Paul Ryan's Roadmap Gets Support from Candidates
Amanda Terkel notes that while Paul Ryan's "Roadmap" does not have a lot of support from the Republican leadership, that several candidates on the campaign trail are endorsing it:
There are, however, several top-tier candidates who are expressing support for Ryan's budget plan:
-- Martha Roby, AL-2: On June 4, Roby put out a statement criticizing Democrats for refusing to move forward with a budget proposal. "The American people deserve better. They deserve solutions," said Roby. "Conservative leaders like Rep. Paul Ryan are offering real solutions to cut wasteful spending, such as canceling unspent TARP and stimulus funds, cutting non-defense spending back to 2008 levels, and reducing the government workforce. I endorse these solutions and other common sense approaches to start getting our fiscal house back in order." Roby is one of the National Republican Campaign Committee's "Young Guns," the party's top new prospects.
-- Francisco Canseco, TX-23: In a video posted on July 13, Canesco told a questioner that he supports Ryan's alternative budget proposal. Canseco is also one of the NRCC's Young Guns.
-- Andy Barr, KY-6: In a July 15 radio appearance on WVLK-AM 590, a caller asked Barr whether "we can count on you to support the Republican budget." Barr responded, "Yeah. I mean, absolutely. I'm not in Congress now, of course, and I don't have an opportunity to support a particular budget, but that's certainly preferable -- that budget, a leaner budget -- is certainly preferable to the ones that have been offered by the President and the Speaker of the House."
-- Dan Lungren, CA-3: Lungren is already in Congress, but he hasn't yet co-sponsored Ryan's plan. On Aug. 11, Lungren told Ryan that the roadmap was "the best long-term look at trying to deal with our fiscal insanity right now that anybody has done." He refused to say, however, whether he would officially sign on to the bill before the election.
Robert Hurt, running in Virginia's 5th district and a "contender" in the Young Guns program, has said Ryan is "one of the first people" he would work with if elected to Congress. Ryan is also one of the co-founders of the Young Guns program.
Part of the reason these candidates may be supporting Ryan's budget plan is that they have no other alternative. They are coming out against Democratic policies, but since the Republican leadership hasn't put forward any blueprint, they are forced to endorse Ryan's roadmap.
Former House majority leader Dick Armey last week chastised Republican leaders for distancing themselves from Ryan's roadmap, saying the "fact that he has only 13 co-sponsors is a big reason why our folks are agitated against the Republicans as well as the Democrats." He added that Ryan is "probably the most creative-thinking and most courageous guy in Washington."
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