Why Can't Paul Ryan Be the "Future of the Republican Party"?

After excoriating Republicans for spending like Dutch social democrats (and elevating halfwits to important leadership positions), I was asked recently by a radio host to name a Republican qualified to be "leader of the party." The pickings are slim, but there are a few exceptionally bright, market-oriented contenders out there. So I plugged, with appropriate obsequiousness, the always impressive Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan. When I sat down with Ryan last month to discuss Obama's education policy, he quoted Hayek, talked at length about handing out Rand books to staffers, and discussed his previous life as an economic analyst. Such conversations should be de rigueur with members of the House Budget Committee, but I suspect Ryan is the only one that could name an Austrian economist. 

Further proof that the Republican Party needs more Paul Ryans: Yesterday, he beat up on MSNBC host Carlos Watson and The Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel regarding the "public option" and why Congress shouldn't pass bills it hasn't read. Imagine such a performance from, say, Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachmann:

Comments

[kilroy]

Damn! He cleaned their clocks. Woot!

[24AheadDotCom]

Michael C. Moynihan kinda writes: When I sat down with Ryan last month to discuss Obama's education policy, he quoted Hayek, talked at length about handing out Rand books to staffers, showed me his high school dissertation on the Randrian and Hubbardian influences in the works of Geddy Lee, showed me his membership card in the Mad Magazine Joke of the Month club, discussed at great length his issues with Picard, and discussed his previous life as an economic analyst.

I'm going to leave it as an exercise, but a recent pollll showed that a majority of Republicans support NewDealEraPrograms. And, Randroids are even a fringe in the LP. Considering that, a StrictFiscalConservative is never going to hit the big time.

What the GOP should concentrate on instead is being clean as in not being in the pocket of corrupt businesses. Fat chance of that happening: most of them seem to only be interested in cashing checks from front groups no matter whether Team A or Team B won the last round.

And, regarding the wider issue of conservative and Republican leaders being completely incompetent (except when it comes to cashing checks), see the link. I'd hope that anyone who reads that with an open-mind will agree and will agree that something needs to be done.

[WWJGD]

Quick, ask Ryan about the drug war or civil liberties.

[Citizen Nothing]

Shut the fuck up, LoneWacko!

Goddamn! That's always cathartic!

[Rich]

Tom McClintock.

[proud libitard]

WWJGD,

exactly! Also, I'd like to see how he voted on many of the Bush proposals before I could even consider considering him.

I know many around here don't like 24ahead but in this case he makes a pretty good, if not really friggin' depressing, point. A good fiscally responsible Republican will be hard to find that would have a chance.

[Pro Libertate]

Flake ain't dead yet. I thought Reason liked Flake.

There's also Paul and maybe Gary Johnson. Even Sanford might bounce back, though the wackiness and unethicalness of his incident probably killed him.

[edna]

can goldwater be revived using a super-futuristic life-injecting technique? it worked for klaatu.

[proud libitard]

PL,

I don't want Sanford. He's a theocon!

[Citizen Nothing]

"...in this case he makes a pretty good, if not really friggin' depressing, point."
What, you actually still read his posts?

[Rhayader]

No love for Gary Johnson?

[WWJGD]

"What, you actually still read his posts?"

Yeah, I made my comment completely ignoring him. I think I'm starting to get the hang of this place. If only I could learn how to format the text.

Having watched a lot of Ryan's floor speeches, the guy just doesn't come off as genuine. He only seems to say these things now that they're out of power. It seems to be completely forsaking the civil side for the economic side with this guy. Just not worth it in the end.

[Brandon]

Republicans in Congress who can talk intelligently and convincingly about their regard for liberty and limited government are a dime a dozen. The doing is what's problematic.

Ryan voted for both the bank and auto bailouts, for example. Without looking it up, he probably voted for every single one of Bush's big government boondoggles.

[Kevin]

This one segment is all I know about Paul Ryan, but I was impressed with what I saw. He displayed very good debate skills. He pwned the liberal chick without coming off as a complete ass. I thought Ron Paul was the right guy at the wrong time for the 2008 election, although I think he stood a much better chance of getting elected than McCain. Still, there was almost no way a Republican was going to be elected, and with such a Dem - loaded legislature, he would have been a non-starter out of the gate.

