Exclusive interview: Rep. Paul Ryan on health-care reform
posted at 12:55 pm on January 13, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
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Earlier today, I spoke with Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) about ObamaCare and efforts on the Hill to find enough votes to push it out of Congress. Ryan wrote a separate health-care reform bill that was suppressed by the Democrats in the House, one that would have used free-market reforms to actually lower costs and allow for greater freedom of choice for Americans. Ryan asserts that the real ambition behind ObamaCare is not to improve health care or lower its costs, but to make Americans a dependent class and radically change the relationship between a free people and the government that is supposed to serve them, rather than the other way around:
In support of Ryan’s assertion, note that the federal government will be paying subsidies to over 60% of Americans as part of the ObamaCare system. That makes for a very, very large dependent class, one that will start voting to protect its welfare payments rather than challenge the power of the federal nannies that provide it. It’s an entree into autocracy, and eventually serfdom.
Ryan will speak at length tonight at the Washington Court Hotel at 6 pm on this subject. In the interview, I mistakenly say that he will appear at Hillsdale College; the speech is being sponsored by Hillsdale. If you can make it, you won’t regret it.
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No kidding.
DaydreamBeliever on January 13, 2010 at 12:59 PM
Hellooooo….Beck has been saying this for a while now- next up on the agenda for the powergrabbers is – universal voter registration- that’s why it’s sooo important we stay focused and keep working to get real conservatives voted into power and get the career pols out of the picture!!!!!
huskerdiva on January 13, 2010 at 1:07 PM
To lower the cost of health care only two things need to be done. One: get the government out of the Health Care Business. Two: enactment of TITLE II — State-Based Health Care Exchange. Of course neither is likely to ever happen.
Tommy_G on January 13, 2010 at 1:07 PM
Really????
yoda on January 13, 2010 at 1:07 PM
Good interview Ed. Ryan articulates conservatism well.
portlandon on January 13, 2010 at 1:07 PM
The only unusual thing about Ryan’s comment is that he is one of the few people with the cojones to say it.
We need more like him.
UltimateBob on January 13, 2010 at 1:07 PM
Ryan is great. Too bad I live in the district represented by that cockroach Dave Obey. Obey should be in prison, not the House of Representatives.
PimFortuynsGhost on January 13, 2010 at 1:07 PM
This is prcisely why Obama made taking over Health Care his number one legislative priority.
marybel on January 13, 2010 at 1:12 PM
TORT REFORM will drastically reduce healthcare costs – Have worked in the healthcare system for 30 years and can state without reservation that the practice of CYA medicine has contributed more to the cost of healthcare than any other single item!!!!! Agree that getting government out of the picture would be the first item on the agenda though…
huskerdiva on January 13, 2010 at 1:13 PM
TOTAL BS.
Everyone knows that the republicans have never put forth several plans on hell-care and the stimulus.
jukin on January 13, 2010 at 1:14 PM
Ryan may be a good conservative, but I can’t forget his vote for TARP and capping bonuses of executives. For a fan of Ayn Rand, he certainly has a lot to learn.
But this was a great interview.
cubachi on January 13, 2010 at 1:15 PM
huskerdiva on January 13, 2010 at 1:13 PM
Tommy_G on January 13, 2010 at 1:16 PM
A little late for the rest of us, in knowing the true agenda of this crap bill….but better late than never, and hopefully more, and more will begin to see it as it is, and rail against it.
capejasmine on January 13, 2010 at 1:17 PM
Hopefully Ryan someday either (A) becomes speaker of the house, (B) house majority leader, or (C) governor of WI for I think he would be an interesting candidate for President someday.
WashJeff on January 13, 2010 at 1:18 PM
Don’t forget to add the 30-40 million illegals here who’ll soon be able to vote too.
BowHuntingTexas on January 13, 2010 at 1:20 PM
YES.
John the Libertarian on January 13, 2010 at 1:21 PM
A good reason to consider property & tax requirements for voting purposes.
Badger40 on January 13, 2010 at 1:22 PM
Yeah, first we gotta get rid of all the John Edwards ambulance chasing lawyers-lol!!! How about a constitutional ammendment to prohibit lawyers from actually serving in Congress or the Senate, but only hire those necessary to consult during the process to reivew the bills for legal content/verbage- I know I’m delusional, but a girl can have a dream right?
huskerdiva on January 13, 2010 at 1:28 PM
I’ll drink to that!!!!!
huskerdiva on January 13, 2010 at 1:29 PM
And here I thought it was to provide special favors for health industry government insiders, insurance companies who promise to play along, and to big pharmaceutical companies that have inside access to our members of congress.
Shows you what I know.
Lily on January 13, 2010 at 1:32 PM
A new term. tyranny of the one. In a country with 300 million it come down to 1 person to stop or allow HRC.
tjexcite on January 13, 2010 at 1:46 PM
The Big Medical System battle will never, ever end. From the time that filthy bill is signed, every election will revolve around frickin’ health care.
Shame on the useful idiot Bob Wileys in this country, and their never-ending “Gimme gimme gimme, I need I need I need I need!”
