Tonight, Paul Ryan may - or may not - announce he’s interested in the House speaker’s contest.
"Paul Ryan Outfoxes The Freedom Caucus"
http://time.com/4080726/speaker-paul-ryan-freedom-caucus/?xid=gonewsedit&google_editors_picks=true
"Paul Ryan Outfoxes The Freedom Caucus"
http://time.com/4080726/speaker-paul-ryan-freedom-caucus/?xid=gonewsedit&google_editors_picks=true
Alan: The Republican Party's most unconscionable representatives are theocrats who insist on "voting their conscience."
"American Theocracy," By Kevin Phillips
"Voting one's conscience" sounds lofty but is rooted in a terrible twos refusal-to-compromise even though compromise is the life blood of American governance.
During his first speech on American soil, Pope Francis recommended the work of Catholic monk, Fr. Thomas Merton:
"The terrible thing about our time is precisely the ease with which theories can be put into practice. The more perfect, the more idealistic the theories, the more dreadful is their realization. We are at last beginning to rediscover what perhaps men knew better in very ancient times, in primitive times before utopias were thought of: that liberty is bound up with imperfection, and that limitations, imperfections, errors are not only unavoidable but also salutary. The best is not the ideal. Where what is theoretically best is imposed on everyone as the norm, then there is no longer any room even to be good. The best, imposed as a norm, becomes evil.” "Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander"
"Pope Francis Recommends Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day And Thomas Merton"
Alan: The Republican Party's most unconscionable representatives are theocrats who insist on "voting their conscience."
"American Theocracy," By Kevin Phillips
"Voting one's conscience" sounds lofty but is rooted in a terrible twos refusal-to-compromise even though compromise is the life blood of American governance.
During his first speech on American soil, Pope Francis recommended the work of Catholic monk, Fr. Thomas Merton:
"The terrible thing about our time is precisely the ease with which theories can be put into practice. The more perfect, the more idealistic the theories, the more dreadful is their realization. We are at last beginning to rediscover what perhaps men knew better in very ancient times, in primitive times before utopias were thought of: that liberty is bound up with imperfection, and that limitations, imperfections, errors are not only unavoidable but also salutary. The best is not the ideal. Where what is theoretically best is imposed on everyone as the norm, then there is no longer any room even to be good. The best, imposed as a norm, becomes evil.” "Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander"
"Pope Francis Recommends Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day And Thomas Merton"
In the excerpt below, Virginia Rep. Dave Bratt's offers qualified support for a possible Ryan speakership if Ryan lets House Republicans "vote their conscience."
In other words, Bratt (a perfect name for the puerile Tea Party caucus) will approve Ryan's candidacy if Ryan signs off on the same chaos that felled John Boehner by firing-at-will or taking hostages, whichever The Tea Party deems more expedient from one self-induced crisis to another.
Excerpt: "Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.), a Freedom Caucus member who ousted then-Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), said conservatives would support Ryan if he reforms the process by which the House runs. “It’s less about Paul Ryan’s policy positions and more about the guarantee that he’s going to allow everybody to vote their conscience and vote their district,” Brat said. “It’s really process,” Brat explained. “I mean policy is equally important, but the policy pieces will be met, right, because our side doesn’t want leadership doing retribution or punishing members for voting their conscience and for voting their district. “If we can get to that, then that almost takes care of a lot of the policy differences, if we can get assurances that the process is going to be fair.”"
In other words, Bratt (a perfect name for the puerile Tea Party caucus) will approve Ryan's candidacy if Ryan signs off on the same chaos that felled John Boehner by firing-at-will or taking hostages, whichever The Tea Party deems more expedient from one self-induced crisis to another.
Excerpt: "Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.), a Freedom Caucus member who ousted then-Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), said conservatives would support Ryan if he reforms the process by which the House runs. “It’s less about Paul Ryan’s policy positions and more about the guarantee that he’s going to allow everybody to vote their conscience and vote their district,” Brat said. “It’s really process,” Brat explained. “I mean policy is equally important, but the policy pieces will be met, right, because our side doesn’t want leadership doing retribution or punishing members for voting their conscience and for voting their district. “If we can get to that, then that almost takes care of a lot of the policy differences, if we can get assurances that the process is going to be fair.”"
Paul Ryan will run for House speaker, under certain conditions
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) delivered a pitch Tuesday night to run for House speaker and end weeks of GOP chaos as long as Republican lawmakers meet certain conditions for his tenure.
“If you can agree to these requests and I can truly be a unifying figure, then I will gladly serve,” Ryan said in a press conference following a closed-door meeting of the House GOP Conference on Tuesday night.
