Free Republic

Americans hold dim views of Congress and of House Speaker Paul Ryan, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds, with favorable opinions declining since February. Nearly three-quarters of Americans disapprove of Congress’s job performance, up 12 percentage points since February, the poll found. Just one-fifth said they approve of the job Congress is doing, a drop of 9 points. Mr. Ryan (R., Wis.) is one focus of growing dissatisfaction, with 40% saying they view the House speaker negatively, compared with 22% who had a positive view—an 18-point gap. In February, unfavorable opinions outweighed positive ones by just 1 point.

WASHINGTON — President Trump reportedly backed off his demand that Congress include a down payment for a wall spanning the entire U.S.-Mexico border in a crucial spending bill that must pass by Friday night to keep the government funded. Republican lawmakers have urged the president to focus on border security in general instead of the wall, which Democrats have called a poison pill that would cause them to reject the bill and shut down the government. Trump told a group of conservative reporters he invited to the White House on Monday that he was open to getting funding for the...

Failure to pass, or failure to craft a decent law? Last month’s healthcare fiasco was, without question, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan’s baby. He fought for it, promoted it, inexplicably rushed it to the floor, did everything he could to corral reluctant legislators. Heck, there are reports that he was down on his knees begging congressmen to vote for it. It didn’t work. In the end, all he could do was looked on as it collapsed. Now, according to Gallup, his favorability numbers have done the same.

Short & Sweet.....POTUS, Donald J. Trump, get rid of Paul Ryan as Speaker of the House. He has failed you with driven purpose!!! Broom him...he is poison for you & the entire Republican Party!!! End of story!!!

It’s also lower than Trump’s, notes WaPo’s Amber Phillips. Trump is at 39 percent in this poll, a dismal number for a president at any stage but especially during what’s supposed to be his “honeymoon period” with voters. And still, he’s fully 10 points better than Ryan.How many different contributing factors are there for Ryan’s garbage numbers? I can think of at least four.His approval rating isn’t wildly different from Boehner’s or Pelosi’s. His disapproval rating, though? Hoo boy. Contributing factor one: He was, of course, the quarterback for the GOP’s much-hated health-care bill, which was polling at a...

Federal funding for one of President Donald Trump’s premier policy proposals may be excluded from the House GOP’s budget for Fiscal Year 2017-2018. House Democrats, along with a few House Republicans, are working around-the-clock to make sure funding for the estimated $12 billion border wall is not factored into the GOP budget, according to a report by The Hill. “With Democrats united against new wall funding, it’s unlikely the Republicans have the votes to get it through and prevent a government shutdown,” The Hill report stated. House Speaker Paul Ryan, in a statement to The Hill, seemed to concede that...

Chris Wallace Interview of Jim Jordan. Jim Jordan: "Let's accomplish what the people asked us to do when they sent us to Washington . . . let's find a plan that is consistent with what the American people told us to do when they elected us."

New data shows that Ryan's job approval rating has dropped below 50% among both Republicans and Trump voters The American Health Care Act, the GOP replacement for Obamacare, is — at least for now — just a memory. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan himself has admitted that "Obamacare is the law of the land … for the foreseeable future." The latest Economist/YouGov Poll suggests that opinions of Ryan and the House Republicans, but not President Trump, have diminished after the GOP-majority House of Representatives failed to vote on the proposed health care legislation. And that loss of support comes...

Donald Trump has resigned as President of the United States of America. Speaking today to White House media, Trump said he was stepping down from his position, effective immediately. The decision means that Trump was President for 69 days, making him the shortest President in terms of days in office

With control of House, Senate and the Presidency, and with so much that cries out to be done after eight years of Obama inaction and/or mismanagement, Republicans have a golden opportunity to advance their own electoral fortunes by doing well for their country. But all of this is endangered by the fact that their major congressional leader is a man without political instincts, skills, or judgment. It’s unfair to say that he is a RINO, or to question his value to the party as the source of ideas that are sometimes very useful. But it is not unfair to say...

