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Paul Ryan: We are about ending corporate welfare, not just welfare as you know it

Ryan Streeter

The Hill reports that Paul Ryan has said he wants to cut the oil subsidies. He offered this explanation:

We’re talking about reforming the safety net, the welfare system. We also want to get rid corporate welfare. And corporate welfare goes to agribusiness companies, to energy companies, financial services companies. So we propose to repeal all of that.

This is a great development.

Ryan's budget got all but 4 GOP votes, and yet we know that it was still a wedge within the party. Many Republicans would have preferred not to vote for Medicare reforms, and town hall meetings have reinforced their fears.

Now, Ryan has helped make the abstract notion of "simplifying the tax code" a concrete idea: ending welfare to oil companies. Some in the party see this as a "tax hike" for these companies.

Ryan is sticking to his guns, which should have a purifying effect on the party as the wafflers separate from the steadfast.

Coburn and DeMint tie for first in the latest Club for Growth rankings, and 28 members take the top rank in the House

Ryan Streeter

The Club for Growth has released its latest rankings today. Despite all the worries cost-cutters have expressed over Tom Coburn's Gang of Six activities, he tops the Senate list along with Jim DeMint.

Here are the top ten in the Senate.

And here are the top 28 in the House who are tied for first position:

GOP Policy Committee Chairman Tom Price's statement and GOP Conference Chair Jeb Hensarling's statement on today's GDP report

Price:

The economy won’t grow as needed or consistently until positive federal policy is enacted.  The policies of this administration remain destructive to our economy and job growth.  This report is the latest reminder of how much more work needs to be done to remove barriers to economic growth and promote policies that address the challenges facing American families like the painful rise in gas prices. That work must include a responsible plan to end the Washington spending binge and remove oppressive regulations on our small businesses and job creators.
 
House Republicans have passed a budget that would do just that and more to put our nation on a path to prosperity, save and strengthen our retirement and health care programs, and preserve the American Dream for future generations.  With gas prices steadily increasing, House Republicans will soon bring legislation forward to reverse the harmful policies put in place by the Obama administration which has blocked exploration and production of American-made energy, cost jobs, and will make us more dependent on foreign sources of fuel.  Whether it be a looming debt crisis or a spike in gas prices, we need serious solutions so that we are sending a signal to the marketplace that we are tackling these challenges head on.
 
If Democrats in Congress and the Obama Administration are serious about addressing the issues before us, they will work with House Republicans and stop promoting policies that stand in the way of our economic recovery and job creation.

Hensarling:

While the news that our GDP grew in the year’s first quarter is welcome, our economy’s rate of growth is disappointingly slow and far too many Americans still can’t find work. Our fiscal woes may not have begun under President Obama, but his administration is making matters worse, not better. His failed policies reduced economic growth from 3.1 percent in the last quarter of 2010 to 1.8 percent in the first quarter of this year. Such slow rates will not lift this economy into recovery and will not create enough jobs for the 13 million Americans currently unemployed.
 
The President’s plan for higher taxes, out of control spending, and more regulation has created vast uncertainty for job creators and is keeping investors on the sidelines. Employers are rightly aware that historic spending leads to historic debt, which will inevitably lead to historic taxation. The only way to restore certainty to our economy and enable a real recovery is to place the nation on a fiscally sustainable course for the future.
 
The House-passed ‘Path to Prosperity’ budget leads the way to ending our spending-driven debt crisis while creating jobs for the American people. In the crucial debates ahead, Republicans will continue to fight for policies that cut spending and encourage—not hamper—private sector growth.
 
In order to stop borrowing 42 cents on the dollar, much of it from the Chinese, and sending the bill to our children and grandchildren, President Obama and Congressional Democrats must follow our lead and put people before politics. Americans are depending on serious leadership in Washington that will stop spending money we don’t have. That is the only way we can grow our economy, create jobs, and save future generations from bankruptcy.

ConservativeHome's thoughts and prayers are with those whose lives have been devastated by the tornadoes in Alabama and elsewhere in the southeast

The storms haven't even ended, and yet so many lives are lost and communities devasted. Our prayers are with all of those who have lost loved ones, as well as with those who have seen their homes and communities destroyed.

