Paul D. Ryan elected House speaker, but GOP divisions remain
Oct 29, 2015 12:16:06 #
Rep. Paul D. Ryan was elected House speaker Thursday, closing a bitter and protracted GOP leadership battle, but not fully resolving the internal divisions that have upended the Republican majority.
The v**e for Ryan, the party's vice p**********l nominee in 2012, comes more than a month after Speaker John A. Boehner abruptly announced he would resign rather than continue fighting his conservative flank.
That same hard-right faction doomed the candidacy of Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, who dropped out of the race for the post.
The Wisconsin congressman will become the 54th House speaker and, at 45, the youngest since 1869, in the aftermath of the Civil War.
As lawmakers v**ed, Ryans wife, Janna, and three small children watched from the Speaker's Box in the chamber. His former running mate, GOP p**********l candidate Mitt Romney, also looked on.
In many ways, Ryan represents a new generation of Republicans, who came of political age during President Reagan's administration and adhere to more conservative social and economic ideals than their mainstream colleagues.
Ryan is known for the "Ryan budget," an austerity blueprint that has guided GOP thinking, as well as for his grueling P90X workouts and preference for hard rock music and Miller beer.
Before passing the gavel, Boehner advised his successor of the challenges he will likely face leading the largest Republican majority in decades.
"This is the loneliest place in the world, almost as lonely as the presidency," Boehner said during an exit interview with reporters, seated in a leather wingback chair in his second-floor office overlooking the National Mall.
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"What makes it even lonelier is, you realize at the end of the day, you got to make decisions, and those decisions have consequences, and those consequences fall back on one person," he said between cigarettes. "So it's something that takes a little getting used to."
Boehner started his own career 25 years ago as a renegade who challenged the party's then-leaders, particularly on pork spending from "earmarks." But now the target of outsider ire as a face of the Washington establishment, he chose to resign rather than allow a d******e GOP floor battle with conservatives were planning to oust him.
"Around here," Boehner said, "members run around and do all kinds of things. But someone has to be responsible for the institution. And I understood very quickly when I got this job, it was my No. 1 responsibility."
"Paul has an opportunity to start fresh," he said, "to build more confidence amongst those members."
Ryan faces obstacles ahead, even after Boehner tried to "clean up the barn" on his way out with House passage of a two-year, $80-billion budget deal that also extends the debt ceiling into 2017, well past the p**********l e******n.
The hope was to allow Ryan some breathing room. The Senate is expected to approve the budget measure in coming days, but not after a protest in from conservative Republicans led by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)
Top of the agenda for Ryan will be passage by Dec. 11 of a bill to fund the government at the new budget levels and avert a shutdown.
Conservative lawmakers, including those in the influential House Freedom Caucus, also want to see Ryan put into practice the rule changes they demanded to loosen leadership's grip on House procedures.
Ryan and the conservatives came to a truce over the rule changes, without agreeing to many of the specifics. But GOP leadership has promised upcoming party v**es to put changes in place by the start of the new year.
But the GOP remains divided, with some of the more mainstream members worried about diluting control and handing too much power over to the factions.
By taking this job, Ryan may be cutting short his own political aspirations. He has long been considered p**********l material, but the last speaker to make the move to the White House was James Polk in 1845.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the San Francisco Democrat who had the post before Boehner during the most productive Congress in a generation, had less advice for Ryan than for his colleagues.
"I would say to the Republican majority, let the speaker be the speaker."
The v**e for Ryan, the party's vice p**********l nominee in 2012, comes more than a month after Speaker John A. Boehner abruptly announced he would resign rather than continue fighting his conservative flank.
That same hard-right faction doomed the candidacy of Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, who dropped out of the race for the post.
The Wisconsin congressman will become the 54th House speaker and, at 45, the youngest since 1869, in the aftermath of the Civil War.
As lawmakers v**ed, Ryans wife, Janna, and three small children watched from the Speaker's Box in the chamber. His former running mate, GOP p**********l candidate Mitt Romney, also looked on.
In many ways, Ryan represents a new generation of Republicans, who came of political age during President Reagan's administration and adhere to more conservative social and economic ideals than their mainstream colleagues.
Ryan is known for the "Ryan budget," an austerity blueprint that has guided GOP thinking, as well as for his grueling P90X workouts and preference for hard rock music and Miller beer.
Before passing the gavel, Boehner advised his successor of the challenges he will likely face leading the largest Republican majority in decades.
"This is the loneliest place in the world, almost as lonely as the presidency," Boehner said during an exit interview with reporters, seated in a leather wingback chair in his second-floor office overlooking the National Mall.
See the most-read stories this hour >>
"What makes it even lonelier is, you realize at the end of the day, you got to make decisions, and those decisions have consequences, and those consequences fall back on one person," he said between cigarettes. "So it's something that takes a little getting used to."
Boehner started his own career 25 years ago as a renegade who challenged the party's then-leaders, particularly on pork spending from "earmarks." But now the target of outsider ire as a face of the Washington establishment, he chose to resign rather than allow a d******e GOP floor battle with conservatives were planning to oust him.
"Around here," Boehner said, "members run around and do all kinds of things. But someone has to be responsible for the institution. And I understood very quickly when I got this job, it was my No. 1 responsibility."
"Paul has an opportunity to start fresh," he said, "to build more confidence amongst those members."
Ryan faces obstacles ahead, even after Boehner tried to "clean up the barn" on his way out with House passage of a two-year, $80-billion budget deal that also extends the debt ceiling into 2017, well past the p**********l e******n.
The hope was to allow Ryan some breathing room. The Senate is expected to approve the budget measure in coming days, but not after a protest in from conservative Republicans led by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)
Top of the agenda for Ryan will be passage by Dec. 11 of a bill to fund the government at the new budget levels and avert a shutdown.
Conservative lawmakers, including those in the influential House Freedom Caucus, also want to see Ryan put into practice the rule changes they demanded to loosen leadership's grip on House procedures.
Ryan and the conservatives came to a truce over the rule changes, without agreeing to many of the specifics. But GOP leadership has promised upcoming party v**es to put changes in place by the start of the new year.
But the GOP remains divided, with some of the more mainstream members worried about diluting control and handing too much power over to the factions.
By taking this job, Ryan may be cutting short his own political aspirations. He has long been considered p**********l material, but the last speaker to make the move to the White House was James Polk in 1845.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the San Francisco Democrat who had the post before Boehner during the most productive Congress in a generation, had less advice for Ryan than for his colleagues.
"I would say to the Republican majority, let the speaker be the speaker."
Oct 29, 2015 12:32:46 #
KHH1 wrote:
Rep. Paul D. Ryan was elected House speaker Thursd... (show quote)
if he pushes amnesty everyone who v**ed for him should be v**ed out.
and as far as pelosi being productive ,she has helped to destroy this economy along with obama.
Oct 29, 2015 12:48:55 #
vernon wrote:
if he pushes amnesty everyone who v**ed for him should be v**ed out.
and as far as pelosi being productive ,she has helped to destroy this economy along with obama.
and as far as pelosi being productive ,she has helped to destroy this economy along with obama.
destroy the economy? Obama inherited a destroyed economy on the brink of a depression.....can't destroy the already destroyed......
Oct 29, 2015 12:58:42 #
KHH1 wrote:
destroy the economy? Obama inherited a destroyed economy on the brink of a depression.....can't destroy the already destroyed......
who are you trying to kid this was a demprat planned operation all the way going all the way back carter.its obvious you dont know what your taking about.
Oct 29, 2015 13:02:28 #
W was losing 750k jobs/month...and you put that on Dems? I see why you call names..you 're one programmed white guy....wow.....
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