I invested my lottery winnings in the stock market and when I was nineteen, I opened my first real business, a deli in Bakersfield. Running my sandwich shop taught me what all small businesspeople learn: that the work is hard, the margins are thin, and the government is too often an obstacle, not an aid, to success. Still, I tried to be innovative and stay ahead of the competition.
Source: Young Guns, by Reps. Ryan, Cantor & McCarthy, p.143-144 Sep 14, 2010
KM: The average salary in the Department of Education right down the street here is $103,000. That's the average salary of the employee that works there. Wouldn't that money be better spent in the classroom?
EC: You get a double benefit from ending that: not only are you benefitting the kids but you're also reducing the size of Washington.
What prompted Cantor, Rep. Ryan and McCarthy to come together was a story in "The Weekly Standard" (with separate profiles on each of them). They appeared on the cover in a photo taken on a Capitol balcony overlooking the Mall. They knew each other as members of the embattled Republican caucus that had lost control of the House in the disastrous 2006 mid-term election. But they hadn't realized their individual skills were remarkably complimentary: Cantor the leader, Ryan the thinker, McCarthy the strategist. Some of us at "The Weekly Standard" had noticed this. Thus the cover story.
The party establishment was dedicated to protecting incumbents at all cost. Cantor, Ryan and McCarthy would like to fill the ranks of House Republicans with members like themselves. Young Guns is not for "me-too" Republicans.
Kevin approached Eri & Paul about the idea of traveling together, as "Young Guns", to visit Republican candidates interested in a new approach for the party.
What began as an informal way to support like-minded candidates became a more formal structure. Once we had studie the candidate and given him or her our support to become a Young Gun, we committed to providing financial support through our campaign committees.
We knew we weren't the only House Republicans eager to change our party, so we began approaching our colleagues with a simple pitch: Are we willing to help ourselves by being proactive and going on the offense to change this House? Dozens of our House Republican colleagues joined our Young Gun effort as one of the many signs that our party had shifted.
There was one person who caught my eye when we were recruiting in Tennessee: Stephen Fincher. After we met, he decided to run for Congress in against Rep. John Tanner, an entrenched incumbent who hadn't faced serious opposition since 1994. [After Fincher gained momentum], Tanner announced he would not seek reelection!
One area where Congress has a lot of room to improve is legislative transparency. Why must the public and, frankly, many members of Congress and their staffs, have to wait until the day of the vote to read the text of spending bills? These bills can and should be posted on the Internet at least a week before the vote. And why must the powerful Rules Committee, which sets the ground rules for debate and amendments to bills, be one of the few committees to not regularly televise its hearings? Shining sunlight on the process promotes accountability and public trust in government.
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The above quotations are from Young Guns: A New Generation of Conservative Leaders, by Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, and Kevin McCarthy. Click here for other excerpts from Young Guns: A New Generation of Conservative Leaders, by Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, and Kevin McCarthy. Click here for other excerpts by Kevin McCarthy. Click here for a profile of Kevin McCarthy.
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