Paul Ryan in CPAC 2016-2019

On Principles & Values: Tea Party & libertarians bring "creative tension" to GOP

In his CPAC speech, Ryan celebrates the "messy and noisy" debate currently consuming the Republican Party, and cast the infighting as a necessary step to shape a fresh conservative agenda for the country: "The way the Left tells it, the Republican Party is in a civil war," Ryan says. "It's Tea Party versus establishment--libertarians versus social conservatives."

He compares today's intra-party squabbling to the beginning of the Reagan revolution, when a "battle of ideas" gave way to a long period of conservative dominance in American politics: "We're figuring out the best way to apply our principles to the challenges of the day," Ryan says. "Sure, we have our disagreements. And yes, they can get a little passionate. I like to think of it as 'creative tension.' That's how it always is: You fight it out. You figure out what works. You come together. Then you win. It's messy and noisy and even a little bit uncomfortable. But the center of gravity is shifting. We're developing an agenda."

Source: Buzzfeed weblog on 2014 CPAC convention Mar 6, 2014

On Principles & Values: The left offers people a full stomach and an empty soul

Ryan speech to CPAC: "The left is making a big mistake here. What they're offering people is a full stomach and an empty soul. The American people want more than that. This reminds me of a story I heard from Eloise Anderson. She serves in the cabinet of my buddy, Governor Scott Walker. She once met a young boy from a very poor family, and every day at school, he would get a free lunch from a government program. He told Eloise he didn't want a free lunch. He wanted his own lunch, one in a brown-paper bag just like the other kids. He wanted one, he said, because he knew a kid with a brown-paper bag had someone who cared for him. This is what the left does not understand."

FactCheck: Did Anderson ever meet such a child? On July 31, 2013, she testified to Congress [and told that same story].

Had she actually met this boy? Her spokesperson said she misspoke; the story came from a TV interview 25 years ago. When we told Ryan, he posted a notice saying, "I regret failing to verify the original story."

Source: Wash. Post FactCheck on 2014 CPAC convention Mar 6, 2014

The above quotations are from Speeches at Conservative Political Action Conferences (2016-2019). Click here for other excerpts from Speeches at Conservative Political Action Conferences (2016-2019). Click here for other excerpts by Paul Ryan. Click here for a profile of Paul Ryan.
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Page last updated: Jul 26, 2019