Don G. Dinsdale Loc: El Cajon, CA (San Diego County)

NEWS FROM THE HILL

Fury of The Right Falls on Ryan

By Scott Wong - Dec 26, 2015


Outside the Beltway, the right is livid with new Speaker Paul Ryan’s trillion-dollar spending deal with Democrats.

Conservative pundit Ann Coulter says Ryan, just seven weeks on the job, is ripe for a primary challenge. “Paul Ryan Betrays America,” blared a headline on the conservative site Breibart.com. And Twitter is littered with references to the Wisconsin Republican’s new “Muslim beard.”

Ryan is refusing to let the attacks go unanswered and is using his megaphone as the nation’s top elected Republican to try to drown out the chorus of conservative critics.

After Congress passed the nearly $2 trillion government funding and tax-cuts package last week, Ryan touted conservative victories in a roundtable with Capitol Hill reporters, on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, and again during a trio of interviews with friendly conservative talk radio hosts Michael Medved, Hugh Hewitt and his old political mentor, Bill Bennett.

“He will continue to talk directly to conservatives throughout the country as he has always done,” a Ryan aide said.

Ryan has repeatedly stressed that the bipartisan funding agreement lifted the 40-year federal ban on crude oil exports and renewed hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks for U.S. businesses and families.

But in a nod to the critics, Ryan has also emphasized that he “inherited” the flawed omnibus from his predecessor, ousted Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), and that the cake was “already baked” by the time he was handed the reins in late October.

Those arguments have done little to sway some of Ryan’s critics, particularly on conservative talk radio.

Laura Ingraham denounced the spending package as an “omni-bust” and said Ryan should be “regarded as a declared enemy of the Base." Mark Levin said Ryan is "already a disaster” and criticized the funding package for increasing the number of visas for foreign workers.

Criticism has also come from Rush Limbaugh, the king of conservative talk radio, who declared that the GOP sold the country “down the river.”

For any GOP establishment leader, outrage from the right is unavoidable, with the deal making that comes with the job often conflicting with the desires of the base.

But that anger has become especially vitriolic and personal recently.

As Ryan and Obama were putting the final touches on the spending deal, the now-bearded Speaker told the president that some on the right have accused him of being a Muslim, Al Hunt recounted in a Bloomberg View column.

“The president, who has long faced the same absurd allegation, chuckled,” Hunt wrote.

Luckily for Ryan, the uproar on the right has yet to spill over into the House Republican Conference.

Conservative hard-liners in Congress were disgusted with the $1.1 trillion spending deal, which boosted funding for most federal agencies. Almost all Freedom Caucus members voted against it.

But those same conservatives were aware the top-line funding levels had been set by the budget deal Obama negotiated with Boehner before Ryan came on board. And most held their fire as Ryan pushed the spending and tax-cuts package past the finish line.

“I think most Freedom Caucus members hated the omnibus product but acknowledge that Speaker Ryan could only do so much within the parameters that he had to work with,” one Freedom Caucus leader told The Hill. “But so many grassroots supporters have been disappointed so many times that they can see no difference.

“Mr. Ryan will need to put real pressure on the Senate in the first quarter of 2016 or any goodwill he has will be gone,” the conservative lawmaker added.

Ryan knows his “honeymoon period” as Speaker won’t last for long, and is quickly moving to shore up his right flank in the New Year.

The Speaker has pledged to immediately hold a vote to repeal ObamaCare using the reconciliation tool once Congress reconvenes. The legislation will include a provision that halts federal funding of Planned Parenthood, a top conservative priority that was scrapped during omnibus negotiations.

“We didn’t get every win we wanted, but the wins we are still looking for, say, Planned Parenthood, we’ve got that in our reconciliation bill, which the Senate can’t filibuster,” Ryan told Hewitt. “We’re going to have that vote when we return from the Christmas break.”

A second Freedom Caucus leader said Ryan has a lot riding on 2016.

“Everyone gave Ryan a mulligan … but he will not get any more mulligans,” the lawmaker said.

“He’s made promises that next year will be different, that Harry Reid has agreed to take up spending bills. If those things don’t materialize, then the honeymoon is completely over.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/264114-fury-of-the-right-falls-on-ryan

woshinsky

What no cuts to any government department and likely increases as well to every one of them. WTF?? Just take the department of Energy as one example. It was created after the first big energy crisis (remember Jimmy Carter wearing a sweater in the WH with the main goal of ending the US dependency. (How has that worked out after 40 years?) The department currently has over 16,000 employees and spends billions of dollars every year and continues to grow bigger and costlier. They gave 500 million to a solar company when Obama got in office and ended up going bankrupt in short order. Can anyone explain to me why we need this department or even explain why it hasn't at least be reduced in size or illuminated entirely. Oh, wait they also oversee our nuclear power plants that have no idea when or how to dispose of the any of the nuclear waste that they produce. I guess I forgot, nuclear power is the answer to our energy independence but may end up costing tax payers billion more to get rid of them or they also may end up getting rid of all of us with radiation. Got to love how the Federal government can't find a single penny in saving no matter how hard the "try?".

