In an effort to regain control of the GOP political debate, House Speaker Paul Ryan, unveiled the first of six policy papers, this one on reducing poverty, to prove the Republican Party has ideas beyond building walls and attacking judges. Let’s just say, the event didn’t go quite as planned.
Donald Trump’s latest racist attack ended up dominating the day, much to Ryan’s consternation and leaving many conservatives lamenting Ryan’s support for Trump in the first place:
“The Caligulan malice with which Donald Trump administered Paul Ryan’s degradation is an object lesson in the price of abject capitulation to power. This episode should be studied as a clinical case of a particular Washington myopia — the ability of career politicians to convince themselves that they and their agendas are of supreme importance.”…George Will
The Ryan agenda on poverty is already well known — Trump’s is basically non-existent. However, this political roadshow entitled, “A better way forward: Our vision for a confident America” was designed to put the Speaker in control of the party’s policy debate. It is heavy on campaign-style rhetoric and purposefully thin on details, since Republicans in the House apparently couldn’t agree on them:
“…the document focuses on painting a broad picture of a GOP-led social welfare system and the types of policies that could be created in the event a Republican is elected president. Many of the specific policy prescriptions aimed at addressing the problems identified in the paper were left out because members couldn’t agree on details such as how to prevent waste and fraud, according to aides.”…Washington Post
Of course, promising to eliminate poverty and providing the policy prescription needed to make that happen are two very different things. While this document provides scant details, even the broad strokes echo the harmful approaches proposed in past House GOP budgets which shred the safety net and cut benefits.
“Consistent with that philosophy, the plan includes a bevy of policies designed to make it much harder for people in need to access federal programs: tougher work requirements for food stamps, housing aid, or cash welfare; eliminating benefits conservatives believe are making improper payments…eliminating funding for early childhood education lifeline Head Start; sealing off tax credits from some low-income families; and further allowing states to cut certain programs as they see fit.”…Think Progress
Proposals impacting seniors and families include:
- Replacing benefits for children who receive SSI with “services”
- Blocking regulations that require financial advisors to provide counsel based solely on what’s best for their client rather than what’s most profitable for the advisor.
- Blocking the federal government from keeping the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation solvent.
- Reforming retirement security by loosening regulations and sending more of our savings to Wall Street. There is literally zero mention of Social Security retiree benefits in the nearly 1,100 words written on retirement security.
Social Security keeps millions of Americans out of poverty and contributes billions of dollars to our economy each year. You can’t have a serious conversation about addressing poverty in America while ignoring one of the nation’s most successful anti-poverty programs…that is, unless you refuse to acknowledge Social Security’s success in the first place.
Because today’s roll-out event was largely ignored in favor of Donald Trump’s latest racist comments and this first campaign paper provides so few details, we want to provide some other sources with analysis of the GOP poverty plan Speaker Ryan has addressed in the past. Hat tip to Media Matters for this compilation:
Paul Ryan: Federal Government “Does More Harm Than Good” When It Assists The Poor. During a discussion at CPAC 2016, Ryan and Bold Media founder Carrie Sheffield pushed a series of right-wing media-inspired myths. The two derided government assistance programs as “trapping people in poverty, by basically paying people not to work,” and dismissed food and housing assistance programs started more than 50 years ago by President Johnson, commonly referred to as the “War on Poverty.” Ryan also misleadingly claimed that “we basically have a stalemate on our hands” with regard to reducing poverty in the United States, despite 50 years of work and “trillions [of dollars] spent.” [CSPAN3, 3/3/16]
CAP’s Rebecca Vallas: While Paul Ryan’s Talking Points “May Be Pitch-Perfect,” His Policies Are A “Blueprint For Exacerbating Poverty, Inequality, And Wage Stagnation.” The Center for American Progress’ (CAP) Rebecca Vallas wrote that while “Republicans’ sudden concern for struggling families is no doubt newsworthy … unfortunately their policies remain nothing short of a blueprint for exacerbating poverty, inequality, and wage stagnation,” in a January 7 Huffington Post blog. Vallas noted that “Ryan has voted against raising the minimum wage at least 10 times,” “has consistently opposed legislation that would help families access paid family and medical leave,” and has proposed cutting “critical programs that help keep struggling families afloat — such as nutrition assistance, housing assistance, and Medicaid — all to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations.” [The Huffington Post, 1/7/16]
NPR: Ryan Seeks To Weaken Food Assistance Programs That Have Kept Millions Out Of Poverty. In response to Speaker Ryan’s push to weaken the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), NPR reported on December 29, 2015, that while Ryan claimed SNAP and other programs are “trapping people in poverty,” the Council of Economic Advisers found that SNAP alone kept almost 5 million people out of poverty in 2014, the most recent available data, including 2 million children. [NPR, 12/29/15]
MSNBC’s Steve Benen: Ryan’s Policies Are “Brutal” For The Poor. MSNBC’s Steve Benen explained on May 6, 2015, that while Paul Ryan claims to be “focused on poverty,” his proposed remedies would be “brutal towards those actually in poverty.” Benen added, “Ryan was, and is, perhaps best known for his far-right budget plan that cuts taxes for the wealthy by hundreds of billions of dollars, while slashing investments in programs that benefit working families.” [MSNBC.com, 5/6/15]