With economic numbers looking grim, the left proves it's out of ideas; the question is: do the Republicans have the ideas we need?

Ryan Streeter

Obama’s handling of the economy hits an all-time low.

GDP growth slows to 1.8%.

A majority of Americans believe we are still in a recession or depression.

And here’s how Austan Goolsbee, Chairman of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, begins his analysis of today’s GDP report:

Today’s report shows that the economy posted the seventh straight quarter of positive growth, as real GDP, the total amount of goods and services produced in the country, grew at a 1.8 percent annual rate in the first quarter of this year.  While the continued expansion is encouraging, clearly, faster growth is needed to replace the jobs lost in the downturn.

That last line is the understatement of the day.

The New York Times editorializes today in defense of Obama, saying the Fed can’t get our economy going, so the job falls to the White House and Congress:

The White House has some good ideas, including proposals to boost educational achievement and, importantly, to raise taxes for needed spending….But most Congressional Republicans are fixated solely on cutting federal spending as quickly as possible, and have successfully dominated debate and policy-making.

These quotes sum up where the left is on economic policy today better than just about anything else.

Most people would recognize the chart Goolsbee includes in his post (to the right) as a refutation of the use of the words “continued expansion.” That last bar looks like shrinkage, not expansion.

And the Times, in an editorial supposedly about fixing the economy, lands on educational achievement (needed, yes, but not a short-term driver of growth) and tax hikes?

This is because, as should be obvious to just about everyone, the left has no economic growth ideas. Or very few anyway.

The question, then, is whether the GOP does. You have to look awhile, but they basically boil down to (1) reduce the cost of doing business by replacing ObamaCare, and (2) cut the corporate tax rate as a way of creating jobs and accelerating growth (this idea is supported most of all by the OECD study showing corporate tax rate reductions to be the best way to create jobs). That’s a start.

Despite Democrats' "Mediscare" efforts, seniors favor Paul Ryan's "Path to Prosperity" over President Obama's deficit reduction strategy

Natalie Gonnella

Over the past month Democrats have been hard at work persistently attacking Paul Ryan's 2012 budget proposal. With a strong focus on the GOP's plans for Medicare reform, throughout the current congressional recess liberal lawmakers have widely employed their scaremongering talents in an attempt to rally seniors against Ryan's "Path to Prosperity."

However, a new Gallup poll reveals that efforts to entice support for President Obama's deficit reduction proposal from older voters has not been as successful as many Democrats may have hoped.

According to the latest survey, 48% of likely voters over 65 prefer the Ryan Plan, with 42% favoring Obama's deficit reduction attempt.

And overall, "by 48% to 36%, more Americans prefer the Republicans in Congress to the Democrats in Congress for managing the federal budget."

While Republicans still have a ways to go in garnering approval from younger Americans, support for Ryan's proposal among most age groups shows that the Democrats "Mediscare" campaign has been, for the most part, unsuccessful.

The full results of Gallup's latest analysis is available to view here.

What They're Saying: Conservatives weigh in on why voters should dump Trump

Natalie Gonnella

He ranks among the top three contenders in a number of 2012 opinion polls and he has had more news coverage over the past month than most prospective GOP candidates combined, but as Donald Trump continues to steal the media spotlight, a number of prominent pundits are offering a few words of warning to voters.

Although Trump has yet to declare if he even intends to run, his dramatic comments, his vigorous self promotion, his penchant for redirecting America's attention away from serious policy concerns to more trivial topics (i.e. birth certificates, college grades, his TV show), and the fact that he has regularly contributed to the election efforts of a number of Democratic candidates (including Obama's former chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid), leave many to wonder (and worry) about his impact on the GOP's campaign for 2012. 

