Politicians are famous for giving stump speeches at nursing homes and senior centers, lauding the merits of Social Security and promising more pill programs and subsidies. What is more rare is for a politician to speak about the competing ideologies which drive conservatives and liberals, as Rep. Paul Ryan did today during a lunch held at Hillsdale College’s Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship in Washington D.C.
Starting his speech with history of the defining principles of the American Revolution, Ryan challenged the notion that the American dream they embodied was dead, noting that “Americans embrace some programs first championed by Progressives, but reject others.” For Ryan, resisting Obamacare and the growth of the bureaucratic state is not just a question of politics. Instead, it is part of a struggle to maintain self-government.
“Self-government under the rule of law is the conservative touchstone,” Ryan said. “It rests upon human equality and our equal endowment with fundamental rights. It helps us identify measures that conform to the American Idea and those that weaken or conflict with the American Idea. That’s our sure guide for reform.”
Ryan argued that Obamacare and similar programs was an overextension of the same principle which had driven the creation of Social Security and Medicare. But while “everybody understands the safety net [a]nd everybody benefits from it” — paying into Social Security and receiving retirement benefits in return — Ryan argued that the Affordable Care Act was “the opposite.”
“Nobody understands it,” he said. “Everybody is anxious. If you listened to the sales pitch, it seemed simple enough: Every business with over 50 full-time employees must offer health insurance–period. Or maybe not. Maybe you can get a delay..or a waiver..or an exemption. How do you get one? Nobody knows. The administration makes decisions on the fly, so the law changes every day.”
Watch Ryan’s entire speech below:
