So was the title of Paul Ryan's speech to the Heritage Foundation yesterday, with a subheading "Rejecting Fear, Envy and the Politics of Division." As the Right Scoop succinctly states, "It’s a great speech as Ryan seeks to dispel this idea of class warfare and the social welfare state and to reinvigorate the idea of the opportunity society."
Speech:
Q&A:
And Levin brought Paul Ryan on Thursday's program to expand on Obama's class warfare push and the hypocrisy ensued...
I commend Congressman Ryan for calling the President and Democrats on their divisive tactics, but there's an integral question that Levin also touched on in another segment, which I'd like to link to and expand on within this concept of 'Saving the American Idea'. And that is to say, where is the Speaker on this? Where's the Majority Leader on this? I'm glad that Ryan is speaking out about the class warfare promoted by this administration, as well as further promoting and encouraging conservative policy discussions that have taken hold within the GOP presidential race, but where is the leadership in Congress?
Earlier in the year, Ryan submitted a fantastic budget that was predictably rejected and demagogued by the Democrats, but suppressed even more with unconfident and weak GOP leadership. We had the Cut, Cap & Balance Act that could have absolutely been used as leverage in a congressional standoff, and again the leadership wilted under pressure. Now we've got GOP presidential contenders producing some great economic growth plans that include reducing and capping Washington spending, but what does Boehner do? CNSNews reports that "the House Republican leadership is not ruling out the possibility that it will support a balanced budget amendment that does not cap federal spending as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product or require a supermajority in Congress to increase taxes." What?! The piece goes on to explain that the legislation to increase the debt limit (remember, the one Boehner negotiated with Obama in August) requires both houses of Congress to vote on a balanced budget amendment before the end of the year. However, since the legislation doesn't specify what type of balanced budget amendment must be considered, Boehner again sees this as a potential opportunity to fold instead of lead. Mr. Boehner, these are NOT the opportunities we should be pursuing! And folding on this could be devastating to both the American economy and its taxpayers without capping spending.
Not only can't we afford the described triangle of Republican mush, we definitely can't afford our current leadership sabotaging the conservative agenda. Yes, Ryan is absolutely correct to dispel the Left's class warfare rhetoric and promoted welfare utopia; but likewise, conservatives, both within and outside Congress, mustn't allow Boehner and the RINOs to continue weakening our momentum.
