When Paul Ryan was chosen to replace John Boehner as Speaker, many conservatives noted Ryan’s record of selling out conservative principals for expediency’s sake. Ryan had supported the TARP bailout bill, struck a budget deal with Patti Murray that ended budget caps, and criticized the Tea Party lead government shutdown. It’s positions like these that lead many to question whether or not Ryan would have the guts to advance the conservative agenda in a way John Boehner never could. Based on Ryan’s latest interview, it appears those concerns were well founded. Ryan is already ready to quit on defunding Planned Parenthood:
Paul Ryan doesn’t believe Planned Parenthood should get one “red cent” from taxpayers — but he cautioned Sunday against expectations that he’ll be able to pull federal funding for the organization now that he’s House speaker.
“I think we need to be very clear about what we can and cannot achieve and not set expectations that we know we can’t reach given the constraints of the Constitution,” Ryan told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”
The women’s health organization has long drawn the ire of anti-abortion lawmakers, but efforts to pull federal funding for it increased after activists released undercover videos accusing Planned Parenthood of breaking federal laws by selling tissue and organs from aborted fetuses.
“I don’t think Planned Parenthood should get a red cent from the taxpayer. I’ve always believed that, even before these disgusting videos came out,” Ryan said. “But I believe we need to do our oversight. We’re just beginning to start a committee to investigate Planned Parenthood. That’s important. So the special committee on Planned Parenthood, I think, should be in the driver’s seat overseeing this process.”
This story is reminiscent of Ryan’s rationale for supporting TARP bailouts, which sounded very much like the liberal trope about “saving capitalism from itself”
that’s bandied about to support the worst progessive spending programs. Here once again, Ryan talks a big game, but is not willing to go out on a limb on conservative issues if it means he has to fight.
A hearing about Planned Parenthood could backfire for Republicans. They’re often bad at taking on both the Democrats and the mainstream media on contentious issues. But it could also force the media and the public to take greater notice of the damning Planned Parenthood videos that the media has essentially ignored. Shining a brighter light on Planned Parenthood’s transgressions, and then passing a bill that President Obama would ultimately veto might reveal to many Americans just how extreme the Democratic party is on the issue of abortion. The timing couldn’t be better to exploit this opportunity.
Ryan got to where he is by not shying away from complex policy issues. Given his sincere, personal pro life beliefs, it’s disconcerting that he’s shying away from that challenge here.
AAN Staff
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