While there are still a number of weeks to go before he announces his decision (he did promise before June) here's a quick look at what a number of conservative pundits have said recently about Trump's potential presidential bid:

Jonah Goldberg wrote in the LA Times last week:

Trump is a protectionist who made billions gaming some of the most corrupt and politicized real estate markets in the world (and, according to documents on Smokinggun.com, his philanthropic foundation is stingy beyond reckoning). Still, I understand why the Republican electorate is so fickle. The GOP field is boring and cautious (though boring is an asset in a matchup against Barack Obama), while Trump is entertaining and seems fearless. It's fun to watch the media fall for Trump's act and the White House seethe over his "birther" crusade. So have your fun. But remember the next election is a very serious thing, and with a Trump candidacy, the joke will be on us.

In his most recent Washington Post column, Charles Krauthammer offered the following analysis of Trump's presidential pursuits:

He’s not a candidate, he’s a spectacle. He’s also not a conservative. With a wink and a smile, Muhammad Ali showed that self-promoting obnoxiousness could be charming. Trump shows that it can be merely vulgar. A provocateur and a clown, the Republicans’ Al Sharpton. The Lions have a better chance of winning the Super Bowl.

Peter Worthington in a blog post via FrumForum:

Trump, being Trump and something of a blowhard, may actually challenge for the Republican nomination. And his blunt, in-your-face message, devoid of political correctness, may resonate among those who yearn for America to stop pandering to the rest of the world, and to start advancing its own itinerary. America, and its constitution, are a beacon of inspiration to the world, whether the world realizes it or not. Just look at refugees and the oppressed – all aspire to reach America, seen (often erroneously) as a paradise, or sanctuary, of prosperity and freedom. “Yearning” is a far cry from wanting Trump as president...Remember, this is a guy with a huge ego; vanity as big as all outdoors, who has his own reality shows and feeds on controversy. Likely he started his blustering to be president as a gimmick, and then when O’Reilly and others began taking him seriously, at face value, he began to think maybe it was more than a ploy or attention-getting stunt. He now talks of running as an independent if he doesn’t get the Republican nomination—which he hasn’t a snowball’s chance of getting. Running as an independent, like Ross Perot in 1992, will simply guarantee that Obama is re-elected. And Trump doesn’t want that.

Columnist George Will said in a recent roundtable discussion on ABC's This Week that:

Trump’s more important because he can make a shambles of the Republican debates...Just by being there, he can hurt the Republican Party. He is what is called a ‘blatherskite.’ That is a word my grandmother was fond of as someone who blathers promiscuously.

Weighing in on Donald Trump's continuous comments about President Obama's birth certificate, Pete Wehner commented in an op-ed in the WSJ:

When prominent figures in a party play footsie with peddlers of paranoia, the party suffers an erosion of credibility. While certain corners of a party's base might be energized by conspiracy theories, the majority of the electorate will be turned off by them. People are generally uneasy about political institutions that give a home to cranks. There's more than a partisan cost to all this. Mr. Trump is succumbing to a pernicious temptation in American politics: not simply to disagree with political opponents, but to try to delegitimize them. The argument isn't simply that Mr. Obama is wrong on almost every public policy matter (which I believe he is). Rather, the argument is that his presidency is unconstitutional and that he is alien....Something like this happened with Mr. Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, who inspired such rage in some of his critics that they deemed his presidency illicit. In self-governing societies, there have to be unwritten rules by which we abide. Among them is that we accept the outcome of elections and keep our public debates tethered to reality. 

While not specifically mentioning Trump in a recent column in the WSJ, Peggy Noonan issued a warning for 2012 with regard to "antic" prone candidates:

Republicans voting in recent presidential primaries have tended to pick the candidates who are viewed as the moderate in the race—Bob Dole in 1996, George W. Bush in 2000, John McCain in 2008. But in truth, there are some pretty antic candidates out there this year. The great question of the coming year is not, “Will Obama reignite his base?” or, “Will the Democrats outraise and outspend the GOP?” It is: Will the GOP be serious? Will Republicans be equal to their history, their tradition and the moment? If they are—if they recruit and support candidates who can speak to the entire country, who have serious experience and accomplishments, who are grounded and credible, then they will win centrist support. And with it they will likely win the thing without which they cannot achieve the big changes they seek, and that is the presidency.

Calling Trump's potential candidacy a "joke" due to the his unrepentant focus on President Obama's birth certificate, Karl Rove said in an interview last week with Fox News:

[H]e was an interesting candidate who had a business background and could have contributed to the dialogue. But his full embrace of the birther issue means that he's off there in the nutty right and is now an inconsequential candidate.