“This is not a job I ever sought. This is not a job I every wanted. …. I came to the conclusion that this was a dire moment,” Ryan said. “We need to move from being an opposition party to being a proposition party…Our next speaker has to be a visionary one.”
In a reference to the demands of the House Freedom Caucus who want dramatic changes to House rules, Ryan said: “We need to update our House rules so that everyone can be a more effective representative.”
But Ryan hasn’t completely committed yet to the job of replacing Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). He sketched out a timeline of making a decision by Friday — the moderate Tuesday Group, the hard-line House Freedom Caucus and the conservative Republican Study Committee, he said, need to unite around his candidacy.
“We as a conference should unify now and not after a divisive speaker election,” Ryan said.
“I considered to do this with reluctance and I mean that in the most personal of ways,” he said, adding that Janna, his wife, and his young children should not have to suffer as a result of his seeking the speakership. “I cannot and will not give up my family time.”
“I genuinely worry about the consequences that my agreeing to serve will have on them,” he said, adding “My greatest worry is the consequence of not stepping up.”
Inside the closed-door Republican meeting earlier that night, the Wisconsin Republican stood calmly before his colleagues, said several GOP lawmakers.
According to several lawmakers present, Ryan said: “I’m willing to take arrows in the chest but not in the back.”
He also referenced the bitter infighting between House conservatives and former GOP leaders that saw the ouster of former Boehner (R-Ohio) and contributed to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) not taking the plunge.
"I don’t want to be the third log on the bonfire,” Ryan said, in a reference to Boehner and McCarthy, according to Republicans who were inside the private meeting.
On running for speaker, Ryan said: “I hope it doesn’t sound conditional… but it is,” he said with a smile.
Earlier in the day, Ryan’s allies said his conditions for assuming the speakership were likely to include an understanding that he would have a free hand to lead without a constant fear of intra-party reprisals. That dynamic that has dominated the tumultuous speakership of John Boehner, who announced last month that he would leave Congress at the end of October. Another aim would be to delegate some of the job’s travel and fundraising demands so that Ryan could spend enough time with his wife and school-aged children.
But Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), a House Freedom Caucus member, indicated that Ryan’s apparent entry in the race does not clear the field.
“There’s still a race for the speakership,” he said.
But other potential rivals for the House speakership appear to have stepped aside, including Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Bill Flores (Texas).
“I’m out, and I’m in with Paul,” Chaffetz confirmed. “More aggressive and playing offense was a message that was well received. We have to stop playing defense.”
“I hope and pray we get him to the finish line,” Chaffetz added. “I don’t know anyone who would be better to do it.”
Here’s what we know so far:
Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) tweets that Ryan is running, with conditions:
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a Boehner ally, thinks Ryan will run.
Cole, who has been one of Ryan’s most avid proponents, said before going into the meeting that he was confident Ryan will agree to serve and that he will be embraced across the GOP caucus — including by the hard-line faction.
“They know him,” Cole said. “He’s been here 17 years. He’s also known as someone who treats people fairly, is always open to new ideas and suggestions. If you want something more than that them that’s up to you.”
Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.) says he’s still in the race:
The current choice of the House Freedom Caucus, in an interview Tuesday night, said he would stay in the race for speaker regardless of whether Ryan runs. “No,” he said flatly when asked if he’d dropped out should Ryan get in. “I’m tired of having a top-down approach.”
The Freedom Caucus picked Webster as their standard-bearer when Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was still in the race. It’s unclear what they’ll do now.
Current House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) thinks Ryan should and will run:
In a Fox News interview broadcast Tuesday night, Boehner said: “I do expect that we’ll know later on this evening what his answer is,” adding that he thinks “Paul would be a great Speaker.”
“I think he’s got the skills to do the job and I think he also has the credentials to reach out to traditional conservative organizations to help bridge the gap we have today,” Boehner added, saying he believed he could get the votes to win the speaker’s job.
When asked about when the speaker election would be, Boehner said: “We have not yet set a date, but I’ll do that I think here in the next day or two.”
Buck replied on Twitter:
Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.), a Freedom Caucus member who ousted then-Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), said conservatives would support Ryan if he reforms the process by which the House runs.
“It’s less about Paul Ryan’s policy positions and more about the guarantee that he’s going to allow everybody to vote their conscience and vote their district,” Brat said.
“It’s really process,” Brat explained. “I mean policy is equally important, but the policy pieces will be met, right, because our side doesn’t want leadership doing retribution or punishing members for voting their conscience and for voting their district. “If we can get to that, then that almost takes care of a lot of the policy differences, if we can get assurances that the process is going to be fair.”
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