Paul Ryan cares about the future
Why Speaker Ryan represents the next generation of the GOP
With a future that seems dim to many conservatives it is nice to have a ray of light. Among the fighting over conservative credentials, screaming into the echo chamber for attention, and discussion of whose fingers look less like vienna sausages it is refreshing to hear a discussion of conservative solutions.
This is exactly what Speaker Ryan did today at Georgetown University. After prepared remarks the Speaker sat down with Mo Elleithee and SE Cupp to field questions and make inroads into the minds of the rising generation.
If conservatives are to grow the movement we must leave our comfort zone and speak to non traditional allies. In this case Speaker Ryan went to Georgetown University to not only speak, but discuss solutions to today’s problems and how we can build a better future for all. With topics of discussion ranging from the confederate flag to territorial taxation to crowdfunding, Speaker Ryan did not falter in discussing actual and actionable policy proposals.
Do I think the crowd of students immediately converted to conservatism? No. Yet this effort to challenge their assumptions and preconceived notions regarding personal political beliefs is a huge step in the right direction. It is time for more conservatives to take the challenge and reach out to the next generation.
Speaker Ryan’s comments today inspired me. As a product of the Washington Cartel and a jaded/slightly cynical survivor of the political process this is not something that I can honestly say happens regularly. In hopes of inspiring others I wanted to share excerpts from today’s remarks.
The America that you want is the America that we want: open, diverse, dynamic. It is what I call a confident America, where the condition of your birth does not determine the outcome of your life — where we tackle our problems together so that all of us can thrive.
I just want to say my Democratic friends are good people who love their country. I work with them every day to find common ground and make progress where we can. But there are real disagreements between us. And we should be clear about them — because then, when the time comes, the people can decide which way they want to go. And I believe many of our current policies are shutting young people out of our economy by taking decisions away from people — from the individual.
“We’ve been fighting the War on Poverty for over 50 years now. We spend billions of dollars each year on 92 different programs. And yet poverty is not all that much lower than when we started. But if you look in our local communities, there are actually thousands of people fighting poverty on the front lines every day — and winning. Instead of trying to replace them, why doesn’t government support them?
Government is the only thing that belongs to all of us. It is not supposed to manage the people, but to serve them.
Government does not impose community. The people create it — and government’s role is to protect it.
Remember fellow conservatives, no longer are the days when we can simply ignore the rising generation. I challenge all of us to take initiative and find ways to better broadcast our thoughts and ideas.
