MADISON, Wis. — Rep. Paul Ryan’s record runs deeper than his signature budget and Medicare ideas.
Mitt Romney’s running mate is against abortion rights, has a top rating from gun-rights groups and backed sending troops to the wars. But in conflict with fellow Republicans, he’s defended wage laws favored by unions. And he supported the auto industry bailout opposed by Romney and the bank bailout that the party’s right flank now opposes.
Ryan’s 14 years in Congress leave a long trail of votes for Democrats to pick apart, a process that began with gusto as Romney announced his choice Saturday.
Ryan’s intense interest in fiscal issues — he holds a degree in economics and chairs the House Budget Committee — helps explain why those matters define him in Washington. But Ryan has always been a reliable vote on proposals dear to social conservatives, enough to earn him a perfect score from a key anti-abortion group back home.
This year, Republicans rallied behind his debt and deficit prescription to curtail federal spending on food stamps, Pell Grants for education and other programs. His debt-reduction proposal calls for cuts in personal and corporate tax rates, but also would pare back deductions and preferences that litter the tax code. So far, it has been little more than a GOP wish list that passed the Republican-led House but hasn’t passed the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Ryan wants to fashion Medicare into a plan more like a 401(K), steering future retirees into private insurance plans, with a fixed payment from the government that may or may not cover as much of a retiree’s costs as does the current program. It departs from the current “fee for service” framework in which the government pays doctor and hospital bills.
That’s a marked shift in the social compact and not the only one he proposes. Ryan also wants to shift Medicaid to the states and sharply limit the growth of federal spending on that program. Medicare and Medicaid together reach some 100 million people.
His votes in Congress have gone against the grain at times. When Republicans have attempted to repeal federal wage protection laws for unions, Ryan has sided with Democrats in opposition. Even so, Ryan ardently campaigned for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who fended off a recall attempt spurred by state law changes cast as anti-union.
Ryan, whose district lost General Motors assembly plant a couple of years ago, supported the multi-billion dollar auto industry bailout started under then-Republican President George W. Bush and continued under President Barack Obama. Romney famously penned an opinion piece in 2008 with the headline, “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt,” arguing automakers could have gone through a managed bankruptcy and re-emerged without such massive help from taxpayers.
But there’s no question that his budget and Medicare plan stand among the boldest ideas in Washington and present the fattest target for Democrats. Mindful of such sensitivities, Romney campaign adviser Ed Gillespie emphasized Sunday that as president, Romney “would be putting forward his own budget” as much as he admires Ryan’s, making clear the presidential hopeful is not wedded to his running mate’s proposals.
Mitt Romney’s running mate is against abortion rights, has a top rating from gun-rights groups and backed sending troops to the wars. But in conflict with fellow Republicans, he’s defended wage laws favored by unions. And he supported the auto industry bailout opposed by Romney and the bank bailout that the party’s right flank now opposes.
Ryan’s 14 years in Congress leave a long trail of votes for Democrats to pick apart, a process that began with gusto as Romney announced his choice Saturday.
Ryan’s intense interest in fiscal issues — he holds a degree in economics and chairs the House Budget Committee — helps explain why those matters define him in Washington. But Ryan has always been a reliable vote on proposals dear to social conservatives, enough to earn him a perfect score from a key anti-abortion group back home.
This year, Republicans rallied behind his debt and deficit prescription to curtail federal spending on food stamps, Pell Grants for education and other programs. His debt-reduction proposal calls for cuts in personal and corporate tax rates, but also would pare back deductions and preferences that litter the tax code. So far, it has been little more than a GOP wish list that passed the Republican-led House but hasn’t passed the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Ryan wants to fashion Medicare into a plan more like a 401(K), steering future retirees into private insurance plans, with a fixed payment from the government that may or may not cover as much of a retiree’s costs as does the current program. It departs from the current “fee for service” framework in which the government pays doctor and hospital bills.
That’s a marked shift in the social compact and not the only one he proposes. Ryan also wants to shift Medicaid to the states and sharply limit the growth of federal spending on that program. Medicare and Medicaid together reach some 100 million people.
His votes in Congress have gone against the grain at times. When Republicans have attempted to repeal federal wage protection laws for unions, Ryan has sided with Democrats in opposition. Even so, Ryan ardently campaigned for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who fended off a recall attempt spurred by state law changes cast as anti-union.
Ryan, whose district lost General Motors assembly plant a couple of years ago, supported the multi-billion dollar auto industry bailout started under then-Republican President George W. Bush and continued under President Barack Obama. Romney famously penned an opinion piece in 2008 with the headline, “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt,” arguing automakers could have gone through a managed bankruptcy and re-emerged without such massive help from taxpayers.
But there’s no question that his budget and Medicare plan stand among the boldest ideas in Washington and present the fattest target for Democrats. Mindful of such sensitivities, Romney campaign adviser Ed Gillespie emphasized Sunday that as president, Romney “would be putting forward his own budget” as much as he admires Ryan’s, making clear the presidential hopeful is not wedded to his running mate’s proposals.