American Idea Foundation

Measuring Results, Expanding Opportunity, Improving Lives.

Mike Aquila

Panel Discussion: Ryan & practitioners discuss Evidence based programs to expand opportunities

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By: AIF Staff

Washington, DC – Last week, American Idea Foundation President and former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan facilitated a conversation with experts researching social mobility and leaders of non-profit organizations focused on fighting poverty. The discussion, hosted by the American Enterprise Institute, featured:

  • Shana Berkeley, the Executive Director of Corner to Corner, a Nashville based non-profit working with female entrepreneurs on business development and financial literacy; 
  • Bill Gaertner, the Founder of Gatekeepers, a Maryland-based organization helping ex-offenders rejoin communities following interactions with the criminal justice system;
  • Scott Winship, a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and head of the Center on Opportunity and Social Mobility, that produces research on poverty alleviation, workforce development, vocational education, housing and urban policy, and the revitalization of key institutions.

The purpose of the panel was to detail and discuss real-world, evidence-based approaches to expand economic opportunities in underserved communities. Both Gatekeepers and Corner to Corner have partnered with Ryan’s American Idea Foundation and Notre Dame’s Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) to conduct rigorous randomized controlled trials to determine the efficacy and impact of their programs. The hope is, if these trials yield positive results, that these successful solutions can be scaled and replicated in other areas across the country helping to improve more people’s lives.

Video of the panel discussion is accessible here and some noteworthy excerpts (edited lightly for clarity) are included below.

Ryan on getting a perspective from front-line practitioners successfully fighting poverty:

“I’m excited about talking to people who are on the ground, who are fighting poverty person to person with specific ideas and proven solutions. Typically, what we have is policymakers speaking to people telling them what they ought to do and how they ought to make a positive change, but today, we’re reversing those roles. We’re going to hear from poverty-fighters about what policymakers can do to make a big difference and improve people’s lives when it comes to fighting poverty.

“As I mentioned, I visited both of these institutions, Gatekeepers and Corner to Corner, and they’re doing really impressive work. Gatekeepers works with individuals both inside and outside of prison to make sure that they’re making good on their second chance. Gatekeepers is often the very first stop that returning citizens make on their way out of prison and Corner to Corner is doing amazing work promoting entrepreneurship. I’ve seen it firsthand. It’s really something that’s exciting to watch and witness. One of the most impactful programs is The Academy, which provides aspiring business owners with the skills necessary to plan, start, and grow their own companies. So, everyone should be excited to learn from these individuals who are fighting poverty and directly improving people’s lives. “

Shana Berkeley on Corner to Corner’s “secret sauce” & Bill Gaertner on Gatekeeper’s key to success:

Berkeley: “One is everybody has passion. We don’t give them that and when you see people already having passion, you know that they have what it takes because it’s gotten them where they are and they are already on the road to where we are able to conspire with them and collaborate with them. You’re not saving them. You’re helping them and they’re helping you and that experience has been life-changing…”

Gaertner: “Our secret sauce is the fact that we’re run by ex-offenders. Almost everyone involved with our program are ex-offenders…. We all got together and realized that we could do something by having ex -offenders run this program [so that was] the secret sauce at the start.”

Shana Berkeley on using evidence to help validate Corner to Corner’s amazing work:

“The fact of the matter is randomized control studies and having data to really understand what you’re doing is very important. And so, when we partnered with the Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO), we knew that it would be challenging and we knew that there would be some things that we would have to change, like having a control group.

“We actually had to learn what a control group was but it’s necessary because if you want to see what works and you do all this work and you hire all these people, you want to know what is the part that really makes a difference? How can you double down on that? And the things that are just lukewarm – okay, it was a great idea five years ago but it no longer works in the society or in the community that you live in – how can you then pivot? So, it’s necessary for us to be able to have measurement, to know what works, to share the story, to replicate it really well because, in our heart, we want to go into other communities and not make them [repeat] the last five years but instead get them to use the really good stuff.”

Bill Gaertner on how Gatekeepers is growing and making an impact in Maryland communities:

“Hagerstown is a prison-centric town. There are three state penitentiaries in Hagerstown and there’s one Detention Center. Our local detention center has around 370 people so when we were approached by LEO to join a study, it was like a forced fit. At first, we were the smallest group that they ever dealt with and so we kept talking with them but because it’s a prison-centric county, it could impact 40,000 people in the community.

“And Paul and I talked about this. He came to Hagerstown and we threw a big lunch that had 100 people there. We had the mayor and the whole village came out, but until ex-inmates took over the reentry program in that town, nothing happened. [The community] pretended that there were no prisons here. People did not know the difference between a prison and a detention center or the local county jail and that’s where all the poverty comes from…. So, we have a lot of problems in Hagerstown, but it was the perfect place to do this right.

