Paul Ryan: US competitiveness hindered by Obama environmental regulations
The Obama administration's regulations aimed at combating climate change are an excuse to expand government and raise taxes, Rep. Paul Ryan (R) said at a Monitor Breakfast.
House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan speaks at the St. Regis Hotel on July 30 in Washington, D.C.
Michael Bonfigli /The Christian Science Monitor
Washington
Rep. Paul Ryan (R) of Wisconsin is the House Budget Committee chair and a key voice on fiscal matters. Representative Ryan spoke at the July 30 Monitor Breakfast.
His new proposal to restructure federal poverty programs:
“It is not as if there is some silver-bullet bill you can pass that gets people out of poverty. The question is, can you help people get themselves out of poverty, give them ... the tools that they need?”
Obama administration regulations aimed at combating climate change:
“I don’t see a solution here. I see an excuse to grow government, raise taxes, and slow down economic growth, and to put us at even more competitive disadvantage vis-à-vis our international competitors.”
Whether Republicans will support comprehensive immigration reform:
“It’s hard to see in this climate; it really is.”
His opposition to reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank:
“The Ex-Im Bank is representational of some of the crony capitalism that we have in Washington.... We as Republicans should be pro-market, not necessarily pro-business.”
House Republicans’ lawsuit against President Obama over delays in implementing the Affordable Care Act:
“[W]e are not going to take this lying down. The president is issuing executive orders and regulations that exceed the parameters of the statutes that give [him] the authority in the first place.”
His presidential ambitions:
“I am just doing my job, focusing on the here and now.”