Paul Ryan should walk around Congress for the next couple of weeks wearing a sign around his neck that reads, “I am a failure.” It’s not that everyone else doesn’t already know that he’s a failure – oh, that’s one message that he’s succeeded in getting out Lima Charlie – it’s that it doesn’t seem like he knows that he’s a failure. Perhaps some signage would remind him to wipe that smug, smarmy grin off his face, and inspire him to achieve something other than nothing. Yet he’ll persist, with his unerring poor judgment, his undercurrent of condescension to anyone...

Everyone knows that a competent lawyer never asks a question in court to which he doesn’t already know the answer. And likewise, a competent political leader never puts a piece of legislation up for a vote without having a good idea of what the vote will be. But when Paul Ryan released his American Health Care Act he evidently had no idea what its reception would be. Whole sections of his own party were angered, and it was obvious that his bill had no chance of passage without truly major changes.

We have already seen the entire media portray recalcitrant conservatives in the Republican party as ideologues. But the real culprits are progressives in both parties whose construct is the primacy of government regulations over free-market principles. While it may be too late for great Senators like Rand Paul to realize a free-market insurance model, it is the only viable solution to a government created catastrophe of immeasurable proportions which has consumed one-fifth (1/5) of the economy.

Sorry but I missed it as something came up. Don't see any breaking news here telling me it was a bombshell. If nobody's in an orange jumpsuit, it's a nothing burger.

As he gave his brief press conference Friday afternoon confirming that Republicans had pulled their bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, House Speaker Paul Ryan both looked and sounded like a hangdog high school football coach spilling out a few defeated platitudes after watching his team get ground into the turf. “Moving from an opposition party to a governing party comes with growing pains,” he said, “and, well, we’re feeling those growing pains today.” “We came really close today, but we came up short.” “I will not sugarcoat this. This is a disappointing day for us. Doing...

That’s the concept anywayLet’s be clear: When your party holds the Presidency and you are Speaker of the House your role is that of a sheepdog. You are to round up your flock and get them to vote in a block.Round up the Red Shirts!Of course if your busy playing games with the other dogs in the pack,and if you promise to repeal and replace Obamacare but deliver a Trojan Horse instead…well, your sheep might decide to take a flyer. To say that Speaker Ryan failed is an understatement. Let’s face it, you had one job…And it was D.O.A. We need...

AHCA was pulled from the floor yet again this afternoon, and it now is probable that Obamacare will be the law of the land for years to come. This is an utter disaster for U.S. health care, not to mention individual liberty, and the responsibility rests squarely on shoulders of a small cadre of political opportunists with the effrontery to call themselves the “House Freedom Caucus.” These people held out for the impossible — full repeal of Obamacare in one fell swoop — and have thus destroyed the only realistic opportunity their party will have in the near future to...

CTH has fought this for years. The best thing we can do now is to try and assist people with information that will help them make forward decisions. It isn’t Paul Ryan’s fault and I’ll explain on that later. First the foundations: All DC Republicans and all DC Democrats are the DC UniParty. The DC UniParty is fueled by special interest donor lobbying money. The DC UniParty created Obamacare and the DC UniParty wants ObamaCare to remain in place. For six years we have attempted, and failed, to educate people on the UniParty. There is only one political party in...

Senator Rand Paul, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz pushed the House Freedom Caucus to remain firm in opposition to President Trump. Having successfully defeated his opposition, Senator Paul pulls out the UniParty dance music and proposes solutions that can go no-where. As you watch this, remember the House and Senate schedule spring break is next week…. Ergo Paul says “legislation should be brought up next week” blah-blah-blah. This is a familiar UniParty ‘controlled opposition‘ trick. Go public and make the solution something you know has absolutely no chance of even being explored. Makes the abuser look great, and keeps the...

For strategic reasons, I have signed onto liberal newsletter eblasts, so that I can know what the enemy is doing in my state. After Speaker Paul Ryan pulled the American Health Care Act (ACHA), every Democratic lawmaker, candidate, and special interest group exulted in their victory: “Your calls made the difference!” “We did it!” “You saved health care.” Uh … no. Because Obamacare remains intact, healthcare remains in morbid free-fall. Doctors are still quitting the medical field, with premiums rising, health insurance exchanges failing, and hospitals closing. Democrats did themselves no favors in fighting against reforms. Obamacare is still an...