This year’s State of the Union is a “picture of historic change,” writes former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich in his Washington Times article “The Obama past, the Paul Ryan Future.” Gingrich praises the current speaker and views him as a symbol of this country’s future. “Standing in front is Barack Obama, the President of the United States. Seated behind him is Paul Ryan, the youngest Speaker of the House since 1869.”
Gingrich reflects upon his years in the House, during which “the center of action and initiative clearly resided with the House Republicans.” These lawmakers “reformed welfare, balanced the budget, cut the capital gains tax, reduced regulations…improved the Food and Drug Administration, and more.”
All of that changed under Presidents Bush and Obama, when the “center of activism, ideas, and policy” shifted back to the White House.
Gingrich explains that Obama’s disastrous failure president will make it nearly impossible for him to establish a legacy. As the name Barrack Obama fades into oblivion, the next Republican president will be busy reversing all of his predecessor’s failed policies and executive orders.
“Mr. Obama’s ideas represent the end of 80-plus years of left-wing thought combined with a new, anti-religious social radicalism that seeks to undermine the basic beliefs on which America was founded,” writes Gingrich.
Paul Ryan, on the other hand, is “as fresh and new as Mr. Obama is tired and old.” As the Democratic Party collapses, the “emerging party cannot remain the opposition party,” writes Gingrich. He commends Paul Ryan on his belief that Republicans must be the proposition party, not just the opposition party. This is an important lesson Ryan learned form his time spent working with Jack Kemp.
Gingrich compares Kemp to Reagan in that he saw the need for a “positive, solution-oriented conservatism.” During his time with Kemp, Ryan got a firsthand look at the effectiveness of the Contract of America. “Today, Speaker Ryan sees it as his mission to lead House Republicans in developing the kind of conservative reforms the American people will support and which will lead to a prosperous, safer, and more productive America,” writes Gingrich.
Ryan’s recent cosponsorship of an AEI-Kemp Foundation conference regarding poverty in America exemplifies his ability to break away from opposition party thinking. Ryan advocates that Republicans should find a solution for the poor instead of simply attacking the failures of welfare.
“Over the next six months, Speaker Ryan and the House Republicans will be developing and announcing a wide series of bold reforms. It will be increasingly clear that it is the Ryan Republicans – not the Obama Democrats – who represent the future.”