The coming battles over the nation’s safety-net programs are beginning with an early clash over a thorny question of semantics: What constitutes a cut?
In the eyes of many Democrats, any change to Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security that erodes benefits provided under current law would be considered a cut — and therefore stands as a nonstarter with liberals as Congress seeks ways to rein in deficit spending.
Across the aisle, Republicans have long promoted a ...
Paul Ryan
After trying to kill health insurance for millions, Paul Ryan now profits from medical tech
As Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan (R-WI) was best known for his repeated attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (commonly known as Obamacare) and take away health insurance coverage from tens of millions of Americans. Now a private citizen, Ryan is about to profit from his own legislative failures.
According to his hometown paper, Ryan has joined the board of directors at SHINE Medical Technologies. The Janesville-based company makes molybdenum-99, a radioactive isotope used to...
The Hill to Die On review: Trump, Ryan and a Republican dumpster fire
Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer deliver a deeply sourced tale of ineptitude, cowardice and other common political traits
Donald Trump is now going all in for Obamacare repeal. His latest picks for the Federal Reserve include Stephen Moore, a tax-dodging deadbeat dad, and Herman Cain, a guy with a track record of alleged sexual harassment. Apparently, the president has learned little from the Republicans’ 2018 shellacking at the hands of America’s soccer moms.
Related: Trump float...
A eulogy for the most incompetent House majority in modern history
Long before Donald Trump’s second-place finish somehow landed him in the White House, Republicans in Congress promised a package of benefit cuts, privatization, and tax cuts for the wealthy that were so cruel, American voters literally refused to believe they were real. In 2012, a Democratic super PAC decided not to campaign against future Speaker Paul Ryan’s package of Medicare vouchers and upper income tax cuts after participants in a focus group “simply refused to beli...
Trump honors Paul Ryan’s retirement by kicking 800,000 people off of food stamps
It was a classic bait and switch. On Thursday, in the hours before the Oval Office was set to host President Donald Trump’s ceremonial signing of a farm bill — one which had been lauded by anti-hunger advocates for sparing the food stamps program of deep funding cuts — the Trump administration quietly announced its plan to dump hundreds of thousands of people off of the food assistance program.
It was a quick end to a much ballyhooed example of bipartisan compromis...
In self-congratulatory tweetstorm, Paul Ryan celebrates his lone victory: tax cuts for the rich
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) is in his final days as Speaker of the House, a job that he only reluctantly took in 2015 and will depart with a dearth of accomplishments. While he will leave office unable to realize his college dream of taking Medicaid away from poor people, he launched a tweet-storm on Tuesday morning celebrating the first anniversary of his sole major legislation: the Trump tax cuts that mostly benefited the rich and big corporations.
He began his tweet-storm by noting he&...
A guide to how Democrats can take back the House in the midterms
Two years after President Donald Trump’s stunning upset win (despite receiving nearly three million fewer votes than his opponent), Democrats finally have a chance to regain control of one (or both) chambers of legislature. This would mean an opportunity for Congress to finally offer meaningful checks and balances on the Trump administration after the midterm elections, this Tuesday, Nov. 6.
Democrats need to flip 24 seats to win the House. Twenty-five GOP-controlled districts...
Randy Bryce wins Democratic primary in Paul Ryan’s home district
Randy Bryce has won the Democratic primary in Wisconsin’s first district, beating public school teacher Cathy Myers. The district is currently represented by House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), who announced his retirement earlier this year.
Bryce shot to national prominence last June, when his announcement video challenging Ryan to switch jobs with him went viral. He was endorsed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
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The Myers-Bryce Online Personality Test for Wisconsin Democrats
JANESVILLE, WISCONSIN — “It’s funny living in the same town as Paul Ryan, because every time he burps or farts the media is all over us,” says Paula, a server at the Eagle Inn Family Restaurant.
Paula doesn’t have internet at home, and half-boasts that her cell phone is 16 years old. But when I tell her who I’m here to see, she nods knowingly.
Randy Bryce is just as familiar a name to her as it is to you, if not necessarily for the same reasons. His viral video campaign...