Paul Ryan Should Step Down as Speaker Immediately

Speaker Paul Ryan, resign your position. Step down as Speaker of the House and do it right away. The AHCA, its reception by the public in general and Republican voters in particular, and the growing divide between yourself and the White House suggest you should resign and let this new congress pick a new Speaker.

Breitbart.com is for it. Lou Dobbs is howling for it. #MAGA social media is memeing for it. Now here at RedState, I offer my agreement. Do not wait or hesitate. Step down.

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Here is the situation. Already we’re seeing a concerted effort to replace the appellation “Trumpcare” with the new and blame-shifting “Ryancare.” At Breitbart, deep, deep, deep Trump and Bannon insider Matt Boyle is floating the idea that Speaker Ryan actually duped President Trump into buying in on the AHCA. The Washington Post wrote late Tuesday that Trump “loyalists” are warning the President to distance himself from it. Laura Ingraham said it’s a “trap” laid by congressional Republicans (read: Paul Ryan) to sabotage Trump in 2020. These are pretty big signs.

One thing we know for sure is that Donald Trump will not accept the blame for this major moment in the movement going wrong. Someone will be hung out to dry. It’s not rocket science.

Look, Republicans own the mess they are in, no question. What they have offered is, by no stretch, what they promised on the campaign trails of the last six years. You can call it a problem of messaging, a problem of sales technique, a problem of budget, a problem of policy, or a simple problem of potentially millions fewer people with insurance than there would otherwise be, but the GOP owns it in each case. And, yes, Paul Ryan owns it. It’s a total mess and they made it.

Now, although Trump also owns it, and it lines up with his sparse healthcare commentary from the campaign, he won’t take ownership of any part of it when it fails. Nor any of his fans – from the devoted Twitter denizens to the Fox News press release outlets talk show hosts – allow him to take responsibility, either. That leaves one guy.

Hey girl, it’s Paul Ryan.

Whether you call it Trumpcare, Ryancare, Swampcare, or (as the GOP is pitching it) the last, best hope for reform, it’s going to be in Speaker Ryan’s lap, without question.

Although, you should know the actual reason most of the Trump faithful are offering as cause for a “you’re fired” for Ryan isn’t actually the healthcare bill, but rather that several months ago he said this: “I am not going to defend Donald Trump—not now, not in the future.”

That’s what Dobbs and friends are on about. I’m serious. Not the “repeal and replace” fiasco. It’s his “disdain.” Just plain old lack of loyalty to Daddy. That’s what Dobbs ranted about. And the cries of “betrayal” are on all the Trump blogs, too.

So not the bill before the House. His saying he will not defend Trump.

Therefore and for those reasons, Speaker Ryan should step down. Step down and let the Trump administration show who they favor as a replacement. Let Bannon and Breitbart.com select and push their candidate. Let everyone watch as Breitbart’s pick becomes Speaker. And then let’s see what the new Speaker does, and does differently, to keep his post (and the reciprocal loyalty of the President and his fans.)

Mr. Speaker, you didn’t even want this job. And now you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong plan. I suggest that there’s no reason to stay there and take all the heat for the entire GOP, all your colleagues, and the administration (which has had a direct hand in crafting this legislation). Leave and let what will be, be. Let the Trump wave hit every shore. They want to show us how they would do things. Let them. It’s what the electorate voted for, after all.

It’s already not going well. Do you think that’s going to get better when “phase two” and “phase three” don’t materialize? Come on.

Stick with the vow you made, the one that has Lou Dobbs’ head on fire. Don’t defend, anymore. Just depart. You’ll thank me. And I suspect they’ll thank you.

The post Paul Ryan Should Step Down as Speaker Immediately appeared first on RedState.

Source: http://www.redstate.com/absentee/2017/03/15/paul-ryan-step-speaker-immediately/