Paul Ryan Thread

[Zooheekock]

Biden's "millionaires" are actually households earning more than $250,000 a year, which includes many middle-class families with two earners,

That's five times median US income and they represent only 2% of US families. To describe them as middle class is a crime against language and good sense.

[raycarey]

so, now that the healthcare bill has gone down in flames and ryan is being blamed by the disciples of the orange jesus, will he primaried in 2018?

eric cantor probably didn't think so either.

[misskit]

^ Maybe not. Rumors are he is resigning. We shall see.


Nevada lawmaker: 'Rumor mill' says Ryan headed for exit

Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) told a local news station that there is a “rumor” that Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) will resign soon, stepping up speculation about the Speaker’s political future.


“The rumor mill is that Paul Ryan is getting ready to resign in the next 30 to 60 days and that Steve Scalise will be the new Speaker,” Amodei told Nevada Newsmakers, referring to the Majority Whip from Louisiana.


“Now that is interesting, because no one has talked to members on how they are going to vote," he added. "Now, maybe they have talked to all of the members but me. I don’t know, so that is the rumor mill from last week."


Ryan’s office denied that the Speaker is heading for the exit. Ryan has said he and his wife will decide in the spring about whether he will run for reelection.


“The speaker is not resigning,” Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong said in a statement Monday.


Questions about Ryan’s political future — and who could replace him has Speaker — have been swirling all year.


Growing concern about a Democratic wave in the midterms, as well as the passage of a massive government funding package last week, have stepped up speculation that this may be Ryan's last Congress as Speaker.


Ryan also succeeded last year in shepherding tax reform through Congress, providing him with a long-sought goal.


"If I was just guessing, he wanted to do the tax bill," Amodei said, when pressed on why Ryan would decide to leave now. "You know, [former Speaker] John Boehner said the same thing: 'Hey, when I checked all of the boxes I thought were important and I'm moving on to whatever else.' "


Amodei, who is not a close ally of Ryan's, emphasized that he was just repeating a rumor. But the on-the-record comments from a Republican lawmaker — and the suggestion that Ryan could resign before the midterms — made waves on Monday, briefly crashing the Nevada Newsmakers website.


Scalise, whose star has risen since he survived a shooting at a GOP baseball practice year, and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) are both seen as possible contenders to replace Ryan as Speaker if he doesn’t stick around.


But Scalise's office pushed back against the rumor that he is eyeing the Speaker's gavel, saying Scalise is focused on his job in Congress and keeping the majority.


"Whip Scalise is proud to serve alongside Speaker Ryan and fully supports him to remain Speaker," said Lauren Fine, Scalise's spokeswoman. "Our whole leadership team is focused on working with President Trump to deliver more conservative wins for the country, and also ensuring we keep the majority so we can continue implementing President Trump's agenda that is getting our economy back on track."


Nevada lawmaker: 'Rumor mill' says Ryan headed for exit | TheHill

[Mr Earl]

Ryan headed for exit

Not a moment too soon, the draining of the swamp is underway..

[misskit]

Sure is. I reckon he and other Republicans are running scared from what will come of Mueller's probe. Digging into campaign financers is going to make many politicians come up dirty.

[uncle junior]

His office says no.....

“The speaker is not resigning,” AshLee Strong, Ryan’s spokeswoman, said in a statement.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...=.720e846a0348

[AntRobertson]

I reckon he and other Republicans are running scared from what will come of Mueller's probe

With good reason.

Best case scenario is that they come out of it looking like the pack of sycophantic, spineless and enabling, party-before-country tossers that they are. Best case...

[sabang]

Paul Ryan's team rejects GOP congressman's speculation that he could soon resign

"The speaker is not resigning," Ryan's spokeswoman Ashlee Strong told Business Insider in response to Amodei's comments.
Ryan has been a major source of fundraising for Republican members of the House and a pillar of the National Republican Congressional Committee's reelection efforts. His departure would be a significant loss for many Republicans from a financial perspective.
Reports from HuffPost and Politico late last year indicated that Ryan has mused not running for reelection in 2018, which would cap a 20-year career in the House. The deadline for candidates to file for reelection in Wisconsin is June 1.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...cid=spartanntp


Although who actually cares if he resigns or not?

