Ex-GOP Speaker Ryan denounces effort to challenge Electoral College results

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Former Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Sunday blasted Congressional Republicans’ efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

“Efforts to reject the votes of the Electoral College and sow doubt about Joe Biden’s victory strike at the foundation of our republic. It is difficult to conceive of a more anti-democratic and anti-conservative act than a federal intervention to overturn the results of state-certified elections and disenfranchise millions of Americans,” Ryan said in a statement.

“The Trump campaign had ample opportunity to challenge election results, and those efforts failed from lack of evidence,” the statement continues. “The legal process was exhausted, and the results were decisively confirmed. The Department of Justice, too, found no basis for overturning the result. If states wish to reform their processes for future elections, that is their prerogative. But Joe Biden’s victory is entirely legitimate.” Continue reading.

Trump Gets Served A Brutal Fact-Check On Fox News After Griping About Bad Coverage

The president tried to blame Fox board member Paul Ryan for unfavorable coverage on the network.

President Donald Trump blasted Fox News on Thursday for giving airtime to a pundit who criticized his debate performances in 2016, and network host Neil Cavuto served Trump an unpleasant truth in return.

In her analysis of billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s poor performance at Wednesday night’s Democratic debate, A. B. Stoddard of RealClearPolitics told Cavuto on his show that even Trump’s “disastrous” and “cringeworthy” 2016 debate performances did not hold him back from the presidency.

In a tweet soon afterward, Trump attacked Stoddard for being a “Trump hater” with “zero talent” and called on somebody at Fox News to explain that “I won every one of my debates.” Continue reading.

Former GOP Speakers Join To Defend Gerrymandering

The Republican State Leadership Committee says that three of the four living former Republican speakers of the House of Representatives will advise its efforts to push for GOP-friendly gerrymandered legislative maps after the 2020 elections.

Former speakers Paul Ryan, John Boehner, and Newt Gingrich will lead the committee’s Speakers Advisory Council. “In these key advisory roles,” the group said in a press release, “each of the Speakers will provide critical support to the RSLC’s recently-launched ‘Right Lines 2020’ initiative to protect Republican legislative majorities ahead of the decennial redrawing of federal and state district maps.

A Democratic group, backed by Barack Obama and Eric Holder, has been pushing to ensure fair maps in the next redistricting. But rather than follow their lead to independent redistricting commissions and maps that accurately match the partisan composition of the states, the RSLC is focused on ensuring Republicans get to draw Republican-friendly maps.

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What does Paul Ryan get out of speaking against Trump now?

Washington Post logoAfter two years of Paul Ryan actively trying not to criticize President Trump, the retired former House speaker is now saying things like this about the president: “We’ve gotten so numbed by it all. Not in government, but where we live our lives, we have a responsibility to try and rebuild. Don’t call a woman a ‘horse face.’ Don’t cheat on your wife. Don’t cheat on anything. Be a good person. Set a good example.”

That was Ryan in an interview with author Tim Alberta, for Alberta’s new book about Trump’s takeover of the GOP, “American Carnage.”

We already knew what Ryan really felt about Trump. During the campaign, he accused Trump of saying things that are “the textbook definition of racism.” He abandoned Trump after the “Access Hollywood” tape came out a month before the election, urging his colleagues in Congress to do the same.

View the complete July 12 article by Amber Phillips on The Washington Post website here.

Former House Speaker Paul Ryan focuses on policy, gridlock in Vero Beach lecture

Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan reflected on his tenure in Congress, from health care to political debates, during a lecture Monday in Vero Beach.

Ryan, who served as Speaker of the House from 2015 until January and was the 2012 Republican nominee for vice president, was the final speaker of Riverside Theatre’s Distinguished Lecturer Series.

Ryan focused heavily on policy during the hour-long lecture and question-and-answer session, talking about the successes and failures of Congress during his tenure as Speaker.

View the complete March 11 article by Ali Schmitz for the Treasure Coast Newspapers on the TCPalm.com website here.

‘Absolutely out of control’: Cliff Sims’s book depicts life in Trump’s White House

Starlings fly out of a bush and over the West Wing of the White House last Jan. 22. Credit: Jabin Botsford, The Washington Post)

President Trump watched on television, increasingly angry as House Speaker Paul D. Ryan criticized his handling of the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville. He held the remote control “like a pistol” and yelled for an assistant to get the Republican leader on the phone.

