Jeff G.
Protein Wisdom
1/18/2011
NRO:
Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the GOP’s high priest of pecuniary politics, has ascended to the chairmanship of the House Budget Committee. Across the land, fiscal conservatives applaud the rise of the 40-year-old wonk. But the cheers in Congress are more sporadic: Unflinching endorsements of Ryan’s fiscal blueprint are rare. Apparently, the new majority is in no mood — yet — for a full-spectrum fight on entitlements.
[…]
[…] as Ryan preps for a spring budget battle, Cantor, House Speaker John Boehner, and others are not showing much eagerness to take up the roadmap’s specifics. Ryan’s project, which proposes we curb the looming debt crisis by moving toward a defined-contribution model for entitlements over the next several decades, languishes.
Nevertheless, with Ryan now holding real power, along with a burgeoning national profile, Republicans will be forced to choose how aggressively to act on his big ideas — even if it makes them uncomfortable. With a Democrat in the White House and a Democratic majority in the Senate, chances for major policy change are slim. But the public will eye how Republicans fight — to see if they’re serious about finding a solution.
[…]
Cantor, the House majority leader, brushes back the idea that House Republicans are wary of Ryan. But he, like the others, is not championing the roadmap as the House GOP budget strategy. Instead, he tells NRO, the leadership is encouraging Ryan to craft a flinty budget for the remainder of the fiscal year. By addressing Washington’s discretionary-spending levels first, Republicans, Cantor argues, can “demonstrate that we are serious about cutting spending and getting our debt under control.”
Beyond that, things get a bit murkier, but Cantor does see an opportunity for aspects of the roadmap to become policy. “I am supportive of the direction that Paul is headed,” he says. Still, he cautions, “as you know, the budget is something that is [scored] within the budget window for the next ten years. I’m hopeful that we can get elements of what Paul is aiming for incorporated.” Regarding entitlements, however, the roadmap really takes hold beyond that point…
Read the rest at Protein Wisdom.
Video from Freedom’s Lighthouse:
On House Floor, GOP Rep. Paul Ryan Makes Opening Argument for the Repeal of ObamaCare
And, GOP Rep. Paul Ryan Tears Down the ObamaCare ‘Fiscal House of Cards’