Rae on January 13, 2010 at 1:47 PM
Ryan is one of the smartest and most well-informed members of the House. He is capable of — and does — personally sifting through the most arcane details of reports from the Congressional Budget Office and the Soc Sec/Medicare actuaries. He gets under the hood of those projections and understands how they’re made. When people complain about members of Congress not understanding legislation, they’re not talking about this guy.
Chuckles3 on January 13, 2010 at 1:49 PM
No shirt, Sherlock!
coppertop on January 13, 2010 at 1:53 PM
What about Sean Duffy? He received a nice plug from the Boss and from Kim Strassel of the Wall Street Journal last week.
http://michellemalkin.com/2010/01/08/a-gop-young-gun-to-watch/
Another Scott Brown?
BuckeyeSam on January 13, 2010 at 1:58 PM
Jukin, did you forget the sarc tag, or are you self medicating today?
JusDreamin on January 13, 2010 at 2:19 PM
Brilliant. I learned this 20 years ago in Leftism 101 (vocational version). I want to know why conservatives, who are supposed to be the most educated of us all about the Left, haven’t internalized this elementary truth and aren’t evangelizing it. I don’t hear it anywhere.
rrpjr on January 13, 2010 at 2:21 PM
This.
BadgerHawk on January 13, 2010 at 2:33 PM
Were you going to do a link? Pony up!
WashJeff on January 13, 2010 at 2:37 PM
Because it is not like the government (owner) will ever kick you (renter) out of your house if you fail to pay ‘property tax’ (rent) every year. I’m so glad that in avoiding one kind of serfdom we are willing to accept another kind.
AnotherOpinion on January 13, 2010 at 2:57 PM
A nasty burden.
I realize that our property taxes are much lower for owning thousands of acres than many people who own homes in a city.
But $6,000 +/yr is hard on us in the agriculture business.
Many times we are a year or two behind.
I see that as serfdom, too.
But it isn’t the feds that take your property if you don’t pay prop. tax-it’s the city or county or state from what I understand.
Badger40 on January 13, 2010 at 3:04 PM
No link. I was agreeing with your post. Ryan’s one of the few politicians who can speak intelligently about the economy.
BadgerHawk on January 13, 2010 at 3:33 PM
I see you’re smoking an extra fine brand of banana peels today.
chemman on January 13, 2010 at 3:36 PM
May he be your Gov some day and kick butt for a couple terms. Ryan did not even stumble over his own tongue for the entire interview, quite impressive. The content, obviously, was very good.
WashJeff on January 13, 2010 at 3:38 PM
You can avoid that “serfdom” if property taxes did not exists by purchasing your own property. Once paid for, without property taxes, you could never be kicked off (at least before Kelo).
WashJeff on January 13, 2010 at 3:40 PM
I’ll take doors A or B – we’ve got another very good young gun (Scott Walker) and an aging veteran of the 1994 House revolution (Mark Neumann) running for governor.
steveegg on January 13, 2010 at 3:43 PM
I like Duffy–he has a shot, but there is a real entitlement mentality up here which Obey appeals to. The libertarian/independent streak is more of a NE/SW Wisconsin thing. The mindset in North Central Wisconsin? The more handouts from Madison and DC, the better.
PimFortuynsGhost on January 13, 2010 at 4:19 PM
Delaying the State of the Union? Maybe some tea party speakers could steal that date and let the American people know what the true state of the union is – and why.
Connie on January 13, 2010 at 4:24 PM
Paul Ryan is a fine example of who should be elected to represent a constituency. He has espoused conservative principals from day one and I am proud to have pulled the lever that helped him get to Washington. In regards to the comment about supporting TARP, I watched his announcement about that and I could see the pain in his face to do so. He really had to suck it up to vote for something that he personally knew was bad. Unlike commentors to blogs, we can’t always do the right thing and I am convinced there was something else behind the scenes that required him to cast that vote. And I’ll raise a toast to Obey getting run out of town on a rail. Typical Democrat – pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
Harold32001 on January 13, 2010 at 4:43 PM
Oh gosh, The Boss doesn’t care much for my Representative…too bad he’s probably one the smartest ones in Congress Michelle.
You want to throw him under the bus, I’ll gladly throw you under as well.
StevefromMKE on January 13, 2010 at 5:45 PM
Them Repub leadership needs to step down so the Paul Ryan’s in the House and Senate can run the party.
They won’t.
patrick neid on January 13, 2010 at 5:59 PM
I don’t have a lot to say against Paul Ryan. I do wonder why an economics wiz-kid would support and vote for TARP.
OTOH I’m stuck with Cornyn and Kay Bailout. Anybody want to trade?
Blacksmith8 on January 13, 2010 at 7:37 PM
i think the R’s are afraid to talk about the subsidy issue.
they may be afraid that if you say loudly the Left is going to give 60% of Americans subsidies for their h/c it will improve the polls…yes, it has come to that.
maybe as a country we are already “there”. Affordable housing, affordable medicine…what’s the diff
maybe, we have already been socialized….yes, it has taken us longer than most countries, much to the disdain of our aristocracy
r keller on January 13, 2010 at 7:48 PM