Ryan, Rubio lay out vision for future of GOP

Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio / AP Photo

Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio - two men at the center of the discussion of potential 2016 Republican presidential candidates - tonight laid out their vision for the party's future in remarks seemingly designed to move the party away from Mitt Romney's controversial "47 percent" remarks during the presidential campaign.

After stressing that he was "proud of the campaign Mitt Romney and I ran," Ryan, the 2012 Republican VP nominee delivering his first speech since he and Romney lost on election night, focused on the importance of giving Americans the opportunity to "escape from poverty" and move up the socioeconomic ladder.

"When 40 percent of all children born into the lowest income quintile never rise above it, what does it say about our country?" the chairman of the House Budget Committee asked at the Kemp Foundation Leadership Award Dinner at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. He argued that schools, families and communities are not doing a good enough job in providing a path out of poverty and that the economy "is failing to provide basic security, much less rising wages."

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Ryan went on to argue that the GOP has to go beyond "representing the aspirations of our nation's risk-takers."

"When our neighbors are struggling, we look out for one another," Ryan said. "We do that best through our families and communities - and our party must stand for making them stronger. We have a compassionate vision based on ideas that work - but sometimes we don't do a good job of laying out that vision. We need to do better."

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Referencing the late congressman and 1996 Republican VP nominee Jack Kemp, Ryan said, "Jack just hated the idea that any part of America could be written off." In his secretly-recorded "47 percent" remarks to donors, Romney said 47 percent of Americans would vote for President Obama "no matter what," and that they "are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it."

"[M]y job is not to worry about those people," Romney added. "I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

Tonight, Ryan said American exceptionalism is grounded in the fact that most Americans do not believe that the worst off have a path to a better life.

"Both parties tend to divide Americans into 'our voters' and 'their voters,'" he said. "But Republicans must steer far clear of that trap. We must speak to the aspirations and anxieties of every American. I believe we can turn the engines of upward mobility back on, so that no one is left out from the promise of America. But it's going to require a bold departure from the approach that government has taken for the last five decades."

Ryan spoke broadly about what that "bold departure" would look like, though he largely steered clear of specifics. He suggested the government should stop spending as much on "bloated, top-down anti-poverty programs," saying a big-spending approach "created a debilitating culture of dependency."

Hailing welfare reform, he said, "[w]e haven't applied the welfare-reform mindset with equal vigor across the spectrum of anti-poverty programs. In most cases, we're still trying to measure compassion by how much we spend - not by how many people we help."

Ryan, who has advocated major cuts to entitlement programs, called for "a stronger safety net - one that protects the most vulnerable and promotes self-reliance," an "end to the chronic inequalities in our education system," and "economic growth through free enterprise."

"Of course, not every problem disappears through the workings of the free market alone," Ryan continued.

"Americans are a compassionate people. And there's a consensus in this country about our obligations to the most vulnerable. Those obligations are beyond dispute. The real debate is how best we can meet them. It's whether they are better met by private groups or by government - by voluntary action or by government action. The truth is, there has to be a balance."

Rubio, speaking after Ryan, also took aim at Romney's "47 percent" comments without specifically mentioning them.

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[GOP-R--Con-Men]

Rubio and Ryan are as phony as a three dollar bill. They as much about poor people as Romney does. Thank God people are finally seeing the GOP for the CON MEN they are.

[littlemjs]

Yes..yes...those terrible, horrible Republicans! The Democrats have the best and the brightest in Reid and Pelosi and of course they have the champion of Women's rights... Bill Clinton..who never saw a skirt he didn't like...lol. Not everyone thinks like this woman from Detroit.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/12/05/detroit-councilwoman-to-obama-voted-for-now-bail-us-out/

[WhereisOT]

Whats up with all the hype of "rebranding the republican party" anyways..
Can it be done, can "they" accept all "others"...can, will they evolve..

Simply put....You have a cow, has a half diamond brand on its hip..
You turn and burn & "rebrand", to a full diamond...

Its still the same ****in cow...

[nfission235]

Their vision is the same as it's always been, screw everybody except the rich. The only change is their rhetoric which of course is lies, flim-flam, smoke and mirrors, malarkey, and infactual pseudo-facts, which is redundant but in this case appropriate because trying to explain what Republicans do is of course extremely twisted because it came from a sick, devious and diabolical mind, who goes by the name of Karl Rove. He makes Dr. Evil look like a bunny rabbit. Karl Roves "Mini Me" is Grover Norquist, the Republican Senators' sycophant who is shoved so far up their hind quarters that it would take a colonoscopy to find him.

[sandiegopete]

I don't know what to think of Ryan's comments. Has he had change of heart or is he just pandering? Again, I don't really know what this means.

[potterfan25]

Ryan still has too much crap that will prevent him from becoming president. His medicare plan, stance on abortion and that bill he made

[potterfan25]

Ryan still has too much crap that will prevent him from becoming president. His medicare plan, stance on abortion and that bill he made

[wolfmagic2012]

If the GOP allows the likes of Ryan and Rubio to lay out the vision for the future of the Republican Party, that future's gonna look really grim! These two schmucks are perfect examples of the current state of the GOP and perfect examples as to why the GOP lost so badly. Simply rehashing more of the same slop the Republicans have been trying to sell isn't going to do it. The doubling down of Tea-Bag crazies is causing a mass exodus of voters from the Republican ranks. There is no longer any room in the GOP for Center-Right Republicans - for them it's either hard-core-right or get the he!! out! The Republican tent is about the size of a pup tent and getting smaller faster than the ice is diappearing from the poles!

[MerrellOBrian64]

The Republican Party hasn't even STARTED to examine the real reasons they lost. "We weren't conservative enough!", says Rick Santorum, who lost in the primaries WAY before September. "We need to point out the muslims and communists!", says Bachmann, who lost before Rick. Maybe a man like Huckabee! No, he totally lost, too. A man like Bush...from Texas! No, how about...
How about you LOOK at everything you've tried: All the religious nuts, bullies, ignornant swaggerasses, crazy women and "business men". You've tried these over and over and the magic...well, is simply GONE!
Why not try...okay, hear me out...Why not try someone who's not 100 years old, who isn't an anti-gay biggot, who believes in practical reforms, fiscal responsibility and that FREEDOM and LIBERTY truly mean FROM government amendments to Constitutions!

[TimeToEvolve]

Someone should tell them half wit Republicon whippersnappers that the more their brethren try to cheat, steal and otherwise corrupt the elections the worse they are going to lose. I am sure they will continue to try though. I think the federal government needs to step in and put some Republicons in jail for election fraud.