Bruce Kennedy Loc: Kansas

Poor babies. Heck Cons continually fight among themselves. And it is the ultra Right Wing Nut Jobs that are poisoning the Republican Party. They are nothing more than spoiled little brats, that insist on getting everything their way. They are a small minority, in this country, and yet act as if they are the only Americans who matter. And we all know that is pure unadulterated BS.

Loki Loc: Georgia

I suppose that Ultra Right Wing Nut Jobs means anyone who doesn't agree with you. You should be kinder to taxpayers, seeing as how they have paid your salary for most of your life. Self-righteous southpaws such as yourself tend to be extremely arrogant, sure of themselves when there is no reason for that assurance, and very parochial in their "tolerance," which rarely extends to anyone presumptuous enough to hold a differing opinion.

Ray--Nashua NH Loc: NASHUA NH

RYAN WAS NEVER TO BE TRUSTED BEFORE AND AFTER HE GOT THE NEW POSITION. HE SHOULD BE OUSTED . THE NEW LOOK HE IS PHYSICALLY USING IS NOT IMPRESSIVE-- BUT LOOKS STUPID. A PERSON IN THAT POSITION SHOULD AT LEAST SHAVE-- LOOKS LIKE A UN-CUT SLOBE

snowbear37 Loc: MA.

That's not the ONLY department that needs to be eliminated. The Department of Education, IRS, and others need to be eliminated or downsized.

snowbear37 Loc: MA.

What planet are you living on? I think you are confusing the Republican Party with the Dems as you have just described the Dems to a "T".

Kevyn

Ryan was picked as speaker for one very good reason, he is, as Coulter points out vulnerable to a primary challenge. The thing is the real republicans know damn well he is not in a safe district. What this means is that if the teabaggers challenge him with one of their nutter candidates they will give the seat to the Democrats and suffer loosing the speaker of the house in a general election. Even the most dim witted shovel heads amongst the republican teabaggers are unlikely to be willing to throw away Wisconsons first district to make a point.

Loki Loc: Georgia

The TEA Party can afford to lose Ryan's seat, since it's current occupant has a second job giving Nancy Pelosi Democrat lessons. In other words, the people you call teabagger Republicans need that seat far less than the people I call douchbagger Democrats.

Kevyn

I guess I was wrong, the most dimwitted republicans are willing to hand Wisconsons first district to the Democrats on a silver platter. I stand corrected.

Loki Loc: Georgia

As long as Paul Ryan is it's Congressman, they have it anyway.

Bruce Kennedy Loc: Kansas

Sorry took so long to respond to this nonsense. But I just came across it. First of all Loki's first sentence, in his or her post, was obviously posted for dramatic effect. Because on face value, it is a lie. Just because someone doesn't agree with me, means I consider them " Ultra Right Wing Nut Jobs", I save that distinction for all the "Conservative "Birther" conspiracy, "Obama is a dictator, and is going to declare Martial Law and take over the government, loons".

To say I'm arrogant is obviously well within Loki's rights. That's his or her opinion, but to ramble on about being kind to taxpayers and say they have paid my salary for most of my life, is quite simply wrong, and arrogant, imo. Obviously Loki likes to create his or her own little reality, where everything fits into his or her narrative of life. Loki are you implying I never paid taxes? Even when I was in the military I paid taxes. And correct me if I'm wrong, every working individual pays into Social Security, with the exception of a few career fields, such as some Educational Unions. I don't know all the groups that opted out of paying into Social Security, but I never worked for any of them. So I paid into Social Security, just like everyone else. By all means explain to me how taxpayers have paid my salary, most of my life.

Bruce Kennedy Loc: Kansas

"snowball", I live on planet Earth. And btw, welcome to it. Are you serious? You think Democrats are fighting amongst themselves? Pull your head out, ever since the loony "Tea Party" became entwined with the Republican Party, there hasn't been a day's peace. Tea Party members continually threaten established Republicans with a "Primary" if the Republicans don't do exactly as the Tea Party wishes. And now you have Trump, who is extremely appealing to his base but goes against some Republican principles. And you think I'm confusing what I said with the Democratic Party? Put down the crack pipe, you're hallucinating.