House Speaker Paul Ryan has reportedly tired of Washington and is considering leaving to spend more quality time with his family. Politico writes:
Despite several landmark legislative wins this year, and a better-than-expected relationship with President Donald Trump, Ryan has made it known to some of his closest confidants that this will be his final term as speaker. He consults a small crew of family, friends and staff for career advice, and is always cautious not to telegraph his political maneuvers. But the expectation of his impending departure has escaped the hushed confines of Ryan’s inner circle and permeated the upper-most echelons of the GOP. In recent interviews with three dozen people who know the speaker—fellow lawmakers, congressional and administration aides, conservative intellectuals and Republican lobbyists—not a single person believed Ryan will stay in Congress past 2018.
So far, Ryan's only "landmark legislative wins" haven't even made it to the president's desk, though the GOP's tax giveaway to the rich just might next week. Anyway, let's not quibble. Given his caucus, simply not getting chewed up and spit out by the House barbarians could loosely be considered a feat. But ...
He now faces a massive pileup of cannot-fail bills in January and February. It’s an outrageous legislative lift: Congress must, in the coming weeks, fund the government, raise the debt ceiling, modify spending caps, address the continuation of health-care subsidies, shell out additional funds for disaster relief and deal with the millions of undocumented young immigrants whose protected status has been thrown into limbo. It represents the most menacing stretch of Ryan’s speakership—one that will almost certainly require him to break promises made to his conference and give significant concessions to Democrats in exchange for their votes.
Sounds like a minefield of legislation that might make one contemplate retirement. Naturally, if Republicans do succeed in enriching big corporations to the detriment of American families with their tax bill, Ryan doesn't think his hatchet job is over yet. In fact, just as soon as the House green-lit their regressive legislation last month ...
Ryan remarked to several colleagues how this day had proven they could accomplish difficult things—and that next year, they should set their sights on an even tougher challenge: entitlement reform. The speaker has since gone public with this aspiration, suggesting that 2018 should be the year Washington finally tackles what he sees as the systemic problems with Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
First of all, only someone contemplating retirement from elected office followed by landing a sweet lobbying gig at the age of 49 would toy around with the idea of making his caucus take a vote on cutting Social Security and Medicare. With any luck, even Republicans won't be that stupid, at least in the Senate. The core of their voting base is aging Americans.
The good news is, Ryan—a math "genius" from way back who fretted for years about deficit spending right up until the moment he voted to add $1.5 trillion to the national debt—has some innovative ideas for how to save the social safety net for an aging population. Let's make some babies, ladies!
Speechless, frankly.
P.S. This is really gonna chafe former Rep. Trent Franks, btw.