Tag Archives: Paul Ryan

Featured, US

Paul Ryan Elected Speaker Of The House

Video Leave a comment

By Steve Guest Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin has been elected the new Speaker of the House for the 114th Congress.

Elected with 236 votes on Thursday, Ryan is the 54th Speaker of the House of Representatives. Rep. Nancy Pelosi received 184 votes, Rep. Daniel Webster of Florida received nine, Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee received one, Rep. John Lewis of Georgia received one, and Colin Powell received one vote.

Ryan, formerly chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and 2012 Republican vice presidential candidate, takes over after John Boehner retired from the speakership.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington and chair of the House Republican Conference nominated Ryan in a speech that received a standing ovation from both sides of the aisle.

WATCH:

McMorris Rodgers said, “In the House we are eager for a fresh start that will make us more effective to fulfill our obligation to reflect the will of the people and to re-establish the balance of power and there’s no better person to lead us in that calling than [Ryan].”

Ryan has been in the House for almost 17 years and led the House Budget Committee and later was the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.  

Rodgers said, “He’s more than a chairman to us. He’s more than a colleague. He’s our friend. He’s a leader and through it all, he’s never forgotten his roots.”

“There’s no place he’d rather be than at home with his family,” explained McMorris Rodgers. “He’ll continue to put the people of this country first and I can say, in all candor, he did not seek this office. The office sought him.”  

Democratic Rep. Xavier Becerra of California, chairman of the House Democratic Conference nominated former Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the speakership. After Becerra’s speech, only the Democrats stood up and applauded.

Follow Steve on Twitter

 

This article was republished with the permission of The Daily Caller Foundation.

Featured, Politics, US

House Freedom Caucus Opposes Paul Ryan’s Terms for House Speaker

Leave a comment

The House Freedom Caucus ensured that Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) would have the support to secure the position of Speaker of the House next week following a vote on Wednesday night.

However, while Ryan did receive two-thirds of the vote, he did not receive the 80 percent required for an endorsement, and the group stated that it would not accept all of his terms for Speaker.

After the meeting, Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) said, “We are not meeting all his demands, but if he wants to be speaker, he has the votes as of tonight.”

Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) shared a similar sentiment, regarding the group’s support for Paul. “We are sending the message to the conference and Paul Ryan that he has our support, but that we will continue to ask for the changes that we are asking for,” he said.

Following the vote, Ryan posted a statement on this Twitter, thanking the House Freedom Caucus for its support:

[pull_quote_center]I’m grateful for the support of a supermajority of the House Freedom Caucus. I look forward to hearing from the other two caucuses by the end of the week, but I believe this is a positive step toward a unified Republican team.[/pull_quote_center]

Paul’s run for Speaker of the House comes after Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced that he was stepping down, and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the assumed replacement, dropped out of the race.

TIME noted that Ryan has given five main conditions to run for Speaker of the House, including that the Speaker should be a visionary who communicates the party agenda; the speaker will only concede to rules changes if the entire conference agrees; there will be no motions to vacate the chair; he must have free time to spend with his family; and everyone in the conference must vote for him.

Ryan’s condition for “family time” has drawn criticism due to the fact that during his time as a Representative, Ryan has opposed nearly every federal policy on paid family leave.

Opinion, Politics

Rep. Ryan: ‘Don’t Believe Everything You Read On The Internet’

9 Comments

Rep. Paul Ryan (R- WI), the House Ways & Means Committee Chairman, shared some choice words for conservative media while appearing on Fox News.

“Let’s talk about trade. Very odd situation– the President is fighting without Rep. Nancy Pelosi, without Rep. Steny Hoyer, with Republicans to get his trade authority passed through,” said Brian Kilmeade. “You’ve already discovered through Breitbart and others that there were some provisions in there for climate change, provisions in there for immigration. You’ve looked to knock that out and push this forward. Where are you at with trade authority? And are you questioning your own support of it?”

Ryan answered:

“Look, first of all, don’t believe everything you read on the internet, Brian. just let me give you a little tip there. Second of all, this is why we need to pass Trade Promotion Authority. What we have in Trade Promotion Authority is a prevention of any immigration changes, of any climate change legislation going into a trade agreement. So by passing Trade Promotion Authority, we’re putting congress in the driver’s seat which is transparency.

“We need to see the documents, the country needs to see these trade agreements—60 days. Oh, and you cannot put any immigration in here and you can’t put any climate change in a trade agreement. So, this is why we want to pass Trade Promotion Authority, so we can determine the outcome of these trade agreements not what’s happening out there right now. That’s why we’re asserting power and control here. Look a broken clock is right twice a day. The president is actually supporting trade, which is what Republicans are in favor of and that’s why we are where we are.”

Kilmeade did not back down from questioning Ryan. “One of the things on the internet – so you can tell us whether or not it’s true. So, for the most part everybody on Capitol Hill is in the dark … you don’t really know what’s in it yet, because you haven’t seen it, so it’s hard to support it one way or another?”