“Paul, do you know why Democrats have been kicking your a– for decades? Because they know a little word called ‘loyalty,’ ” Trump told Ryan, then a Wisconsin congressman. “Why do you think Nancy [Pelosi] has held on this long? Have you seen her? She’s a disaster. Every time she opens her mouth another Republican gets elected. But they stick with her . . . Why can’t you be loyal to your president, Paul?”

The tormenting continued. Trump recalled Ryan distancing himself from Trump in October 2016, in the days after the “Access Hollywood” video in which he bragged of fondling women first surfaced in The Washington Post.

View the complete January 21 article by Philip Rucker on The Washington Post website here.

Rising Deficits, Falling Revenues

President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans celebrate Congress passing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on the South Lawn of the White House, Washington, D.C., December 2017. Credit: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

The Fiscal Damage Caused by the New Republican Tax Law

The law commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act1 (TCJA), enacted in December 2017 by the Republican-controlled Congress, is substantially increasing federal deficits—and will for years to come. Regrettably, the law increased federal borrowing while addressing none of the nation’s most pressing challenges. In particular, after decades of growing income inequality and stagnant real wages for working-class Americans, the law conferred its largest benefits on the wealthiest Americans. The law did nothing to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure, advance education, or prevent climate change. Moreover, by increasing federal deficits and debt, the law will increase pressure to cut vital programs, including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

This issue brief assesses the fiscal damage from the TCJA and finds: Continue reading “Rising Deficits, Falling Revenues”

The Fact Checker’s crash course for the 2018 elections

NOTE:  CLF, the Paul Ryan aligned super PAC has been busy with nasty ads in Minnesota, too.  With multiple ads in CD3, among other CDs. We’ve noted they’re false and provided information on this group before.  Here’s what a journalist charged with fact checking has to say about their style of ads.


A super PAC aligned with House Speaker Paul Ryan produced six ads in tight house races that are littered with falsehoods. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

All 47 of our fact checks that dealt with candidates or campaign ads in 2018 are now in one place — right here.

Yes, it’s a wonder we still have time to fact-check politicians not named Donald Trump, he of the 6,420 false or misleading claims. But it’s not just the president who is flooding the airwaves with misinformation. The 2018 campaign season has featured a bunch of Trump-like TV ads, nativist rhetoric and scurrilous statistics from candidates, super PACs and other groups.

Of the 47 fact checks, 21 received Four Pinocchios. Twelve got Three Pinocchios, and seven got Two Pinocchios. We threw in two fact checks that got One Pinocchio and five with no ratings.

View the complete November 5 article by Salvador Rizzo on the Washington Post website here.

President Trump, Speaker Paul Ryan show their support for Erik Paulsen

The 3rd District Representative has been trying to distance himself from the president.

President Donald Trump tweeted his endorsement of 3rd District Rep. Erik Paulsen Monday night, but will the congressman thank him for it?

The president is amidst a series of endorsement tweets for various candidates ahead of the Nov. 6 mid-terms, and the president reserved one of them for Paulsen.

“Congressman Erik Paulsen of the Great State of Minnesota has done a fantastic job in cutting Taxes and Job Killing Regulations,” he wrote. “Hard working and very smart. Keep Erik in Congress. He has my Strong Endorsement!”

View the complete October 23 article by Adam Uren on the BringMeTheNews.com website here.

Trump & Ryan Reward Paulsen for His Unflinching Loyalty

Trump & Ryan Reward Paulsen for His Unflinching Loyalty

Erik Paulsen’s payoff for his unflinching loyalty to Washington Republicans & voting with President Trump nearly 98 percent of the time keeps on coming.

Late last night, Paulsen received the seal of approval from tweeter-in-Chief, President Trump:

“Congressman Erik Paulsen of the Great State of Minnesota has done a fantastic job in cutting Taxes and Job Killing Regulations,”  tweeted President Trump. “Hard working and very smart. Keep Erik in Congress. He has my Strong Endorsement!” Continue reading “Trump & Ryan Reward Paulsen for His Unflinching Loyalty”