By an AHS Sophomore
On April 11, 2018, Republican representative and current Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, announced that he would join the laundry list of Republican politicians not running for reelection in the 2018 election cycle.
Although he cites wanting to spend time with his family as his primary reason, it’s incredibly clear to see that he has political motivations to leave. Most obviously, he probably wasn’t going to be Speaker of the House for much longer, even if he chose to stay. He’s come under attack from the Trump-led wing of the Republican Party, who see him as being too establishment and still resent his (few and incredibly mild) criticisms of Donald Trump prior to his election.
Furthermore, this election cycle is shaping up to be a travesty for congressional Republicans across the board, as seen in how Democrats have reigned victorious in many of the recent elections that have taken place in areas that had been heavily Republican prior to. Even if he managed to keep his own seat— which would have likely been a challenge, given that his constant desire to establish corporate welfare at the expense of the poor has tanked his popularity and he has a Democratic opponent who is popular, well-financed, and staunchly pro-labor— the chances that the GOP is able to retain their majority in the upcoming election is increasingly slim.
But more than anything, Paul Ryan is leaving his seat as a coward and a grifter .
If you were to listen to Paul Ryan, there was not a time at which Paul Ryan did not have an intense disdain for poor people or anything gear toward helping them. While speaking at an event to promote his failed attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, he discussed how he had dreamed of cutting Medicaid— a program that provides health coverage to low-income individuals throughout the nation— since he was “drinking out of kegs.” Given this, it’s clear to see why he was able to reconcile the mild discomfort that the political optics of Donald Trump’s intense misogyny and racism on the campaign trail with his lifelong aspiration to ensure that poor people had the “freedom” to go bankrupt and die on the street when they couldn’t afford treatment for a disease. Paul Ryan was already insufferable, but his willingness to submit to Donald Trump when presented the opportunity to screw over the poor threw out any notion of him having literally any ethics.
Luckily, his attempts to wreck what little of a social safety net exists in the United States failed. However, he did build the basis for its eventual justification with the tax bill he advocated for and successfully passed last December. No matter how much positioning he, the President, and the Republican Party try to do, the reality is this was less a “middle-class tax cut” and more a giveaway to the ultra rich. Note that analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center concludes that in the next 10 years, 53% of taxpayers are likely to be paying more, due to the fact that the portion of the tax cut actually going to the working class expires then. On the other hand, the corporate tax cuts are permanent, so over that same period of time, 82% of the benefit will be going to the wealthiest 1% of Americans.
On top of that, the Congressional Budget Office projects that the bill is actively going to increase the deficit by $1.85 trillion over the next 10 years, which Paul Ryan has been quick to use as a justification for slashing programs. He has done the political equivalent of a hit and run, purposely rear-ending our nation and driving off before having to be held accountable.
So long Paul Ryan. I will certainly not miss you.