[bsnub]

Guys like this are kryptonite for Republicans.....



Randy Bryce is his name and he is the reason that Paul Ryan will most likely retire from the house.

Paul Ryan Should Be Safe in November. He Isn't.


Randy Bryce is a Wisconsin ironworker who has badly lost two state legislative races. He's now running for Congress against one of the country's most powerful Republicans, House Speaker Paul Ryan, who clobbered his last opponent by a margin of more than 2 to 1.

Before laughing, however, consider this: By the end of this week, Bryce will have raised more than $4.5 million, three-quarters of it in contributions of less than $200. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee just moved the contest into its "Red to Blue" list of seats it considers competitive in the November midterm elections.

A Bryce victory would be huge upset. But it's not unthinkable. If surprising Democratic victories in the last year in Alabama, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin presage a blue wave this fall, the most prominent congressional Republican could be in trouble. A Republican wave in 1994 included the defeat of the Democratic House Speaker at the time, Tom Foley of Washington.

While Ryan's southeastern Wisconsin district leans Republican, Barack Obama carried it in the 2008 presidential election and the Democratic Senate candidate, Tammy Baldwin, won it en route to her 2012 victory.

Ryan has represented the district for 10 terms and rarely faces a serious challenge. But he has been squeezed during the presidency of Donald Trump, criticized both for being insufficiently supportive of the president and for being a Trump sycophant. He faces a weak right-wing primary challenge on Aug. 14.

Bryce is a blue-collar liberal, spending most of the last two decades as a worker, some as a union official. He has a wraparound mustache and uses the Twitter handle @IronStache.

He is emphasizing what is usually Ryan's strongest issue, the economy. The Republican tax cut passed in December, the speaker's signature achievement, "gave $1.5 trillion mainly to people who don't need it," Bryce said in an interview late last week in Washington where he was raising money. Now, he said, Ryan is talking about cutting back Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security to pare the expanding deficit. He said it would have been better to spend that $1.5 trillion on infrastructure projects, which he contends would bring back higher paying jobs that have been lost.

Bryce accuses Ryan, who was born in the district and whose ancestors arrived there in the 19th century, of becoming a creature of Washington.

"He spends all his time with lobbyists and billionaires," Bryce said, adding that people in Wisconsin "are becoming aware he has changed."

An Army veteran and cancer survivor, Bryce takes a liberal line on social issues: he opposes most abortion restrictions, favors gay and transgender rights and supports a ban on assault weapons. He sidesteps questions about his allegiance to House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, a San Franciscan whom Republicans love to campaign against. Asked whether he would vote for her as speaker, he replied, "I'll see who's running against her."

Ryan studiously ignores Bryce, leaving the counterattack to state and national Republicans. That they take Bryce seriously is evidenced by the growing volume of their barrage. A few months ago, the state party accused Bryce of spending a lot of time "hanging out with Hollywood elites" and called him "Red Carpet Randy."

Republicans also criticized Bryce for buying Twitter followers in 2015, and the National Republican Congressional Committee called him a "phony." (He did buy 1,000 to 1,500 followers, spokesperson Lauren Hitt said, but since then the campaign has added 200,000 more.) On the eve of a visit in February by Senator Bernie Sanders, Wisconsin Republicans put out a statement blasting "Bernie and Bryce, two socialists with a long history of losing."

Democrats acknowledge that it would be hard to beat Ryan even in a blue-wave year. But they say that Bryce will force the speaker, a formidable fundraiser and energetic campaigner, to spend time and energy back home beating back a serious opponent.

@IronStache says he's in the race to win.

"He's never had to face a fight like this before," Bryce said of Ryan. "I'm not doing all this just to come close."

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/artic...ge-in-november

[bsnub]

It is a great day!!!!


