The GOP teamed up with the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries in 2003 to expand Medicare to cover prescription drugs. Again, conservatives in the party dissented, and again, Ryan supported the corporate-welfare legislation.
The bailouts of Wall Street and Detroit were the pinnacle of Bush-era corporatism, and Bush couldn’t even bring most of his party along with him. Ryan didn’t simply back the bailout of Wall Street, he helped lead the bailout charge.
Ryan passionately pleaded on the floor for his fellow Republicans to join him. While two-thirds of his party mates voted no on the first bank bailout vote, Ryan voted with the banks — and he did so again a few days later when the House finally passed the Troubled Asset Relief Program on the strength of Democratic votes.
Come December, Ryan was one of only 32 House Republicans who voted to bail out General Motors and Chrysler.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member