Mike Klonsky is not shedding any tears for Paul Ryan.
He remembers when a Wisconsin social studies teacher was being honored for his dedication to the humanitarian ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ryan was presenting the award. The teacher refused to accept it from him, because, he said, Ryan was “a lackey for the 1%.” He “told the audience, “I can’t in good conscience accept this award, as a humanitarian, Paul Ryan stands for everything I don’t believe in.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Here’s Paul Krugman’s take on Ryan:
“the single animating principle of everything Ryan did and proposed was to comfort the comfortable while afflicting the afflicted. Can anyone name a single instance in which his supposed concern about the deficit made him willing to impose any burden on the wealthy, in which his supposed compassion made him willing to improve the lives of the poor?…his ‘deficit reduction’ proposals were always frauds…true fiscal experts ridiculed his ‘mystery meat’ budgets…Republicans haven’t abandoned their concerns about budget deficits, because they never cared about deficits; they only faked concern as an excuse to cut social programs…Ryan is leaving. Good riddance.”
Yep…..
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Amen.
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Social Darwinism at the core Ryan’s policies: Reward the rich and penalize the poor and let everyone else fend for themselves. The idea that Ryan stated that Ayn Rand was the reason he entered politics says a lot. Who in his right mind bases his political ideology on a character in a book of fiction.
Objectivism may be an interesting intellectual exercise for debate, but this is not really a good blueprint for running a sovereign nation. What Ryan fails to appreciate about Ayn Rand is that her family had all their wealth taken and were forced to flee Russia during the Revolution, and this shaped her approach to any discussion of economics and social policy.
Wasn’t Ayn Rand at the end of her life a penniless pauper making use of those social bugaboo’s Social Security & Medicare that Ryan has worked so hard to destroy. What’s the word that so fits Paul Ryan, oh ya, HYPOCRITE !
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Objectivism might be an interesting intellectual exercise for debate for high school boys (ever notice that it’s mainly a Guy Thing?), but for the Speaker of the House of Representatives to grant it any legitimacy whatsoever is preposterous.
And yes, Rand, who even in her better days came off like a bag lady – go on YouTube to see her interview with Mike Wallace if you want proof – received Social Security and Medicare when she became old and infirm.
Austerity and Privation for Thee, But Not for Me.
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LOL re: “even in her better days came off like a bag lady”
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I disagree with this. There’s some positions of Paul Ryan’s that I don’t particularly care for, but he is a good and honorable man. He’s right on many more issues than he is wrong on and I would rather have him a House Speaker than any of the Democrats. We make ourselves look foolish when we vilify those we disagree with rather than merely citing issues and articulating a different point of view.
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Ryan never stood up to Trump, never fought against his racist, anti-immigrant views, buckled to his extremism. He was a deficit hawk who blew up the deficit. A fighter for a more inclusive GOP who sold out the Dreamers. A devotee of free trade who accepted Trump’s tariffs. Where is his spine?
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Oh, BTW, isn’t our collective favorite Paul Ryan moment the one where he said he’s resigning?
Buh-bye, Paul.
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