Speaker Paul D. Ryan announced Wednesday that he will not seek re-election in November, ending a brief stint atop the House and signaling the peril that the Republican majority faces in the midterm elections.

Mr. Ryan said he will serve until the end of this Congress in January, which will mark 20 years in Congress. He insisted he will be “leaving this majority in good hands with what I believe is a very bright future.”

But his retirement, at the age of 48, is sure to kick off a succession battle for the leadership of the House Republican Conference, likely between the House majority leader, Kevin McCarthy of California, and the House majority whip, Steve Scalise of Louisiana. And it could also trigger another wave of retirements among Republicans not eager to face angry voters in the fall and taking their cue from Mr. Ryan.

As if on cue, Representative Dennis Ross, Republican of Florida, announced his retirement an hour after Mr. Ryan.

Mr. Ryan’s intentions were first reported by Axios.

Explaining his decision to his Republican colleagues Wednesday morning at a meeting in the Capitol, a subdued Mr. Ryan said he wanted to spend more time with his children, who live in the same town where the speaker grew up.

He pledged that he would help fellow Republicans extensively in the 2018 campaign and said he would continue raising money at a powerful pace, according to two lawmakers in the room. Mr. Ryan has become the party’s most important fund-raiser in the House and Republicans have been counting on him to help them collect and spend tens of millions of dollars defending their majority this fall.

He pointed to the recently enacted overhaul of the tax code and increased military spending as his signal accomplishments.

Growing emotional at points, Mr. Ryan said family considerations weighed heavily on his retirement, explaining that his daughter was 13 when he became speaker and he did not want to be a remote figure in her teenage years.

“The truth is, it is easy for it to take over everything in your life and you can’t just let that happen because there are other things in life that can be fleeting as well: Namely your time as a husband and a father,” he told reporters.

But he has also been forced to answer for a constant stream of provocations and slights from President Trump, and his retirement announcement was no exception. Asked what should be done if the president has the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, fired, he answered, “I have no reason to believe that is going to happen. I’ve been talking to people in the White House about it.”

Representative Charlie Dent, a moderate Republican from Pennsylvania who is also retiring, noted the difficulty of Mr. Ryan’s position.

“We can all read between the lines,” Mr. Dent said. “This is not an easy administration to be dealing with.”

Mr. Ryan has been publicly noncommittal for months about running for re-election, repeating a formulation that he was not going anywhere any time soon. At the retreat in Austin, Tex., Mr. Ryan was opaque about his plans for 2018, saying that he and his wife, Janna, would confer in the coming weeks to make a decision, according to two people who attended the gathering.

But some in the audience found that unconvincing, and some party strategists indicated that his refusal to commit to running again was offering an excuse to donors to withhold from giving to House campaign efforts.

Mr. Ryan said he had considered the effect his retirement would have on other lawmakers seeking re-election, but said his decision to retire was not based on signs of a growing Democratic wave.

“If we do our job, as we are, we are going to be fine as a majority,” he said.

Back in his Southeastern Wisconsin district, Mr. Ryan was facing a spirited challenge from two Democrats, Randy Bryce, better known by his Twitter handle, “Iron Stache,” and a schoolteacher, Cathy Myers. On his right flank, an avowed anti-Semite, Paul Nehlen, was making another run at the Republican nomination — and earning a national following among white supremacists.

Mr. Ryan is by far the most prominent figure fleeing Congress in a long season of Republican retirements. More than 40 House Republicans are leaving the chamber to retire or seek other offices, including a number who have voiced concern about the 2018 elections and intense dissatisfaction with the state of Washington under Mr. Trump. Several others have resigned in personal scandals.

The exodus has further endangered Republicans’ already tenuous hold on Congress, creating open seats in states like New Jersey and California that Republicans will struggle to hold. Republicans acknowledged on Wednesday morning that Mr. Ryan’s seat will be far more vulnerable without the speaker on the ballot.
Mr. Trump offered well-wishes on Twitter ahead of a planned dinner with Republican congressional leaders at the White House Wednesday evening.

Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader who longs to return to the speakership, was faint with her praise.

“The Speaker has been an avid advocate for his point of view and for the people of his district,” she said in a statement. “Despite our differences, I commend his steadfast commitment to our country.”

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, urged Mr. Ryan to use his last months as speaker to work toward bipartisan compromises.

“With his newfound political freedom, I hope the Speaker uses his remaining time in Congress to break free from the hard-right factions of his caucus that have kept Congress from getting real things done,” he said. “If he’s willing to reach across the aisle, he’ll find Democrats willing and eager to work with him.”

Meantime, the scramble to succeed Mr. Ryan atop the Republican conference — if not the House majority — could prove intense. Mr. McCarthy made a run at the speakership after then-Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio announced his retirement but fell flat. Mr. Scalise will be a sentimental favorite after surviving a near-death shooting at a congressional baseball practice. But his ascent would signal another Republican turn to the right.

“I think everybody will start jockeying for position immediately,” said Representative Mark Meadows of North Carolina, the chairman of the conservative Freedom Caucus. “They won’t wait for nine months.”

The speaker made the decision over the spring congressional recess, a period during which he took his family on a vacation to Austria. Mr. Ryan has been frustrated with the seemingly unending tensions in his conference between conservative hard-liners and mainstream Republicans and the unpredictable Mr. Trump, whose recent tilt toward imposing tariffs and inviting a trade war is anathema to the free market-oriented speaker.

Mr. Ryan, who told his staff about his decision at an early-morning meeting, indicated to advisers that he knows retiring will create political difficulties for the party but that he felt he could not in good conscience commit to another full two-year term.

Yet that is of little comfort to those Republicans on the ballot this year who were expecting Mr. Ryan to campaign with lawmakers across the country. Even though he vowed to keep fulfilling his political responsibilities, he will not be nearly the draw as a lame duck. And with the filing period yet to pass in 19 states, it is now virtually impossible for Mr. Ryan to convince other lawmakers that they must run again.

“This is the nightmare scenario,” said former Representative Thomas M. Davis, a Virginia Republican. “Everybody figured he’d just hang in there till after the election.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/11/u...n-speaker.html

[AntRobertson]

So the spineless and gutless wonder is doing a runner.

No big surprise.

[harrybarracuda]

So the spineless and gutless wonder is doing a runner.

No big surprise.

In fairness I don't think he wanted the job in the first place, but was eventually persuaded to take it.

And I doubt he expected it to turn into this kind of shitstorm.

[misskit]

Ryan didn't want the job but oddly he is staying until the end of his term, another eight months.

Maybe he is waiting to twist the knife when Trump gets impeached.

[Davis Knowlton]

Trump's not going to get impeached. In fact, I'll bet he gets reelected. Only two American Presidents have been impeached by the House of Representatives - one 150 years ago...the other 20 - both were later acquitted by the Senate.

[Klondyke]

“The truth is, it is easy for it to take over everything in your life and you can’t just let that happen because there are other things in life that can be fleeting as well: Namely your time as a husband and a father,” he told reporters.

That's why two weeks ago he took his family on a trip to Czech Republic picking up there a Russian hacker who was there awaiting his extradition to Russia. The seat in the Learjet was reserved for the return direct flight (to Quantanamo?), so the poor boy was fetched up in the dark night before informing his lawyer.

Such a good swift job, the private trip could surely be reimbursed by tax-payers...

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-us-cz.../29135397.html

[harrybarracuda]

That's why two weeks ago he took his family on a trip to Czech Republic picking up there a Russian hacker who was there awaiting his extradition to Russia. The seat in the Learjet was reserved for the return direct flight (to Quantanamo?), so the poor boy was fetched up in the dark night before informing his lawyer.

Such a good swift job, the private trip could surely be reimbursed by tax-payers...

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-us-cz.../29135397.html

Oh good, they got the little fucker back the the US.

Result!