Ryan Embracing His New Role
In the perennial holiday movie favorite The Santa Clause, Tim Allen’s character accidentally causes Santa Claus to fall off a snowy roof while delivering toys Christmas Eve. As a result of the “Santa clause,” a magical rule providing for a successor Santa, Allen literally turns into Saint Nick, in preparation for his new life’s calling. Among many other things, he inexplicably begins growing a beard — one that magically regrows moments after being shaved.
Those familiar with this particular entry in the holiday movie canon might have been alarmed when brand new Speaker of the House Paul Ryan began growing a beard immediately after his election in November to the most powerful position in Congress. Like Tim Allen’s character, Paul Ryan, initially reluctant to accept the speakership, soon embraced his new role and, as his first major act in that capacity, got Congress to pass a massive new $1.1 trillion omnibus appropriations bill that showered expensive goodies on nearly every special interest group in Washington, including the recently maligned Planned Parenthood and advocates of Syrian immigration. With the generosity of Santa Claus, Ryan made sure every big-spending Democrat in Washington had toys in their stockings, leading to effusions of glee from Democratic leaders and dismay from the authentic partisans of limited government inside the Beltway.
In short, the recent omnibus spending bill showed Paul Ryan for who he is — a younger, leaner version of his maligned, accommodationist, big-spending predecessor, John Boehner — rather than the champion of lower spending and limited government that many conservatives had desperately hoped he was.
JBS Member or ShopJBS.org Customer?
Sign in with your ShopJBS.org account username and password or use that login to subscribe.
Subscribe Now
- 24 Issues Per Year
- Digital Edition Access
- Exclusive Subscriber Content
- Audio provided for all articles
- Unlimited access to past issues
- Cancel anytime.
- Renews automatically
Subscribe Now
- 24 Issues Per Year
- Print edition delivery (USA)
*Available Outside USA - Digital Edition Access
- Exclusive Subscriber Content
- Audio provided for all articles
- Unlimited access to past issues
- Cancel anytime.
- Renews automatically