I'm shocked. The guy's smarter than this. And you know, the idea that President Obama was not born in Hawaii, being -- you know, making that the centerpiece of his campaign, means that he's just -- you know, now, you know, a joke candidate. Let him go ahead and announce for election on "The Apprentice." The American people aren't going to be hiring him, and certainly, the Republicans are not going to be hiring him in the Republican primary.

NRO editors outline three key actions the US should immediately implement in response to the continued violence in Syria

Natalie Gonnella

As violence continues to escalate in Syria with little international response, in an online editorial today, theNational Review boldly condemned the horrific atrocities committed by the Assad regime, as well as the Obama administration's feeble reaction.

Joining a number of publications (like the Washington Post and the Christian Science Monitor)  in speaking out on the issue, the editors at NRO in today's post backed three key actions they feel the White House should immediately undertake to demonstrate America's fervent opposition to the brutal violence and vicious oppression imposed on citizens by the Syrian government.

Here's a look at what they had to say:

1. Withdraw America’s ambassador to Syria immediately:

With Syria’s regime exhibiting a brutal and manic fight response, our diplomats can’t exercise persuasion from within, but their continued presence is a boon to the regime’s legitimacy and an embarrassment to our claim to oppose violence, let alone support democracy. That Obama has not withdrawn Amb. Robert Ford yet indicates an unwillingness to admit his mistake in rushing the latter’s recess appointment, which was more a snub to Obama’s predecessor than considered diplomacy. Likewise, Syria’s ambassador to the U.S. should be sent home.

2. Implement robust diplomatic sanctions against the Assad regime

Freeze Syrian elites’ overseas assets, forbid them travel in and out of the country, freeze the Syrian central bank (using financial-sanctions provisions of the PATRIOT Act), and ban arms trade with Syria. France and Britain are currently introducing resolutions to the United Nations for condemnations and sanctions. The United States should not take a backseat.

3. Get loud

President Obama’s only recent statement on Syria never once employed the first person. Obama prides himself on his being a persuasive wordsmith and on the influence of his moral leadership. Why can’t he craft some strong, unequivocal condemnation for Assad?

The full editorial is available to view here.

President George W. Bush joins 14 servicemen and women on the Warriors 100k challenge

Natalie Gonnella

A keen bike enthusiast and avid advocate for American troops, President George W. Bush took to the trails yesterday joining 14 US veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan on the Warriors 100k challenge.  

As the first event of the Bush Institute's Social Enterprise Initiative, the W100k aims to:

Highlight the bravery and physical strength of the warriors wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan, as well as those organizations that have made continuing commitments to supporting America’s heroes.

It also seeks to:

[Provide] an opportunity for military support organizations to highlight their good work and has been sponsored by several companies and individuals that have generously contributed their time and resources to support America’s servicemen and women. 

The group started their three day challenge yesterday with a 12 mile (19.4 km) journey through rough desert terrain, continuing today with a grueling 30 mile (48.3 km) in the Texas heat.

President Bush and the warriors will finish the last 20 miles (32.3 km) tomorrow, with video and photo updates on their progress available via the W100k website.

Joining the Bush Institute in support of the event are the Challenged Athletes Foundation, Ride 2 Recovery, World T.E.A.M. Sports, and Wounded Warrior Project. Full bios of the 14 warriors are available to view here.

What They're Saying: GOP freshmen offer their thoughts on the debt-limit debate

Natalie Gonnella

As the battle over the debt-limit continues to escalate, GOP freshmen have wasted little time in amplifying their own views on the heated fiscal issue.

Despite a two-week congressional recess, over the past week Republican newbies have regularly offered their views on the current debate, outlining both their concerns with the country's current fiscal status and their conditions for raising the federal debt-ceiling.

