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Steve King Reveals a Drastic Action the GOP Is Considering – Against Speaker Paul Ryan

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Rep. Steve King (R-Texas) said Friday that there was a growing movement among members of the House Republicans to remove Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) from his position as House speakership. . .

“I also have got information that there are–I’ll say ‘members’–I say that plurally, with knowledge, that are considering introducing a motion to vacate the chair,” he added. “If they do that, that will throw this place into a tizzy and force the kind of election for a Speaker that may bring out someone who is a lot stronger on this.”

The most recent discontent came when Ryan propagated the details of an immigration compromise bill that many saw as conceding too many demands of the out-of-power Democrats. . .

“From the time that Paul Ryan announced that he would be retiring at the end of this Congress, his juice has been diminished day by day by day,” King continued. “It’s not a personal thing. It’s just a function of how things work.

“He has less power, less influence, and yet he’s still leading us into this amnesty piece,” he explained, referring to the immigration compromise bill. “People are acting like he’s the Speaker of the House who will be deciding who can chair which committees, who can be seated on which committees, and whose bills move forward in the next Congress.” (Read more from “Steve King Reveals a Drastic Action the GOP Is Considering – Against Speaker Paul Ryan” HERE)

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House Speaker Paul Ryan Won’t Seek Re-Election

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By CNN. House Speaker Paul Ryan is not seeking re-election and will retire from Congress after this year, the Wisconsin Republican announced Wednesday.

“You realize something when you take this job,” Ryan told reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday morning. “It’s a big job with a lot riding on you … but you also know this is not a job that does not last forever. … You realize you hold the office for just a small part of our history. So you better make the most of it.”

He reminded reporters that he took the job “reluctantly” in 2015, when he took over from John Boehner, but Ryan also said he has no “regrets.”

“I like to think I’ve done my part, my little part in history to set us on a better course,” Ryan said. (Read more from “House Speaker Paul Ryan Won’t Seek Re-Election” HERE)

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Paul Ryan Won’t Run for Re-Election

By Axios. Speaker Paul Ryan told House Republicans this morning that he will not run for re-election in November.

Why it matters: House Republicans were already in a very tough spot for the midterms, with many endangered members and the good chance that Democrats could win the majority.

One of Washington’s best-wired Republicans said:

“This is a Titanic, tectonic shift. … This is going to make every Republican donor believe the House can’t be held.” The announcement will help Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in his fundraising because “the Senate becomes the last bastion,” the Republican said.

. . .

What comes next: The two most likely to replace him are Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise, though Scalise has said he won’t run against McCarthy, who appears to have first bite at the apple.

(Read more from “Paul Ryan Won’t Run for Re-Election” HERE)

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Celebrity to Paul Ryan: ‘You Will Go Straight to Hell’

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No one’s unfamiliar with the Christmas stress from the rude brother-in-law, the opinionated mother-in-law or someone like that.

This holiday season, however, one celebrity started there, and with a greeting to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., went straight over the edge of the cliff.

“Paul ryan – don’t talk about Jesus after what u just did to our nation – u will go straight to hell u screwed up fake altar boy #JUDASmuch,” said Rosie O’Donnell.

The Washington Examiner reported on the “harsh Christmas tweet.”

The report continued, “The comedian’s pointed attack was in response to a brief Christmas message Ryan delivered in a Twitter video: ‘At the end of each year, no matter how short — or long — it may feel, there is always Christmas. Waiting for us is that sense of wonder the shepherds felt when the angels appeared in the night sky to herald the birth of a Savior.’”

(Read more from “Celebrity to Paul Ryan: ‘You Will Go Straight to Hell'” HERE)

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Planned Parenthood Attacks Paul Ryan’s ‘Baby’ Talk

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Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards on Friday criticized House Speaker Paul Ryan’s call for higher birth rates in the U.S.

Richards tweeted that “if more members of Congress could get pregnant, maybe they wouldn’t tell the rest of us when and why to get pregnant.”

Ryan said during his press conference Thursday that he did his part, “but we need to have higher birth rates in this country.” (Read more from “Planned Parenthood Attacks Paul Ryan’s ‘Baby’ Talk” HERE)

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House to Adopt Mandatory Anti-Sexual Harassment Training

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Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday that the House will require anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training for all members and their staffs. The announcement came just hours after a hearing in which two female lawmakers spoke about sexual misconduct involving sitting members of Congress.

