ENTITLEMENTS/PAUL RYAN/SPENDING/TRUMP PEOPLE: “When House Speaker Paul Ryan leaves Congress, the Republican party will lose its most influential advocate for changes to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. As Budget committee chairman, a vice presidential running mate to Mitt Romney in 2012, Ways and Means chairman and finally House speaker, Mr. Ryan had pressed for curbs on federal spending on the three programs. These retirement and health care programs are popular with voters, but their costs are rising faster than the funds to pay for them. Mr. Ryan will leave Congress in January with no substantial progress on any of them, few lawmakers interested in picking up the torch, and a clear signal that prospects are dim for any big overhaul in the foreseeable future.”
-Louise Radnofsky and Nick Timiraos, “Changes to Medicare, Social Security Less Likely Without Paul Ryan,” The Wall Street Journal, April 12, 2018 5:30 am