Defending popular vote loser Donald Trump's decision to fire FBI Director James Comey is a questionable thing for Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. Downright irresponsible in a normal world, or with a normal House Speaker who feels some kind of duty to the constitution, the nation, the institutions of government. Paul Ryan is not normal. No, he's sticking with Trump. Why? So he can get his agenda through. What's at the top of that agenda? Same as it ever was: ending Medicare as we know it.
House Speaker Paul Ryan hasn’t let go of his cherished idea of privatizing Medicare and in an interview with a local Wisconsin radio station Friday, suggested that a blueprint for overhauling Medicare would advance in the Budget Committee again this year.
“The question is, can we get everyone else to agree” Ryan said on the Vicki McKenna Show.
“And that’s just an ongoing conversation we’re having.”
Earlier in the interview Ryan said overhauling Social Security and Medicare — two programs President Trump vowed not to touch on the campaign trail — has “long” been his “plan.”
“That’s a discussion we’re having ongoing with the administration,” he said, later adding, “I do really believe we need to do Medicare reform.”
But what about Trump's forceful promises throughout the campaign that he would not touch these programs? Ryan's got a powerful weapon on his side in Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, former Freedom Caucus maniac, who seems pretty confident. When it comes to wrecking Medicare, "let the [House] pass that and let's talk about it," he says.
Of course, there's the little problem of getting it through the Senate, but that's not going to keep Ryan from trying. It rarely has before. He's bound and determined to throw granny off that damned cliff.