Before the election I was told that I was “wasting my vote” by writing in Paul Ryan for President. Donald Trump supporters told me that I was actually “voting for Hillary Clinton by doing that”. But it would appear that after the election I will actually get what I wanted.
I’m not insinuating–like some liberals–that Donald Trump is going to be assassinated or impeached–and that something untoward will happen to Mike Pence as well and that Ryan would ascend to the Oval Office without ever being elected–like Gerald Ford did. Instead, I’m citing the same thing that Slate.com did yesterday: The election of Donald Trump will actually create a power void in Washington that Ryan will fill.
One of the criticisms of Trump when he was running for President was that his platform was full of generalizations–with no specific plans for job creation, regulation reform, or tax cuts. Well, Paul Ryan has a budget all set to go. He has de-regulation proposals all set for Congressional approval. He has an anti-poverty program that works with the private sector instead of expanding Government programs. And he has the Republican majorities in both houses to get them all passed. The so-called “Do Nothing Congress” is poised to become the “Do Everything Congress”–with Trump existing just to put his signature on bills to make them law.
The Slate article does raise the possibility that Trump could use his veto pen to block some of Ryan’s proposals–not because he opposes the policies–but rather as an act of revenge for Ryan rebuking him several times on the campaign trail. There is also the possibility of Ryan taking too much credit for economic improvements–and Trump becoming jealous that he is not “the star”. Having the gift of political savvy, I think Paul Ryan will find a way to make the Reality Show President still feel like all of this was “his idea”.
And the best part of this is that I–and the others that wrote-in Paul Ryan for President–didn’t have to go against our principals in the voting booth to get what we wanted.
