On the Matter of the Speaker of the House

I don't want Paul Ryan to take the job. Not because I think he's unqualified, unable, or unworthy, but
because I don't want to watch a great man diminished by an office that will set him up to fail.  I want Paul Ryan at the Chair of Ways and Means, ready to work with a Republican President to pass pro-growth tax reform and to reform our programs for the truly needy in order to ensure that is who they serve.  No Republican in DC is as policy savvy as Ryan, and while he obviously has a lot of fans in the House, it is because of his ideas and his stewardship of them that he has this support.  It is not because of his ability to make deals, forge consensus, or broadly speaking, play the political game.

My dream Speaker is one of these folks from the Hammer-wing of the Party.  You know, the ones who brought John Boehner down.  I want one of these guys.  I want one of them to try and get the things done that they have been talking about for five years, you know, the kind of things that they believe everyone promised them, the kind of things they thought could be done with a Democratic President and a Senate where the Democrats can still filibuster.

And then I want them to do one of two things.  First, succeed wildly and prove me wrong.  And if not, fail miserably and prove me right.  Anything in the middle is not acceptable.

But I don't want Paul Ryan to be a casualty of this process.  I want him to team up with President Rubio in January of 2017 to get this country moving in a positive direction.

Stay firm, Paul.  Don't do it.