“Our goal is not only to raise awareness, but also make abundantly clear that harassment in any form has no place in this institution,” said Ryan, R-Wis. “As we work with the Administration, Ethics, and Rules committees to implement mandatory training, we will continue our review to make sure the right policies and resources are in place to prevent and report harassment.” . . .

The move comes days after the Senate unanimously approved a measure requiring all senators, staff and interns to be trained on preventing sexual harassment. (Read more from “House to Adopt Mandatory Anti-Sexual Harassment Training” HERE)

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Paul Ryan Changes His Tune on ‘Disgraceful’ Democrat Deal

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In the first interview for House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) since President Trump announced his deal with Democrats to increase the debt ceiling, Ryan explained why Trump made the decision, and called it “perfectly reasonable and rational.”

He made the comments on Fox News to Martha MacCallum Thursday.

“When you look at that deal that was struck in the room for the three month debt ceiling,” MacCallum asked, “some are sizing it up and saying that the president really was speaking to Republican leadership, he was saying, that it was a signal to you guys, what do you say to that?”

“Well look what I think what he’s trying to do is clear the decks so we can get focused on big things like tax reform,” Ryan answered.

“I’ve spoken to the president a lot about this,” he explained, “I talked to him this morning, he wants to clear the decks so we can basically get our job done and focus on our big issue like tax reform, border security and the rest.” (Read more from “Paul Ryan Changes His Tune on ‘Disgraceful’ Democrat Deal” HERE)

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Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan Surrender Unconditionally

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Once again, Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan have demonstrated how good they are at surrendering to the unarmed.

Even if Republicans had 80 percent majorities in Congress along with the White House, they would find an excuse for giving Democrats everything they want on the debt ceiling and the upcoming budget bill. The reason is simple: They have no interest in conservative governance. They love giving Democrats what they want, even if they have the power to pass a good bill and even if they’d win a stare-down over a shutdown.

McConnell fights the doctors, not the illness

Earlier this week, McConnell wanted Democrats to understand that he will not let them try to get him to win. Unconditional surrender is the only way forward:

“There is zero chance — no chance — we won’t raise the debt ceiling. No chance. America is not going to default, and we’ll get the job done in conjunction with the secretary of the Treasury.”

There are a couple of important observations about this statement:

1. McConnell is right that there is zero chance of default. As I’ve noted before, our revenue stands at about $3.4 trillion a year, and interest on the debt is $270 billion. We have enough funds to deal with the interest and all the other vital functions of government without issuing any more debt. Unfortunately, this is not what McConnell meant by not defaulting. He is using the other side’s false talking point about default.

2. The only way we will actually default and, in the long run, have trouble paying interest payments, is not if we fail to raise the debt ceiling but if we fail to lower the debt floor. Why is McConnell making the debt ceiling the problem rather than the actual debt?

3. Why would anyone preemptively tell Democrats they will give them anything they want because they are so scared of their obstruction, even when they are in the minority? Putting the repeal of the filibuster aside for a moment, yes, it’s true that Republicans don’t have 60 votes in the Senate. But neither do Democrats! And they don’t have the White House, the House, or a majority vote in the Senate with the leverage to threaten reforms to the filibuster.

The answer to all of these questions is simple: Republicans don’t share our values and goals. Whereas Democrats view brinksmanship as leverage to advance their goals, Republicans view it as the plague to be avoided precisely because they have no interest in our goals. They could have 99 Senate seats, and they would still find an excuse not to do the right thing.

Fear of government shutdown is a phony excuse to perpetuate the status quo

And so it goes with the government funding bill. Republicans have an opportunity to get up in front of the people and declare their priorities in what they plan to fund in the budget and what they plan not to fund. They should fund border security and missile defense while defunding Planned Parenthood, sanctuary cities, refugee resettlement, and other harmful aspects of government. Americans care more about these issues than a 17 percent shutdown of the bureaucracies.

Yet Republicans, in their insular thinking and their broken political barometer, believe that Americans care about what the D.C. media cares about — a government shutdown — and that Democrats would always win a stare-down. It’s kind of like their fear of the monument issue, where every poll shows super-majority opposition to tearing down monuments, yet Republicans are running scared. It’s why they have no interest in fighting sanctuary cities, fighting for free market health care reform, reclaiming power from the courts, or pushing voter ID.

