan?I'll tell you how I feel: disappointed.After being the "conservative" half of the Presidential ticket in 2012, Paul Ryan went back to Washington and voted for numerous debt ceiling raises, the Amtrack Reauthorization, and a Continuing Resolution that fund Planned Parenthood.My name is Jim Ryun. Perhaps you already know me as a former three-time Olympian and Congressman from Kansas.However, today I am reaching out to you on behalf of Madison Project, the nation's premier PAC dedicated to electing the next generation of true conservative leadership.We want a TRUE conservative holding the Speaker's gavel. Will you join us in our searchSince elected to Congress in 1998, Paul Ryan has talked about his conservative policies, but the reality is much different:1 His tax plans have been crafted to balance the budget-- but not until 2024.2 He voted for The Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP) in 2008.3 Voted to raise the Debt Ceiling numerous times4 Voted for No Child Left Behind in 20015 Voted to Reauthorize Amtrak (with a price tag of $7.2 billion) 6 Voted for a Continuing Resolution that funds Planned Parenthood-- after the videos were released proving that Planned Parenthood is selling aborted baby parts for profitThese are NOT the actions of a true conservative with a vision to bring America back to its roots. These are the actions of middle of the road Republican content with being in power and never using it to achieve anything of merit.Will you donate $10 and tell us who YOU want to see as Speaker of the House?Outside of Washington, DC, our words don't define us, our actions do. Tell me, are these the actions of a TRUE conservative?A Republican, yes. A conservative, no.So if Paul Ryan won't be Speaker, who will be? Donate $10 and tell us who YOU think should be the next Speaker of the House here.
