Photo credit: Speaker Paul Ryan's Facebook Page
When Speaker of the House Paul Ryan tweeted, then quickly deleted, his boast that a school secretary was reaping the benefits of his GOP tax bill with a $1.50 a week to cover her Costco membership, the Twitterverse howled back: “Have you no soul?” It remains to be seen if this was a blunder akin to former President George H.W. Bush’s ignorance on the price of milk or Mitt Romney’s blithe dismissal of 47% of Americans that showed them to be out-of-touch. Or, given what President Donald Trump tweets daily, it may already be forgotten.
That question on Ryan’s soul, however, appears settled. His elated grins and whoops of glee as the House passed Trumpcare or the GOP Tax Scam answer that. He joked with a reporter after passage of the tax bill—which will take away health care from millions, drive up premiums for others and explode the deficit—that he’d been dreaming of that day since he was a youth drinking out of a keg circa 1993.
He won his tax cut for the rich with a side of healthcare gutting for the rest. But what he sacrificed this past year to get there may explain why his confidants say he’s considering fleeing Washington D.C.
The first thing Ryan has surrendered the past year was the carefully crafted personal reputation he invested years in making that let most voters to look past his right-wing fantasies. Adios, supposed “Budget Policy Genius.” Farewell, “Boy Scout Midwestern Nice Family Guy.” Gone are the aw shucks and the backward baseball cap dad people want to chat up at the local track meet.
Ryan’s desire to gut entitlement programs is no secret—he’s always been honest about that—but people overlooked it. His “alternative budget” of 2010 was unveiled with so many numbers and such earnest demeanor that he seemed to be a smart, thoughtful Republican—especially when compared to the right-wing, ranting Tea Party. I recall in 2016 when a friend couldn’t bring herself to vote for Republicans anymore as they’d become so nasty and extreme. “Except Paul Ryan,” she added. “He’s smart and seems like a good guy.” I haven’t asked, but I’m guessing this friend may now be among the majority of the people in the country and Wisconsin who have helped shove Ryan’s poll numbers off a cliff.
The far deeper piece of the Ryan transformation is this unanticipated change: overlooking vile racism, hatred and potential harm to our elections and global standing from the Trump Administration. The man who once called out President Donald Trump’s slam on a Mexican American judge as “the textbook definition of racism” and held back his endorsement after Trump’s boast of “grabbing women by the pussy” is now playing water boy to curry favor with The Donald. To wit: He called Trump’s “shithole” comments on African nations and Haiti “not helpful.”
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The Costco tweet was a moment of candor revealing the elitism of Ryan Republicans. Cozying up to Trump to get his tax plan may cost more than personal and party brand. Ryan’s district is home to many laid-off workers, shuttered factories and constituents barely scraping by—people rural and urban who believed Trump when he talked about the regular, forgotten people. They are the high school secretary getting the $1.50 a week for a few years while the Koch brothers, Big Pharma and corporations that ship jobs overseas get millions a week. Indefinitely.
The Ryan alliance with Trump has brought the id of the Republican Party into clear view with no check or balance. Ryan can’t admit he’s going to leave D.C. this year—it would seriously hamper fundraising. But here’s a thought: He could return to Janesville, venture a mile or two from his elegant Georgian Revival home and talk to his neighbors who have lived in their cars or skipped meals after a factory closed, a farm had to be sold or a family member without good insurance was diagnosed with cancer.
By so doing, Ryan could see the chasm he’s helping to grow between the haves and have-nots with his tax policies, health care gutting and cuts to the social safety net. He may be able to bridge that disconnect from reality so obvious in his tweet and find what he’s lost in Washington D.C. as well.
Melanie Conklin is Communications Director for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.