We need to focus on getting Libertarian minded people elected from the bottom up. When there are a preponderance of lib-minded types in local and state governments, and Congress, then maybe some real change can take place.

[Billy G]

People that use the term pwned in reference to politics (in reference to anything actually) fit right in here with you; the hateful and ill informed.

[C+/B-]

http://www.ontheissues.org/House/Paul_Ryan.htm

[WWJGD]

There's the roll call for the Medicare Prescription Drug bill. Ryan voted for that one.
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2003/roll669.xml

[mark]

If there was some kind of Frankenstein-like health care bill, with the Patients' Choice Act grafted on top of ObamaCare with a 5-year trigger, my head might not get so explodey when they pass it. But why do I think that won't happen? Maybe the cynicism exhibited by damn near everyone about Republicans like Ryan? He's the best chance you have right now to stop ObamaCare.

And Mr. Moynihan, let people make their own comparisons, please. If you were trying to influence some errant Republican stumbling on this blog, you just lost him with that Palin/Bachmann putdown.

[Kevin]

Is this the same Paul Ryan who voted for the unconstitutional bill of attainder AIG Bonus tax? That Paul Ryan?

[Rhayader]

@WWJGD: If only I could learn how to format the text.

Easy man, HTML. Substitute "angle brackets" for the square brackets I am about to use, and that's about it. For example:

[b]Bold text here[/b]
[i]Italic text here[/i]

[T]

If you were trying to influence some errant Republican stumbling on this blog, you just lost him with that Palin/Bachmann putdown.

Yup. Whatever we may think of the two, they are enormously popular with the GOP base. And you can't alienate your base and expect to win an election. Ask John McCain how that worked out for him.

[MonkeeHeadinSouth]

hmmmmm

this blokes wikipedia page needs some work!

nothing on it

[Silentz]

Did she actually say that he was being "anti-competition" by opposing inserting a public option healthcare plan??? Really??? If this is the type of person that's dispensing the 'news', we're screwed.

[kilroy]

Without substitutions:

<b>Bold text here</b>
<i>Italic text here</i>

And links:
<a href="http://site.com/">The link text</a>

[kilroy]

Oh and

<blockquote>

block quote

</blockquote>

and the ever popular

<strike>Strike through</strike>

[WWJGD]

Finally! I'd tried various things in the past and was tired of embarrassing myself.

[William R]

Ryan supported the Bush bailouts and was an early and strong advocate for the Iraq war disaster. Democrats want to spend trillions on BS social programs while Republicans like Ryan see no problem spending trillions on BS wars.

[robc]

Unfortunately, the blink tag doesnt work.

[kilroy]

"UnfFortunately, the blink tag doesnt work."

FTFY

"Finally! I'd tried various things in the past and was tired of embarrassing myself."

I think there was a page that explained how to use all the tags on this site but it got eaten by the Follow Reason on the Twitter monster.

[Urkobold?]

Unfortunately, the blink tag doesnt [sic] work.

TO THE INFAMY OF HIT & RUN'S NAME! TO THE UTTER DAMNATION OF ITS LINE! NO, MY YOUNG FRIEND. ONE DAY I SHALL CLEANSE THIS BLOG WHICH MY FATHERS BEQUEATHED ME. I SHALL RESTORE ALL THE TRADITIONS THAT MADE HER GREAT. IT FOLLOWS, THEN, THAT I CANNOT COME TO POWER OR EVEN DEFEND MYSELF. . . . BY THE LACK OF A BLINK TAG WHICH BETRAYS THE MOST SACRED TRADITION OF THEM ALL. I SHALL NOT BRING MY HTML WITHIN THESE WALLS. I SHALL NOT VIOLATE THIS BLOG. . .AT THE MOMENT OF POSSESSING HER.

AND YES, THE URKOBOLD CAN USE THE PERSONAL PRONOUN WHEN HE GETS THE URGE. ESPECIALLY WHEN HE IS RIPPING OFF OLIVIER.