“No, no, no,” Ryan said. “There’s a lot of confusion. Trade Promotion Authority—what we’re voting on this week—is a process. It’s not a trade agreement. It’s a procedure for how you consider trade agreement. The Trans Pacific Partnership – it doesn’t exist yet. The reason we can’t see it yet is because it hasn’t been negotiated yet – it doesn’t exist yet. It’s been negotiated for years. Bush started these negotiations,” Ryan explained.

Ryan explained that the vote wasn’t on an idea, but a procedure:

“No we’re voting on a procedure,” Ryan said. “How does Congress consider trade agreements? Then in the fall, probably in the fall, we’ll consider a trade agreement—which hasn’t been completed yet. That’s why we don’t know what’s in it because it doesn’t exist yet.”

Ryan apparently wants Americans to trust Congress and not trust news sources including Breitbart and Truth In Media. For nearly two years, Truth In Media has been reporting on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to inform the public on the secrecy of the treaty and the dangers of giving a U.S. president ‘fast-track’ authority.

Read more about Truth In Media’s coverage of TPP here.

Last Thursday the Democrats, led by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and a few liberty-minded Republicans like Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), halted the fast-track bill.

Duncan, noting an “interesting development on the House Floor,” wrote that “Despite aggressive lobbying from the President and a personal visit to Capitol Hill this morning, TAA was rejected by a stunning vote of 126-302 (I voted no).”

“The president has some work yet to do with his party to complete this process,” said Ryan. “This isn’t over yet.”

Government Accountability, International, Politics, US

Rep. Ryan Pushes Fast-Track Authority To Ensure TPP Transparency

5 Comments

During House Rules Committee testimony on Wednesday, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) appeared to acknowledge the secrecy surrounding the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) by mentioning that the specifics of TPP will be more transparent once the House supports the passage of the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA).

The TPA is “fast-track” authority to advance trade deals including TPP, the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP). If TPA passes Congress would not be able to introduce amendments to trade deals, and would only the authority to approve or reject trade deals from the President.

[RELATED: TPP ‘Fast Track Authority’ Passes Senate, Moves to House]

Supporters of TPP are confident that this partnership and other agreements would serve as a large boost for the economy, while critics worry that major trade deals may favor crony capitalism and compromise sovereignty.

During House Rules Committee discussion regarding the secrecy of trade agreements, Ryan said that the TPP will be “declassified and made public once it’s agreed to.”

Breitbart noted that members of Congress are allowed to read the text of TPP in a secret room within the Capitol, but have not been allowed to see the text of the TiSA and T-TIP.

If TPA is not passed, Ryan warned that “at the dawn of the 21st Century, be it China or Europe, other nations will go around the world writing the rule book for the global economy, instead of America and our allies. It would be a travesty if we allowed that to happen.”

To read more about TPA, the TPP, and other trade negotiations, click here.

Liberty Report

Ron Paul: TPA Would Give Obama Unconstitutional Authority For TPP

Video 2 Comments

The hotly debated Trade Promotion Authority could be approved by Congress today, granting unconstitutional authority to President Barack Obama, according to Ron Paul.

In his latest Liberty Report, the three-time presidential candidate and former congressman from Texas offered his perspective on the TPA. He described it as “the transfer of power from the Congress to the president to design some trade agreements, which, quite frankly, is unconstitutional because the responsibility falls on the Congress.”

“It’s a little bit more complex than this, and more so this time than before,” Paul said, noting that the TPA is something he has voted on numerous times while in Congress. “This trade promotion authority, also called fast track, involves more than one piece of legislation.” This time it looks like Congress will give Obama unconstitutional authority.

Daniel McAdams, co-host of the Liberty Report, explained that the TPA would facilitate the implementation of three pending trade deals, one of which is the Trans-Pacific Partnership. “The other two are secret,” McAdams said.

There is a shroud of secrecy around the TPP as well, Paul detailed. “This is unbelievable,” he said. “The lobbyists, the people who represent big business, the corporations, have been allowed to read those where the members of Congress are not allowed to read it.” Though he conceded that “fast track” is a good descriptive term about the expeditious manner of the TPA, the term does not accurately describe the legislation as also being a manner of keeping the facts behind closed doors.

Moreover, Congressman Paul Ryan was quoted supporting the secrecy of TPA and TPP, saying, “It’s classified. It will be made public once it’s agreed to.”

Did he just take a page out of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi’s book? Consider how the Republicans were up in arms when Pelosi said Congress needed to pass Obamacare before the public could read it. “This just goes to show how the elites are really of one mind and one party,” McAdams said.

Paul agreed. “The one thing that bugs me still as much as it did back then was the hypocrisy of it,” he said. “So here they want to classify it and keep it secret. ‘We’re not allowed to do it.’ ‘It’s best for the country.’ ‘It’s for freedom and free trade.’ At the same time, when the president had a little bit of diplomacy going on, the Congress came down pretty hard.” Though the Congress “might have been technically correct” in their demand for transparency in that situation, Paul said he does believe that the president should be able to have some private talks with other countries.

