The Way Forward; Renewing the American Idea

New York: Twelve, 2014. First Edition [stated]. First printing [stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Kimberlee Hewitt (Front Cover photograph). Jay Mi. xii, 290, [2] pages. Notes. Index. Signed on Title Page. Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American politician who served as the 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from October 2015 to January 2019. He was also the 2012 vice presidential nominee of the Republican Party, running unsuccessfully alongside Mitt Romney. A self-proclaimed deficit hawk, Ryan was a major proponent of privatizing Social Security in the mid-2000s. In the 2010s, his proposals "The Path to Prosperity" and "A Better Way" advocated for the privatization of Medicare, block granting of Medicaid, repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and significant tax cuts. Ryan's tenure as Speaker of the House--most of which coincided with a period of unified Republican control of the federal government--saw a massive increase in government spending and deficits. Ryan declined to run for re-election in the 2018 midterm elections. Ryan's political positions were generally conservative, with a focus on fiscal policy. Ryan "played a central role in nearly all" the policy debates of the period 2010-2012. Ryan subscribed to supply-side economics and supported tax cuts including eliminating the capital gains tax, the corporate income tax, the estate tax, and the Alternative Minimum Tax. During the economic recovery from the Great Recession of the late 2000s, Ryan supported the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), which authorized the Treasury to purchase toxic assets from banks and other financial institutions, and the auto industry bailout. From the intellectual leader of the Republican party, an unvarnished look into the state of the conservative movement today and a clear plan for what needs to be done to save the American Idea. The Way Forward challenges conventional thinking, outlines his political vision for 2014 and beyond, and shows how essential conservatism is for the future of our nation. Beginning with a careful analysis of the 2012 election--including a look at the challenge the GOP had in reaching a majority of voters and the prevalence of identity politics--Ryan examines the state of the Republican party and dissects its challenges going forward. The Way Forward also offers a detailed critique of not only President Obama but of the progressive movement as a whole--its genesis, its underlying beliefs and philosophies, and how its policies are steering the country to certain ruin. Culminating in a plan for the future, The Way Forward argues that the Republican Party is and must remain a conservative party, emphasizing conservatism in a way that demonstrates how it can modernize and appeal to both our deepest concerns and highest ideals. Derived from a Kirkus review: Paul Ryan interned in Washington, D.C., impressed everyone and won a House seat in 1998 at the age of 28. Rising to chair the Budget Committee, Ryan's advocacy of spending cuts and entitlement reform was frustrated by a leadership preoccupied, in Ryan's opinion, with winning elections instead of upholding Republican principles taught by America's Founding Fathers. Liberal only in his love of clichés, Ryan stresses that "irresponsible tax-and-spender" describes Democrats while admitting that "heartless penny-pincher" applies to some Republicans but not him. He proceeds to deliver perhaps too many examples of compassionate conservatism. Social Security, he maintains, is a noble program, but it is incompetently administered, underfunded and headed for bankruptcy. Ryan's criticisms are convincing, but his remedy is a cryptic mélange of pay-as-you-go and privatization to avoid raising taxes or cutting benefits. This reads like an effective campaign biography: stirring, patriotic, flattering to readers and warning of national crises whose solutions will antagonize only those who will never vote for him.