[MonkeeHeadinSouth]

er erkobold

think that should have been

TO THE INFAMY OF HIT & RUN'S NAME! TO THE UTTER DAMNATION OF ITS LINE! NO, MY YOUNG FRIEND. ONE DAY I SHALL CLEANSE THIS BLOG WHICH MY FATHERS BEQUEATHED ME. I SHALL RESTORE ALL THE TRADITIONS THAT MADE HER GREAT. IT FOLLOWS, THEN, THAT I CANNOT COME TO POWER OR EVEN DEFEND MYSELF. . . . BY THE LACK OF A BLINK TAG WHICH BETRAYS THE MOST SACRED TRADITION OF THEM ALL. I SHALL NOT BRING MY HTML WITHIN THESE WALLS. I SHALL NOT VIOLATE THIS BLOG. . .AT THE MOMENT OF POSSESSING HER.

AND YES, THE URKOBOLD CAN USE THE PERSONAL PRONOUN WHEN HE GETS THE URGE. ESPECIALLY WHEN HE IS RIPPING OFF OLIVIER.

[proud libitard]

Based on the link about Paul Ryan on the issues, he's totally out. He sucks...

[Urkobold?]

MONKEEHEADINSOUTH, YOU FOOL, THE URKOBOLD IS GERMANIC IN ORIGIN, AND ESCHEWS ALL THINGS ITALIC! WELL, MOST THINGS. THERE ARE SOME NICE ITALIAN WOMEN, AND THE FOOD IS TASTY. THEY ALSO MAKE SOME FINE LEATHER GOODS AND PRODUCE OBSCURELY TANTALIZING PORN.

[mark]

WWJGD | July 30, 2009, 4:29pm | #
William R | July 30, 2009, 5:02pm | #

Y'all are right. This guy sucks. I do think the Patients' Choice Act is the best hope for stopping ObamaCare so I will have to pretend this guy doesn't completely suck.

And I'm getting back to work. Darn you Reason!

[kilroy]

Maybe he'll get caught banging a junkie prostitute that's 17 and it'll out his inner libertarian.

Though that probably won't help his career much.

Yeah. Fuck him. It was fun to watch him kick MSNBCs ass though.

[R C Dean]

For the ever-popular strikethrough, a simple [s] and [/s] (with angle rather than square brackets) will suffice.

[duster]

I too looked him up on ontheissues.org. I see no reason to call him "impressive". Obsequious, indeed, Mr. Moynihan.

[Citizen Nothing]

Goddamn! Don't I feel

empowered!

[Robert]

Unordered list used to work, but doesn't any more. Nor ordered list.

[Maxine Waters]

And Mr. Moynihan, let people make their own comparisons, please. If you were trying to influence some errant Republican stumbling on this blog, you just lost him with that Palin/Bachmann putdown.

I would like my Grievance Industry back. Everyone said Republicans were above that sort of thing, but soon as that gal Palin got on the scene, she managed to slip it out from underneath me.

[24AheadDotCom]

1. He's not good-looking like KVDH.
2. He has a strange accent, like a Canadian.

Meanwhile, did you know that a National Review editorial lied? It's even getting pushback from within NRO itself: link.

Ask yourself: why do Dem sockpuppets (several examples here) react so very strongly to this issue? And, why are GOP hacks - and Orange Line hacks like those at this site - once again just doing what Dem concern trolls want them to do? Why can't Reason fight against BHO and the MSM? Are they looking for their own bailout?

No, really, think about that for a second: Reason keeps buying whatever it is the MSM, FactCheck, the SPLC, and all the rest sell them.

[iamse7en]

Paul Ryan seems pretty good, but:

he voted for TARP and for that confiscatory tax on the AIG bonuses.

He has to do more than cite an Austrian economist. He should read their writings.

[nj]

Not really surprising that someone like Moynihan would like Ryan. He is awful on civil liberties and foreign policy. Oh and is he not even good on economics, he after all supported the bailouts.

[a]

Ryan supported the Bush bailouts and was an early and strong advocate for the Iraq war disaster.

Thus Moynihan's enthusiasm.

[hmm]

He's got this issue right, but a lot of his votes (first glance) are right along party lines. I haven't had time to look at his quotes and speeches. He is better on some things. As far as republicans go this guy is by far a better choice than 98% of the part. As far as libertarians go he isn't the greatest, but no where near the worst. He looks a lot more poised and eloquent in that interview than the fearless leader did in his packaged responses.

