Well, it sure didn’t take Paul Ryan all that long to prove that he’s just John Boehner in sheep’s clothing, did it?
In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Ryan did all he could to tamp down expectations that Planned Parenthood would be defunded in this year’s spending bill, stating that while he believed that Planned Parenthood shouldn’t “get a red cent” of taxpayer money, he didn’t believe that it would be possible to do anything about it as long as Obama was president.
I guess Mr. Ryan is unaware of the Constitution and the power of the purse; specifically the part that says how it’s the legislative branch that determines spending priorities, not the executive. In fact, based on this quote from his CNN appearance, I know he is:
“I think we need to be very clear about what it is we can and cannot achieve and not set expectations that we know we can’t reach given the constraints of the Constitution.”
Isn’t that rich? In an effort to appear that he’s concerned about our constitutional rights, he actually blames the Constitution for preventing him from doing what the Constitution says he can do.
Of course, the reason he buys into this lie is because Mitch McConnell and John Boehner have officially surrendered the power of the purse on this issue. And being a John Boehner clone, he has also surrendered this vital constitutional power.
Ryan went on to say how Democrat control of the White House as well as the strict rules of the Senate are both major roadblocks to adding a rider to the upcoming bill:
“Knowing that we have those constraints, we have to operate within these constraints.”
No we don’t. The rules of the Senate aren’t law, and they can be amended at any time. Harry Reid changed the rules when the Democrats crammed Obamacare down our throats. He also changed them to pave the way for Obama’s radical judicial and administrative nominations to get through the Senate.The only reason those rules are in the way is because Mitch McConnell and his crew are cowards who lack the moral conviction to do what’s right.
Ryan also pointed out how the house needed to “do our oversight” as he made sure to mention the newly created committee to investigate Planned Parenthood:
“This special committee should be in the driver’s seat of overseeing this process.”
Translation? “I know I’m supposed to be the one in the driver’s seat, but I’m a coward. By shifting the responsibility to a committee that will take years to come to any conclusion, I can make it look like I’m working on the problem while doing nothing. And, when they come back with the inevitable conclusion that they were unable to prove any wrongdoing, I can blame them for not doing their job.”
In the end, this situation simply confirms that the Republican party is truly dead. There are no longer two parties in Washington. As Nelson Hultberg tells us: there is only the Demopublicans. And this reality is beginning to create some unintended consequences.
Long-term Republicans are leaving the party, fed up with the fecklessness and ineptitude we see on a daily basis in Washington. Just yesterday the former congressman from Colorado, Tom Tancredo, announced his intention to leave the GOP following the promotion of Paul Ryan to Speaker.
Although I haven’t come to that point yet, I am now the Colorado Media Liaison for the Convention of States movement, where I will be involved in doing what I can to take back the power Washington has stolen from the states.
The inside-the-beltway establishment Republicans can no longer be trusted. They have stacked the deck in their favor and only a new deck will bring about the change we desperately need in America.
David Leach is the owner and publisher of The Strident Conservative, where you will find news and opinion that’s politically-incorrect and always “right.” He is also a frequent contributor at RedState.com.
His political commentaries can be heard daily on KLZ560 AM at 3pm MST and on other Crawford Broadcasting stations throughout the day.
