As speaker of the House of Representatives, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan will surely collaborate with the forces whose efforts are destroying our nation. Over the years, his voting record shows him siding with liberals and progressives on numerous key issues. To expect him to perform differently in the powerful speaker post is unwarranted wishful thinking.
A member of the House since 1999, Ryan catapulted to national prominence as Mitt Romney’s running mate in 2012. Claiming to be a disciple of hard-line economists Friedrich Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, and Murray Rothbard, he ascended to chairmanship of the House Budget Committee. Just prior to the failed Romney/Ryan run for the White House, he produced the GOP’s economic plan labeled “Path To Prosperity.” Not something Hayek, von Mises, or Rothbard would come close to championing, it called for reducing the federal deficit at a snail’s pace.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Ryan plan wouldn’t achieve a balanced budget until the year 2040. Rather than leading to “Prosperity,” it would necessarily add to the already enormous national debt year after year for several decades.
Examination of the Ryan record in Congress shows that, in 1992, he voted for Export-Import Bank reauthorization, raising the national debt ceiling, and establishing normal trade relations with communist-led Vietnam. The debt ceiling vote passed the House 215-214, meaning that Ryan alone could have reversed approval of amassing more red ink. The Vietnam trade approval won passage by 215-213, meaning that rejection of the proposal by Ryan might well have led to full rejection of the measure by the entire House. In 2007, he cast a vote in favor of special rights for homosexuals, and in 2008, he voted for bailouts for Wall Street.
Last year, Ryan gave more indication that he is not a conservative when he sided with the GOP’s neoconservative wing to support sending weaponry to Syrian rebels. He then voted for a measure calling for the federal government to supply military equipment to local police forces, a dangerous path for the federal government to gain control over local police. In 2015, he cast votes for military aid to Ukraine and for Trade Promotion Authority for President Obama’s use in inserting our nation into the sovereignty-destroying trade agreements with Pacific nations and the European Union. Ryan has even supported amnesty for illegal immigrants.
During the brief period when the 40-member House Freedom Caucus resisted the choice of another Boehner-like speaker, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who has never been the friend of any true conservative individual or measure, spoke in favor of Ryan becoming the new speaker. He said, “I hope he gets it. We’ve been able to work with him.”
If Reid feels comfortable with Ryan as speaker, conservatives and constitutionalists are in for more disappointment. We hope we’re wrong, but Paul Ryan’s record gives evidence that he’s not what America needs as speaker.
John F. McManus is president of The John Birch Society and publisher of The New American. This column appeared originally at the insideJBS blog and is reprinted here with permission.
