Rep. Paul Ryan is one of the leading proponents of conservative alternatives to Obama’s policies, but it is surprising how unfamiliar some leading conservative commentators are with Ryan and his ideas.
Glenn Beck today interviewed Paul Ryan on his radio show and by the end of the interview Beck was in love with Ryan’s positions. He invited Ryan on his show because he had read a blog on Ryan’s discussion of progressivism that left him with the impression that Ryan is sympathetic to progessivists of the early 20th century.
The reality is that Paul Ryan is a leading voice in the movement to going back to the Constitution and its principles. The Tea Parties have increasingly focused on the importance of our Constitution. Progressivists try to advance their agenda by diminishing the importance of the Constitution and want to change its eternal principles to fit their agenda.
Here is the video of today’s exchange between Beck and Ryan (via Hot Air which was also responsible for the blog post that led to Beck’s misunderstanding):
Regular readers of Florida Pundit should be familiar with Paul Ryan since he and his ideas have been featured regularly. We invite Glenn Beck and other fellow conservatives to check Florida Pundit frequently to get straightforward coverage of Paul Ryan 
Here is our post on the speech that was misinterpreted by Beck: Paul Ryan: “Should America Bid Farewell to Exceptional Freedom and Follow the Retreat to European Social Welfare Paternalism?” We quoted the following from Ryan’s Oklahoma speech:
Last January President Obama said: “There are simply philosophical differences that will always cause us to part ways. These disagreements, about the role of government in our lives, about our national priorities and our national security, have been taking place for over two hundred years.”
He was right. So let’s examine these “philosophical differences” of government. Progressivists say there are no enduring ideas of right or wrong. Everything is “relative” to history, so our ideas need to change. Progressivists say the Founders’ Constitution including its amendments, with its principles of equal natural rights, limited government, and popular consent is outdated. We should have a “living constitution” that keeps up with the times. Progressivists invent new rights and enforce them with a more powerful central government and more federal agencies to direct society through the changes of history. And don’t worry, they say. Bureaucrats can be controlled by Congressional oversight.
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The Progressivist ideology embraced by today’s leaders is very different from everything rank-and-file Democrats, independents, and Republicans stand for. America stands for nothing if not for the fixed truth that unalienable rights were granted to every human being not by government but by “nature and nature’s God.” The truths of the American founding can’t become obsolete because they are not timebound. They are eternal. The practical consequence of these truths is free market democracy, the American idea of free labor and free enterprise under government by popular consent. The deepest case for free market democracy is moral, rooted in human equality and the natural right to be free.A government that expands beyond its high but limited mission of securing our natural rights is not progressive, it’s regressive. It privileges the powerful at the expense of the people. It establishes the rule of class over class. The American Revolution and the Constitution replaced class rule with a better idea: equal opportunity for all. The promise of keeping the earnings of your work is central to justice, freedom, and the hope to improve your life.
It seems pretty clear that Ryan is no friend of progessivist. We did not cover Ryan’s discussion of early 20th century progressivists since this seemed peripheral to the core message of Ryan’s speech.
The Heritage Foundation today also has an excellent post on Paul Ryan, the Anti-Progressive.
Here are links to previous Florida Pundits posts on Paul Ryan and his ideas:
Paul Ryan: “This is the Rule of Man, Not the Rule of Law”
Ryan vs. Slaughter on Medicare: Conservative Ideas on Health Care Reform Explained
Obamacare Shell Game: Numbers Don’t Add Up; 15,000 New IRS Agents
Congressman Paul Ryan on Health Care Reform: The Man With Ideas That Work
Health Care Summit Wrap Up: ‘Republicans Had Their Best Day in Years’ – If you haven’t seen it yet, you must watch the second video in this post where Paul Ryan demolishes Obama’s arguments for Obamacare during the February health care summit.
The True Goal of Obama’s Healthcare Plan
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