Point being, the Congress seems to lack principle when it comes to how transparency should be applied. “At one time they’re for all this transparency, and another time they want to cover up,” Paul said.

Watch the full episode above and check out more episodes of the Ron Paul Liberty Report here at Truth In Media. And check out the Liberty Report episode “Fast-Track: Free Trade or Protectionism?” here.

In case you missed Ben Swann’s Truth In Media episode on ISIS watch it below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6kdi1UXxhY

Politics

Paul Ryan to IRS Commissioner: “I just, I don’t believe it. That’s your problem, nobody believes you.”

Video 8 Comments

 

Americans are outraged over the IRS’ claim that a “computer glitch” erased the hard drives of all incriminating evidence of Lois Lerner’s emails. 

Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wis) made a statement to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen today calling him out for an obvious political cover-up.

“This is unbelievable,” said Ryan. “I am sitting here listening to this testimony… I  just, I don’t believe it. That’s your problem, nobody believes you.”

“You are the Internal Revenue Service. You can reach into the lives of hard-working taxpayers and with a phone call, an email, or a letter you can turn their lives upside-down. You ask taxpayers to hang on to seven years of their personal tax information in case they are ever audited, and you can’t keep six months’ worth of employee emails?”

Many Americans feel the same anger and frustration Ryan voiced today, but will Ryan do anything about it? Will Ryan try to eliminate the IRS completely?

Congressman Steve Stockman (R-TX) said, “The United States was founded on the belief government is subservient and accountable to the people.  Taxpayers shouldn’t be expected to follow laws the Obama administration refuses to follow themselves,” said Stockman.  “Taxpayers should be allowed to offer the same flimsy, obviously made-up excuses the Obama administration uses.”

Stockman’s bill, “The Dog Ate My Tax Receipts Act,” will allow taxpayers to offer the same lame excuses as the IRS did today.
The full text of the resolution follows:

The resolution may be cited as the “Dog Ate My Tax Receipts Resolution.”

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) must allow taxpayers the same lame excuses for missing documentation that the IRS itself is currently proffering

Whereas, the IRS claims that convenient, unexplained, miscellaneous computer malfunction is sufficient justification not to produce specific, critical documentation; and,

Whereas, fairness and Due Process demand that the American taxpayer be granted no less latitude than we afford the bureaucrats employed presently at the IRS;

Now, therefore, be it resolved that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that unless and until the Internal Revenue Service produces all documentation demanded by subpoena or otherwise by the House of Representatives, or produces an excuse that passes the red face test,

All taxpayers shall be given the benefit of the doubt when not producing critical documentation, so long as the taxpayer’s excuse therefore falls into one of the following categories:

1.         The dog ate my tax receipts
2.         Convenient, unexplained, miscellaneous computer malfunction
3.         Traded documents for five terrorists
4.         Burned for warmth while lost in the Yukon
5.         Left on table in Hillary’s Book Room
6.         Received water damage in the trunk of Ted Kennedy’s car
7.         Forgot in gun case sold to Mexican drug lords
8.         Forced to recycle by municipal Green Czar
9.         Was short on toilet paper while camping
10.       At this point, what difference does it make?

In any case, IRS can see the NSA for a good, high quality copy.

Politics, US

Everything You Need To Know About Bi-Partisan Budget Compromise in 2 min!

30 Comments

Ben Swann here, breaking down the new bi-partisan budget compromise by Republican House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan and Democratic Senate Budget Chairman Patty Murray.

The budget will avoid possible government shutdowns in January of next year and October of 2014 as well. How to accomplish this? Through compromise.

So here is what they are proposing. The big picture here, to reduce the federal deficit by $23 billion dollars over the next 10 years without raising taxes. President Obama praised the bi-partisan compromise, and yet, is it true that taxes will not be raised? Not quite.

The plan calls for raises in “fees”. Yes fees. So for instance, the plan reportedly calls for increases in higher airline fees, which if that is the case, is a tax.

But even so this bill is all about getting spending under control right?

Here is the best part. Remember in 2011 something called the Budget Control Act? you would probably remember it as the “Sequester”. Sequester cuts were set up to create automatic spending cuts balanced between cutting defense spending and domestic spending.

Part of the plan to reduce $23 billion dollars in spending over 10 years is to first do away with those pesky automatic sequester cuts to the tune of $65 billion dollars.

So when you hear all the discussion from media over the next few days about this issue, please, allow me to make this simple. The great bi-partisan budget compromise from Congressman Paul Ryan and Senator Patty Murray attempts to reduce the federal deficit without raising taxes but by charging taxpayers fees.

Ultimately, it will cut $23 billion dollars in spending over the next 10 years but will do so by increasing spending by $65 billion dollars right now.