Take a look at what Paul Ryan said about a government shutdown:

“I don’t think a government shutdown is necessary and I don’t think most people want to see a government shutdown, ourselves included,”

Notice the difference in tone between GOP leaders and Chuck Schumer. Democrats will pound the lectern and declare their beliefs and assert their red lines on policy, even when they are extremely unpopular. Yet Republican leaders sound more like cable commentators opining on the state of play with a government shutdown, refusing to fight for their policies.

That is because they don’t have any policies other than pursuing power as an end to itself.

Which brings us to President Trump

Trump was correct to call out McConnell and Ryan for sabotaging the agenda on the debt ceiling and the budget funding over the border wall, which, by the way, is required by current law. Sadly, we are not going to change this leadership until they are defeated or we start a new party. But Trump can fix the way his administration behaves. Guess who was standing next to McConnell while he made his comments on the debt ceiling? Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Trump’s own Treasury secretary has been running around for months calling for what Trump himself is now repudiating. And he has been pressuring conservatives to capitulate. So rather than his administration uniting behind his supposed agenda, his personnel are actually fueling the very behavior from Ryan and McConnell that Trump has rebuked. This is absurd.

The president needs to double down from yesterday’s tweets and get his administration singing in the same key. He needs to create a list of red lines in the budget, red lines that, if crossed, will trigger his veto pen. He should make some form of free market health care reform the condition for raising the debt ceiling, because health care is the largest driver of the debt. Then he must fully support candidates who are willing to have his back and not support McConnell puppets like Luther Strange.

Overall, the president must remember that Twitter is not a policy outcome, especially when almost all his advisers and cabinet members are rowing in the opposite direction. He should remember who supported his campaign agenda and who opposed it and stop banishing supporters while embracing opponents.

As the party stands now, there is not much Trump can do about congressional leaders. But he can consolidate his own message and behavior by bringing his own administration on board. (For more from the author of “Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan Surrender Unconditionally” please click HERE)

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Paul Ryan Just Said Something That Will Get Trump’s Attention

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Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said Monday that it isn’t congressional Republicans’ role to defend President Trump from the investigations into Russian election interference and pushed back against the notion that special counsel Robert Mueller is biased against the president.

The comments from Ryan came a day after Trump tweeted that “it’s very sad that Republicans…do very little to protect their president.” Trump’s top aide Kellyanne Conway also attacked Mueller Sunday and described his legal team as a “band of Democratic donors.” Mueller has brought seven attorneys onto his legal team that have donated a combined $60,787 to federal Democratic donors, a practice Trump has dubbed “ridiculous.”

Ryan was asked on local Wisconsin radio Monday morning about why Republicans aren’t doing more to protect President Trump from Mueller’s investigation and those being conducted by Congressional committees. The radio host Jay Weber mentioned the Democratic donors hired, and in his response Ryan said, “Bob Mueller is a Republican who was appointed by a Republican.” (Read more from “Paul Ryan Just Said Something That Will Get Trump’s Attention” HERE)

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Civility? The BRAZEN Hypocrisy of Sally ‘Killing Spree’ Kohn

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Old habits die hard. After calling for civility in political dialogue, it only took Sally Kohn two weeks to fall back into accusing Republicans of wanting to kill people and incite violence.

In a recent tweet, she insinuated that Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., is a serial murderer for trying to pass an Obamacare replacement plan.

Following that tweet, Kohn launched into a Twitter tirade against Dana Loesch Wednesday, accusing Loesch of attempting to incite violence. Loesch appeared in an NRA video displaying footage of violent Antifa riots and said that the only way to push back against the Left’s normalization of violence is to “fight back with the clenched fist of truth,” which Kohn construed to mean gun ownership. Twitchy reported the Twitter exchange.

The biggest takeaway from Kohn’s behavior is not how she twisted Loesch’s words. It’s Kohn’s rank hypocrisy.

Appearing on CNN with CRTV host Steve Deace after James T. Hodgkinson attempted to assassinate several members of Congress, Kohn and Deace agreed that the political dialogue in America has become too divisive and uncivil and that it has contributed to pushing people like Hodgkinson over the edge.

“When we are hostile, and aggressive, and uncivil, it actually encourages people to then repeat that in face-to-face communications and obviously in hand-to-hand communications as well in ways that are destructive,” Kohn said.

