Ryan Streeter
John Boehner on April 13: “I fully support Paul Ryan's budget, including his efforts on Medicare.”
John Boehner on April 26: “Paul Ryan has an idea that’s certainly worth consideration. I’m for it. It’s our idea. It’s Paul [Ryan]’s idea. Now other people have other ideas. I’m not wedded to one single idea.”
Boehner’s comments are a good indication of where the GOP as a whole really stands on deficit reduction. “Fully support” and “not wedded” don’t square with each other. It’s as if Boehner is saying he was for the Ryan budget before he wasn't. The April 26 comments reveal a kind of schizophrenia on Medicare reform (let's face it: that's the part of the budget creating the real heartburn right now) that could undo the GOP's resolve to fix the biggest drivers of our long-term deficit.
I’m surprised Boehner's comments haven't gotten more play. The media, when not covering Trump and the birther drama, has given some attention to raucous town hall meetings in which citizens have voiced opposition to Medicare reforms.
But the real story may turn out to be the lack of Republican resolve ti see the reforms through to the end. 2012 hopefuls have already begun distancing themselves from Ryan, and Boehner's comments add even more cracks to the foundation Ryan has been trying to build.
This is a real problem, and here’s why: we need leaders who can turn a message people don’t want to hear into a message they embrace - and we don’t have many such leaders. Paul Ryan is one. Mitch Daniels is another. Chris Christie yet another. People don’t wan to hear that they have to changed their expectations about the future, especially when it implies fiscal belt-tightening. But these three leaders – and some others – have been able to deliver that message…and people have loved them for it.
The challenge is great. A larger percentage of Americans than ever before receive their income from government payments. Even before the recession, the trend has been toward greater dependence rather than lesser, even with welfare reform.
This means that the resistance to ending welfare in its many varieties for rich, poor, and middle class, is high.
Leaders like Ryan, Daniels, and Christie have been able to play to another side of human nature: the side that embraces freedom. People want their welfare, but they also respect those who stand for freedom from dependence.
To cower in the face of reform, as Boehner seems to have done with his comments, not only makes a man look small; it reintroduces uncertainty on an issue over which the public is already nervous.
The GOP is filled with characters who fear telling a country that has grown overly expectant on government security that things will be different, maybe even feel a little less secure. The irony is that Americans will always thank the one who delivers that message, if not now, in the long run.
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