Former vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan is reportedly writing a book that will debut next year.
The punchline is that the book will be focused on how the Republican party is “losing its connection with working Americans.”
Behind the scenes, Ryan is worried that the GOP is losing its connection with working Americans, and he has been writing about how the party needs to speak more to those in poverty about empowerment and economic freedom. His recent speeches at the American Enterprise Institute’s Kristol dinner and at Benedictine College have touched on this issue, and Ryan is eager to broaden the argument into chapter form.
Authoring several incarnations of the Path to Poverty budget blueprint wouldn’t have anything to do with that, would it?
The inability of conservatives to connect the dots and realize that talk of “empowerment” and “economic freedom” don’t mean anything to someone who is worried about where their next meal is going to come from or if they will be able to afford their utility bills is a sight to behold.
Deregulating the poor isn’t going to give them the freedom to start a business. Small government isn’t going to empower them. A livable wage may empower them and give them the freedom to explore other options, but that’s not what conservatives want. Their business models depend on a supply of desperate souls who are willing to work any job they can get.
All things considered, I can’t even view Paul Ryan’s snake-oil sales pitch as naivety because I don’t think he’s as dumb as he pretends to be.
Whether it’s deliberate deception or simply profound delusion, you can bet Paul Ryan’s next vision for America will rocket into the best-seller category on the backs of conservative think tanks who will buy thousands of copies of it. Copies they will pay for by exploiting their email lists.