WSJ: As Speaker, Paul Ryan Stands to Get Bigger Spotlight for Policy Ideas

Wall Street Journal - John McKinnon

Paul Ryan is a small-government conservative who hopes to use innovative policy solutions to make the GOP a big-tent party again.

It hasn’t been easy so far. But many colleagues believe Mr. Ryan now will use the House speakership—far more than his predecessor John Boehner has—to highlight his policy ideas and build public support for them. Even if the prospects for passing big, new legislation are dimming in the current Congress, Mr. Ryan, who won the gavel in a House vote today, will have an eye on using his ideas to make the GOP more competitive in national elections, particularly the 2016 presidential contest.

“I think you’ll see someone who’s pushing the message a little more” than Speaker Boehner, said Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R., Ill.). “There’s no position more powerful than speaker—he can set the agenda. And as we pivot from must-pass legislation he can start to get visionary.”

In the wake of his loss on the presidential ticket with Mitt Romney in 2012, Mr. Ryan did some soul-searching that led to a book titled “The Way Forward.” In it he outlined his ideas for reshaping the GOP and its policy prescriptions that would make it more appealing to a wide range of voters.

Nowadays, he often speaks of finding ways to make the party more inclusive and its message more hopeful, without ignoring the serious fiscal and economic problems that still need to be addressed.

“What I’m trying to articulate here is the ability to have a bigger conservative movement that can bring people in, and be capable of winning national elections [while] fixing this country’s big problems, which in my opinion are going undealt-with—unattended,” he said in a 2014 interview on CBS.

He added: “I don’t want to have another 2012. I want to have a 2016 where we can get this country on the right track, and have elections where we actually give people a real choice—so that if and when we win that election, we have the mandate and authority to actually get this country’s problems solved.”

Mr. Ryan sought out his current post as Ways and Means Committee chairman to focus on developing those policies. He slated 2016 as the time for rolling out many of his big ideas.

Now as speaker, fellow lawmakers say, he will have even more power to shine the public spotlight on them.

Of all his policy priorities, perhaps none is higher than overhauling the tax system to accelerate economic growth and boost wages and employment. Mr. Ryan has been working on a comprehensive revamp that would lower basic rates for both individuals and businesses large and small, while narrowing or eliminating many current breaks. He has worked with Democrats to use part of the overhaul to shore up the troubled federal highway program as well.

Rewriting federal poverty programs to make them fairer and more effective also is a high priority, particularly given widespread public concern about inequality and the so-called income gap. Broadly speaking, Mr. Ryan aims to give states far more flexibility to use federal anti-poverty money to encourage beneficiaries to make personal changes that could help them move out of poverty. The changes are aimed at streamlining federal regulations that conservatives view as too rigid.

However, liberal critics worry that some of Mr. Ryan’s changes could undermine basic federal guarantees such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.

Mr. Ryan also could highlight more of his party’s vision for strengthening the fraying federal safety net, particularly Medicare and the troubled Social Security Disability Insurance program. But those changes are politically fraught.

In the face of liberal criticism, Mr. Ryan’s own ideas for revamping Medicare have evolved in recent years from establishing an individual voucher system to enacting a less-sweeping change known as “premium support” in which the government pays insurers on behalf of enrollees. He has also delayed some cost controls in recent versions of his Medicare overhaul.

An even more problematic issue for Mr. Ryan could be the thorny topic of immigration. He has supported comprehensive overhaul in the past, in part to broaden his party’s appeal. Mr. Ryan’s views on immigration have yet to catch on with a majority of his own conference, however.

“I don’t see immigration as an issue for next year,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R., Okla.). “It’ll be a political issue. But the idea that Congress is going to act on it is fanciful,” he added, because of the wide gulf between Republicans and the White House, as well as lingering resentment over President Barack Obama’s 2014 executive order offering work permits and safe harbor from deportation for about four million in the U.S. who met certain criteria.

At least initially, Mr. Ryan’s speakership could be dominated by the same kinds of division that eventually helped bring down Mr. Boehner. Looming flash points for hard-liner resistance include spending bills to continue government operations past Dec. 11, when current funding expires, and the need to reauthorize highway programs and replenish the highway trust fund over the long term.

However, several GOP lawmakers say they expect Mr. Ryan to begin the job with significant good will that could help minimize short-term sparks. Several of the impending debates, such as the debt-ceiling increase, could be handled during Mr. Boehner’s remaining time as speaker, probably with significant Democratic votes. That could relax tensions within the GOP conference.

In any case, Mr. Ryan is likely to have a grace period that could further minimize divisions within the conference.

“He’ll have a bit of a honeymoon,” said Mr. Kinzinger.

In addition, Mr. Ryan will occupy high ground within the conference, as someone who set aside his own personal preferences to take the speaker’s job.

“That probably gives him a moral advantage [that] no other person would really have,” said Mr. Cole. “There’s a reservoir of good will when you come to the aid of the party.”

Mr. Ryan likely also will have a significant advantage over Mr. Boehner in being able to build public support personally for his policies.

“Of all the people I’ve ever been around in Congress, Paul Ryan is clearly above all a big thinker about conservative policies,” said Rep. Devin Nunes (R., Calif.). “He’s serious and he works hard and I think he could actually serve for a very long time as speaker, and could be one of the more powerful speakers.”

Online:Wall Street Journal