House Republicans have nominated Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) as Speaker of the House, replacing John Boehner (R-OH). The GOP is optimistic that Ryan’s appointment will bring unity back to the party. There is hope that Ryan can bring peace and compromise between the rank and file Republicans and the extreme Tea Party factions, including the Koch Bros.”Freedom Caucus.”
Paul Ryan delivers a speech as Speaker of the House
Ryan himself has admitted that the Republican Party has lost its vision. One of the signs that the GOP is dying came when Congressman Ryan expressed the belief that the country was heading in the wrong direction. Recent polls say otherwise. Americans have clearly indicated that our nation’s course is improving and with President Obama approval ratings over 50 percent, Ryan’s comments seem out of touch.
Another sign that the Republican Party is dead is that Ryan’s appointment to the Speaker of the House does not have the support of the Koch’s “Freedom Caucus.” The Freedom Caucus threw their support behind Daniel Webster (R-FL). Luckily for Ryan former Speaker John Boehner put together a budget deal that will boost spending caps for two years and will suspend the debt ceiling until the end of the Obama Administration.
However, members of the Tea Party and the Freedom Caucus Koch robots are unhappy with the Boehner budget deal and already are pushing back against it. Just another sign that nothing has changed in the GOP. Granted, this was a major fight that Ryan managed to dodge. But, what this indicates is future problems for Ryan, who will have to deal with these fringe elements in the party just to get a bill passed.
So, is the nomination of Paul Ryan a sign of a new era in the Republican Party? Or is it just a new face in the already fractured Republican Party where gridlock has been the order of the day since they took control of the House in 2010? This appointment of Paul Ryan to the Speaker’s chair already appears to be nothing more than a makeup job. The signs tell us these moves by the GOP to put the hand-picked Ryan in the chair will do little in thwarting the GOP gridlock. The sign is reading loud and clear that this move by the Republican Party is the “same old same old.”
There is no question that America has to address the problems of wealth inequality, big money influence peddling, and corruption within the local, state, and federal governments. The mere fact that the Freedom Caucus voted for Rep.Daniel Webster(R-Fl) — which was nothing more than a protest vote against the GOP rank and file choice Ryan — proves that little has changed in the House dynamics.
Both John Boehner (R-OH) and Paul Ryan (R-WI) are operators within the status quo element of the Republican Party. Neither has been associated with the hard right wing extremist element of the GOP. What is different here in the short term is the fact that the recent budget deal has taken the debt limit and future budget negotiations off the table until next year when many of the Freedom Caucus members will face re-election.
The signs here are clear. By avoiding new budget talks, the Republicans are saving themselves from their self-destruction. The GOP has used these budget negotiations to enact spending cuts that will now be lost for at least a year. Anyone who follows politics knows a lot can happen in a year.
Will becoming Speaker of the House destroy Paul Ryan’s presidential ambitions?
The signs coming from the current 2016 Presidential Race and subsequent debates show that Paul Ryan would not be a front runner. Ryan’s position on immigration and trade policies are not in line with the Republican right’s moral viewpoints. Early indications from Ryan seem to say that his immediate goal is not to “rock the boat” and keep Congress out of the news. With Congress and the Republican Party approval ratings at all-time lows, the last thing Ryan needs is himself and the GOP on the wrong side of the press.
In this writer’s view, Paul Ryan is nothing more than a placeholder for the dysfunctional Republican Party. In fact, don’t expect the Ryan Congress to do much of anything until after the 2016 election. The focus right now is the 2016 elections. To bring controversial legislation to the House floor would be risky business for the GOP. This inaction by the Republican-held House of Representatives will only give rise to the popular viewpoint that this is a GOP do-nothing Congress. Just another sign that the Republican Party is dead.
The GOP Billionaire Party
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has been claiming he does not need money from billionaires or average Americans because he is rich already. In fairness to Trump, that is about the most logical platform of any 2016 GOP candidate running. The fact that Trump is the current front-runner in the Republican Party is a clear sign that the GOP is dying.
The Republican field has shown thus far just how out of touch with average Americans they are. Several GOP candidates running have expressed the desire to cut popular social programs like Medicare and Medicaid. You have candidates who have advocated they want to end Liberal Arts colleges. Republican issues like the desire to cut Social Security and defund Planned Parenthood — all popular programs with the American people — provide the greatest signs that the Republican Party is out of step with the majority of Americans.
So, what has happened to the Republican Party? The elements of greed and the desire for big money campaign donations have made the GOP a party out of step with most Americans.
Has this dysfunction caused the Republican Party to become incoherent?
The major signs that have transpired over the last several years are that the wants of these big money contributors don’t coincide with the desires of the majority of Americans. The only issues the rank and file Republicans and the extreme elements of the party agree on is cutting taxes for the rich in hopes it will trickle down to the working poor and middle class. An economic policy we now have proof doesn’t work.
The signs have shown that the Republican Party has been the party of obstruction and sedition to many issues popular with the American people. The only thing they have been for is cutting taxes for the rich and expanding the Military Industrial Complex.
In closing, what the real signs are is that by America electing its first person of color to the White House, the racist elements of the GOP base have created a monster in the Tea Party and the Koch Brothers funded Freedom Caucus. These racist radical right-wing elements have sucked the soul out of the Republican Party. These out-of-step elements by the GOP with average Americans are signs that the Republican Party is going the way of the Whig Party. The signs are showing America has shifted from a center-right country to a center-left one. This change could spell doom for the GOP and signs from the approval polls of the Republican Party adds credibility to this assertion.
Featured Image Courtesy of NewsTalkFlorida.com