From op-eds to interviews, here's a quick look at what a few of Washington's newest Republicans have had to say about the current fiscal feud:

Congresswoman Kristi Noem said in an op-ed on Monday in The Daily Republic:

We have a unique opportunity in the coming months to enact serious budget reforms and spending reductions in conjunction with the debate over an increase to our debt-ceiling. Some have said the two items should be debated separately. I strongly disagree. If we are even going to entertain the idea of raising our nation’s debt limit, we must also come up with a plan to ensure we begin cutting up our nation’s credit card in the process. We need a serious bipartisan effort to tackle our looming debt and deficit crisis. It’s the only way we can prevent the S&P forecast from becoming a reality.

In a blog post via his congressional website, Congressman Allen West outlined four key conditions that will determine whether he votes to increase the current ceiling:

Back in 2006, as the vote on the debt limit came up, Senators Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Harry Reid all voted against it...I think we clearly get the picture here of duplicitous hypocrisy of the greatest degree. We are at this point due to the over $5T of new debt added by the Obama, Pelosi, Reid machine. Leadership is about making the tough decisions, not situational ethics. My message to President Obama, Vice President Biden, Senator Harry Reid, and Secretary of the Treasury Geithner is simple....no raising of the debt ceiling unless we have spending control measures;

• Constitutional amendment for a balanced budget requirement on the federal government
• Cap federal government spending at 20% of GDP, put into law
• Cut the corporate/ business tax rate from 35% to 20% flat tax rate and remove loopholes.....especially for Mr Immelt and GE!
• Implement a trigger control mechanism that at a certain % level of the debt ceiling being reached, automatic budget cuts kick in, this will preclude us ever having to revisit this issue again

If these four conditions are not met, I will vote no now, and in the future! Furthermore, I will work endlessly to persuade my colleagues to do the same.

Offering her views via an op-ed in The Union-Leader, Senator Kelly Ayotte said of the current situation:

Nothing less than our quality of life is at stake. And yet some in Washington continue to believe that bold action is unnecessary. President Obama is chief among them. Having refused to acknowledge the magnitude of the challenges we face, the President has so far declined to lead a substantive debate on how we can put our nation on a path to solvency...I cannot in good conscience raise our debt ceiling without Congress passing real and meaningful reforms to reduce spending. Those reforms should include a balanced-budget amendment, statutory spending caps with sequestration if Congress fails to meet deficit-reduction targets, spending cuts to eliminate waste and duplication, and entitlement reform. It's not too late to make the tough decisions that will signal to investors -- and to the world -- that America is serious about addressing its fiscal crisis. Congress and the President must make the tough decisions that will preserve the greatest nation on earth. We owe our country nothing less.

In an interview with Fox News, Congressman James Lankford commented that:

I did not come to Congress to raise more debt in America. I came to be able to deal with the debt problem. So what we've got to do is find a solution to start bending this curve back down. That's the big issue. And people talk about this being a big game of chicken, it's not a big game of chicken back and forth. The House passes a bill and sends it over the Senate. The Senate ignores it. The Senate passes a bill, sends it to the House, the House ignores it. There are very few things we have to do together. A debt ceiling vote is one of those things we have to do together. And so this is a rare moment where the House and the Senate are forced to sit down. All we're saying from the House side is if we're sitting down any way let's take on from big picture items that we've got to be able to take on and look for the systemic ways we can solve this. This is not a game of chicken. This is a time we know we're going to be sitting down and talking, let's solve the problem, not just extend it another year.

In an op-ed on Real Clear Politics on Friday, Senator Pat Toomey reminded voters of the administration's continued irresponsibility when it comes to federal spending:

This administration is largely populated with people who believe that massive deficit spending cures economic ills. Why would they want to curb spending now?...This is the same administration that gave us an $800 billion stimulus and said that wasn't enough; the same administration that rammed a massive $1.445 trillion health care bill through Congress; the same administration that recently unveiled a 2012 budget that continues to add $9.47 trillion to our national debt; and the same administration that fought bitterly against very modest spending cuts in the continuing resolution spending bill for this year. There is simply no reason to believe this administration will agree to any meaningful spending cuts or budget reforms except under pressure. But America desperately needs these reforms, as S&P recently reminded us. Congress must ignore the administration's scare tactics and refuse to raise the debt limit until the administration agrees to put the federal government on a sustainable fiscal path.