Deace made the point that people on the Left and on the Right can have passionate disagreements and arguments over ideas, but personal attacks cross a line. To which Kohn responded, “You’re exactly right, Steve, we can have heated conversations without attacking, demeaning, dehumanizing each other. We need to do that more.”

Two weeks later, Kohn failed to practice what she preached. Instead of debating the GOP’s ideas on health care reform, Kohn opted to accuse Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., of going on a “killing spree.” Instead of addressing how Antifa leftists openly embrace violence, Kohn wants to smear Dana Loesch and the NRA by claiming they’re “demonizing” protest as violence.

It’s difficult to take calls for civility from the Left seriously when progressives are such hypocrites. (For more from the author of “Civility? The BRAZEN Hypocrisy of Sally ‘Killing Spree’ Kohn” please click HERE)

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Ryan Shares Vision for Tax Reform, Pledges Action in 2017

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House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., promised that “transformational” tax reform will be accomplished in 2017 during an address Tuesday.

“Once in a generation or so, there is an opportunity to do something transformational—something that will have a truly lasting impact long after we are gone,” Ryan said at the 2017 Manufacturing Summit in Washington, D.C. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to fix this nation’s tax code once and for all.”

The tax code, Ryan said, has evolved over the years and become needlessly complicated.

“As the world changed, our tax code has remained stuck in neutral,” Ryan said. “It has ballooned to 70,000 pages of rules and regulations that few people today actually understand. There is an old line about this: Our tax code is about five times as long as the Bible, but with none of the good news.”

Ryan said tax reform, an effort led by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, will include elimination of the death tax and alternative minimum tax, which will “ensure that profitable corporations pay at least some federal income tax,” Ryan said.

The alternative minimum tax is a “complicated parallel tax system that was designed to ensure some tax is paid but instead just adds additional complexity to an already burdensome system,” Heritage Foundation policy analyst Adam Michel told The Daily Signal in an email.

The House Republicans’ blueprint for tax reform gets rid of both the individual and corporate alternative minimum tax, Michel said.

Tax reform will also include changes for tax deductions, Ryan said.

“We will clear out special interest carve-outs and excessive deductions, and focus on keeping those that make the most sense: home ownership, charitable giving, and retirement savings,” Ryan said.

Tax reform will also entail reducing the number of tax brackets, Ryan said.

“We will consolidate the existing seven brackets into three, double the standard deduction, and simplify things to the point that you can do your taxes on a form the size of a postcard,” Ryan said. “Wouldn’t that be nice?”

Ryan also called for “slashing our corporate tax rate [to a rate] as low as possible.”

This will include, Ryan said, doing away with special-interest “carve-outs,” and exchanging them with lower tax rates for businesses.

These changes must be lasting, Ryan said.

“There is one last piece to this puzzle, and it goes back to the idea that all of this is about looking down the road, and planning for the future,” Ryan said. “These reforms—these tax cuts—they need to be permanent.”

Vice President Mike Pence also addressed the attendees at the Manufacturing Summit, where he highlighted President Donald Trump’s dedication to regulatory reform.

“In the first 100 days of this administration, I am proud to say that President Trump signed 14 bills under the Congressional Review Act to cut burdensome regulations, saving businesses like yours up to $18 billion dollars in compliance costs per year,” Pence said.

Passed in 1996 in concert with the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act and then-Speaker Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America reform agenda, the Congressional Review Act is what the Congressional Research Service calls “an oversight tool that Congress may use to overturn a rule issued by a federal agency.”

Trump will also be unrelenting in support of the American worker, Pence said.

“American manufacturers have not been this optimistic in 20 years,” Pence said, adding:

Confidence is back, manufacturing is back because since Day One of this administration, President Donald Trump has been fighting for manufacturers and the men and women who work on your factory floors and he’ll keep fighting every day to lead an American manufacturing renaissance. I promise you that.

Michel, Heritage’s tax policy expert, was heartened by Ryan’s resolve to deliver on tax reform.

“It was a great outline for tax reform,” Michel said. “He articulated the dire need for reform and how updating the tax code can help all Americans. I was encouraged that the speaker is still committed to getting tax reform done this year.” (For more from the author of “Ryan Shares Vision for Tax Reform, Pledges Action in 2017” please click HERE)

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