He was the last Republican vice presidential nominee, excitedly traveling the nation in a non-stop campaign to win the nation’s No. 2 political job. But Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan couldn’t be happier than as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
“I can make a difference as chairman,” he said, “and I’m home on weekends.”
Ryan is chairman thanks to a six-year term limit on committee chairmen imposed when the GOP took charge of the House. “I think term limits are fantastic,” said Ryan, previously the House Budget Committee chairman.
The self-confessed policy junkie said the oft-mocked term limits “gets talent churning through the system, it encourages people to stay in the House.” Ryan offered himself as an example: “I passed on two or three Senate races in Wisconsin because I saw the chance to be a committee chair at a relatively young age in the House where I can make a big difference earlier on and I don’t have to stay in Congress for a lifetime.”
Compare that, he said, to the Democratic alternative of no term limits and lifetime chairmanships when they ran the House. He cited New York Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley who, like Ryan, first won his House seat in 1998.
Crowley is also on the Ways and Means Committee, but is “the second or third most junior member on the committee, and this is my second chairmanship,” Ryan said.
BEEKEEPERS ‘SWARM’ MICHELLE OBAMA
Buzzing that her husband’s administration hasn’t gone far enough to ban new-style pesticides, beekeepers and environmental organizations are pleading with first lady Michelle Obama to take up their cause.
In a letter and digital “virtual swarm,” some 200,000 petition signers have called on Obama to ban the killer chemicals from the White House as a sign of support.
“We also request that you exercise your moral authority as first lady in urging the Obama administration to support meaningful protections for the pollinators,” said the letter provided to the Washington Examiner. “As an advocate for healthy children, healthy families and healthy communities, your leadership on this issue is imperative,” added the letter provided by Friends of the Earth.
The administration has been pressed for years to follow some European countries and ban neonicotinoid pesticides. Many believe they are partly responsible for bee kills. The Environmental Protection Agency this month announced a moratorium on new or expanded uses of the pesticide, but didn’t ban it.
“The bees can’t wait,” said Tiffany Finck-Haynes of Friends of the Earth.
Michelle Obama is an obvious target of the groups, being responsible for establishing the first-ever honey bee hive on the South Lawn adjacent to her vegetable garden. She also has overseen the White House kitchen’s use of honey from the hive in recipes and home-brewed beer.
OBAMA GETS NASCAR CRED FOR HONORING JEFF GORDON
It’s not often that President Obama gets a shoutout from NASCAR Nation, but his attention to the racing sport and especially retiring future Hall of Fame driver Jeff Gordon are getting noticed by drivers.
Michael Waltrip, who drives #55, took time out of a lobbying trip to Washington for the auto care industry last week to heap praise on Obama for inviting Gordon and the #24 driver’s family to the annual Easter Egg Roll and giving the four-time NASCAR champion a private tour.
“He’s pretty smart,” Waltrip said of Obama. “I’m sure he appreciates what we do.”
Waltrip said the president embraces the sport because it “is Americana,” adding that Obama is drawn to the athleticism involved in driving 200 mph.
“I want them, the presidents, and they all have, to appreciate our sport,” he said, explaining that it helps racing when drivers such as Gordon and last year’s NASCAR champ Kevin Harvick visit the White House. “Obviously those guys coming to town and being honored by the president reflects positively on our industry.”
The driver and team owner also gave Gordon credit for changing racing when he became one of the youngest to win, opening the door to future young drivers.
“He changed things and anytime a sport that’s 65 years old and one person comes in and makes a difference that’s significant,” said Waltrip, brother of Fox racing broadcaster Darrell Waltrip. “His contribution to the sport will be greater than just what he accomplished on the track.”
QUOTE
“You’ve just got to stay ahead of the bad guys all the time.”
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz on the administration’s effort to block hackers and terrorists from disrupting the U.S. electric grid.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
