"If you see a snake, just kill it. Don't appoint a committee on snakes." Ross Perot
May 3, 2017
By: Linda Case Gibbons
"He's the only guy for the job!" That's what House Republicans told us when they wanted Paul Ryan to replace Boehner as Speaker of the House.
But instead of being the best thing since sliced bread, Ryan turned out to be Scarlett O'Hara, fiddley-deeing, putting off 'til September what he should have done in May.
Pundits are now critical of his job performance, but hasten to say, "Paul Ryan's a great guy," before adding the "but..."
Who cares if he's a great guy? In the real world, doing your job is what counts, and time is of the essence.
Ironically, Ryan had to be courted and cajoled to take the job in the first place, emphasizing that he was unwilling to give up his "family time," and would make up for time on the road by putting more focus on communicating with the public.
Do you think he knew something we didn't? It might be time for him to go home and spend lots of time with the family.
Unfortunately Ryan has been skating on thin ice since he picked up the Speaker's gavel.
He struck out rounding up votes to repeal and replace Obamacare, and handed Democrats a victory this week with passage of the spending bill, to avert a government shutdown. The bill funded Planned Parenthood and sanctuary cites, allocating no money for building the wall on the southern border.
Ryan is a nerdy little guy who actually does know all the rules in Congress, but only the ones that tell Republicans what they can't do, what is too complex, and what only he understands.
He could probably pick up some pointers from the Democrats. They stick together like members of a cult. They're unshakable, even when they're ridiculous. They work fearlessly toward their goals, even when their goals are illegal.
If there are rules they don't like, they change them. If they have a president in the White House, they support him.
Paul Ryan hasn't been doing a very good job, yet, like FBI Director James Comey, he's still there.
And you thought it was tough to get someone fired in the Veteran's Administration!
So before Congress takes its next break, next week, after returning from last month's Easter break, I think there should be a shakeup in Congress.
We already know Republicans are not the "First Responder" types. They think they have all the time in the world to do what they were elected to do.
So while miners lose their jobs. While little, old widows end up paying taxes on the money they took out of savings, which made their Social Security taxable. And when a family of four pays $20,000 a year for healthcare, but doesn't receive coverage, Congressmen continue to wrangle across the aisle about rules, and how hard it is to do their jobs.
Because it's so complex.
So let's give them a vacation. Let's replace them with people who are on the front lines in our country every day, the miners, construction workers, firemen and policemen, the no nonsense types who know what Obamacare really does to real people, what not having a job, or having to hold two jobs, really means, and what an emergency really is.
And let's give credit to the Tea Party members of Congress, who never abandoned the people who elected them, like Sen. Ted Cruz. He's putting the past behind him and supporting his president and his country. Cruz had a great idea on how to fund the wall: Take El Chapo's ill-gotten drug money.
Sen. Cruz has introduced the El Chapo Bill. It reserves billions in potential assets forfeited as a result of the criminal prosecution of Mexican drug lord, Joaguin Guzman. It makes sense!
When it comes to building the wall, Trump will get it done. But if he has to rely on Paul Ryan's help, he's probably going to have to hold a bake sale to raise the money.
Hold the line, America.