[TallDave]

I think he could easily be the GOP's future. This guy is developing some recognition in the Midwest.

[Enyap]

So he's a huge drug warrior and former speech writer for the drug czar, religious nutball, voted for the Iraq war and Patriot Act, and voted for the bailout. Apparently a mirror image of Bush is what Moynihan finds impressive.

[GILMORE]

What was up with Katrina vanden Heuvel and the "I find that unamerican" line?

Its creepy how quickly liberal hacks start using the same rhetoric as conservative hacks. Ryan shut her down, but I was expecting him to grind her face in it. He didnt. Good form, I suppose, for someone with political ambition.

[Strike through]

kilroy | July 30, 2009, 4:56pm | #

Oh and...the ever popular

Strike through

Thanks, Kilroy, for giving me my new handle!
But will I remain "ever popular"? We shall see...

[Strike through]

Enyap | July 30, 2009, 11:56pm | #

So he's a huge drug warrior and former speech writer for the drug czar, religious nutball, voted for the Iraq war and Patriot Act, and voted for the bailout.

Nobody's perfect.

[Solana]

Wow. He kicked their asses. And he's pretty.

[bjerome]

Know why ryan is a dweeb? Because anyone who associates themselves with the republican party is at best intellectually dishonest and at worst crazy!

Let me see..birthers, tea bagers, racists, anti evolutionists, creationists, climate change deniers, etc., I mean the list goes on and on and on.

Ryan belongs to a nut job party that has done it's best to ruin the country and pretty much the world. I feel like in living in Bizzarro world with you republican fools.

I wonder how much ryan receives from the drug and health insurance companies for his "principled" stance on health care reform.

Are the democrats perfect? No. But they make a whole hell of a lot more sense than the repubs or the repubs light...libertarians.

So, no ryan is a dope just like the other silly repubs who refuse to acknowledge the 21st century of change.

Hmmm, let me see if I can channel wally and the beav I bet that would be music to the ears of you repub jerks.

b

[Kreel Sarloo]

Thanks for dropping by, bjerome.

Nobody here has ever heard any of your brilliant and original insights before.

Please tell us more about our errors.

[R C Dean]

I feel like in living in Bizzarro world with you republican fools.

If by "you Republican fools" you mean the H & R crowd, then you are every bit the ball-licking partisan moron you accuse others of being.

And I mean that in the nicest possible way. 🙂

[buattaktahu]

Damn, he's hot. He may be a stark raving mad looney Trosky, I still want him leading something.

[Tulpa]

A guy who voted for the Patriot Act complaining that the other side votes for bills without reading them. Priceless.

Not that it isn't gratifying to watch Katrina van Hovel get her clock cleaned, but this guy is not doing this out of principle.

[Joshua Corning]

you Republican fools

Wait a second...They actually found the one rare Republican out of who knows how many 1000s who said in a 5 min or less interview one or two things an average Reason reader might agree with and somehow we are "Republican fools"?

FUCK YOU!

[joshua corning]

Not that it isn't gratifying to watch Katrina van Hovel get her clock cleaned, but this guy is not doing this out of principle.

A note:

Barney Frank is perhaps one of the biggest piles of shit this country has produced in the last 100 years....

Still when he talks about legalized online gambling i can't stop cheering.

[rdfowler]

Wow, makes my heart warm to see Katy roped and tied.

[LowOnProzac]

You libers need to grow up. Do you really think the Republicans give a damn about the theocons? It's called politics. It ain't pretty, but the Repubs are a 1000 times better than the horrible Dems.

[nj]

Need to grow up?

The notion that the republican party is the lesser evil is frankly ridiculous. Forget the theocrat stuff, try to explain the foreign policy stuff and the lack of respect for civil liberties. Explain expanding the program that is leading to this country to financial ruin ( medicare part D).

Say what you will about democrats, but they don't pretend to be the party of small government and free markets. The republican party is simply an albatross on a genuine free market movement. The amount of harm they cause can not be understated. I am sick and tired of republicans/conservatives paying lip service to the ideas I believe while in reality undermining them.

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[tony grabowski]

hey paul why not shut the va hospital and put all of us veterans onthe street your are so anti veteran yourmake me puke