“Keith [Roys of Gatekeepers] and I just established, thanks to the re-entry people who run the state of Maryland, we have an office of ex-offenders in the parole office. So, you report to your parole office when you’re coming back to Washington County and if you’re at the parole office and you have basic needs, you go down to the end of the hall and see Gatekeepers for your basic needs…

“That’s why we call it Gatekeepers. We try to meet as many people we can at the gate when they’re coming back to our county and I’m very proud to say that we’re the only organization in every penitentiary in the state of Maryland.

“We are operating within one of the penitentiaries that I was locked up in and we started, along with the re-entry people from the state of Maryland, a wing for re-entry. Right now, there are 18 men in there and they’re all getting out within a year so these people are coming back to Western Maryland and we’re trying to focus on taking care of our local people. These 18 men are going to have a reentry program for one year with ex-offenders leading it. So, we’re very proud about that.

“We’re inside the parole office. Now, we’re inside the prisons. We have a work release area that we’re helping run and we’re in Cumberland, Maryland Federal Penitentiary doing Business of Living seminars and we’re infiltrating the inside of the prison. The only way it’s going to work is from the inside out, not from the outside in. I know policy people might not like to hear that but you can’t shoot the deer from the lodge. You have got to work from the inside out.”

AEI’s Scott Winship on the role thought-leaders can play to assist front-line organizations:

“At our best, I think the folks who are in positions like mine, including policymakers, we’re coming up with ideas that can affect a lot of people, so those people in Nashville, people in Baltimore, in Hagerstown, and then a bunch of other places as well. We can see a lot of patterns that may not be apparent on the ground, put all the ideas and observations back together, and try to come up with solutions that are appropriate to the big problems of our time.

“At our worst, we’re coming up with incredibly impractical ideas without having set foot in some of the settings that you are working in every day. We are coming up with broken, utopian schemes that are basically unworkable. And so, it’s really important for folks in DC who are doing policy development and policy thinking, to have this reciprocity with folks who are everyday getting up and helping real people in the real world.

“We need to be able to understand from the folks who are there on the ground, the importance of things like social capital, which is a word that really speaks to the importance of relationships, like the fact that you have ex-offenders who are more effective at doing the things that [Gatekeepers is] doing because of their experience….

“I think, at our best, we can do things like what LEO is doing, where they have some expertise in being able to design program evaluations and can show you what is working, things that aren’t working as well, and they’re able to translate what you’re doing.”

This panel discussion with on-the-ground practitioners was part of a quarterly series of policy conversations hosted by the American Idea Foundation to draw attention to policies aimed at expanding economic opportunities. Past policy panels have focused on orienting our tax code towards growth, innovative financial tools to support workers, creating a clearinghouse for evidence-based programs, building a 21st century workforce, reforming the Earned Income Tax Credit, reducing recidivism and promoting 2nd chances, and properly implementing Opportunity Zones. 

Note: Ryan is a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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At UW-Milwaukee, Ryan outlines solutions to save America’s safety net & expand economic opportunities

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By: AIF Staff

Milwaukee, WI — On Thursday, AIF President and former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan took part in a conversation with Charlie Sykes at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as part of the University’s Distinguished Lecture Series. In a wide-ranging discussion sponsored by the Tommy Thompson Center on Public Leadership, Ryan shared his thoughts on how to save America’s social safety net, ways to expand economic opportunity, and some of the major battles he waged while in Congress. He also detailed the policy recommendations outlined in the AEI-published book, American Renewal. 

Some interviews and articles associated with the event are excerpted below.

UWM Report: UWM students explore issues with former U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan

Ryan spoke to a gathering of about 25 students as part of the Meals with Meaning series hosted by UWM Student Involvement. The intimate gathering happened just before Ryan delivered the UWM Distinguished Lecture, co-hosted with the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership….

Many students attending were interested in Ryan’s stance on economic issues while he served in Congress. Ryan told the group he had intended to have a career as an economist rather than a long tenure in politics. The students varied in their political preferences and majors, but about a third were studying economics….

Sophomore Kate Jakubowski said she grew up interested in politics from a young age, even though she’s currently a double major in music performance and history. In the last year, she said, she had the chance to meet the Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and senators Tammy Baldwin and Cory Booker.

Ryan’s remarks at the event were not what she had expected.

“The thing that stuck with me the most that he really emphasized bipartisanship, and that’s something I feel like is missing in these days in Congress,” Jakubowski said. “And so I really appreciate his willingness to talk about that and to say that he has worked with people across the aisle….

Following the student meeting, Ryan also greeted Milwaukee leaders and UWM faculty in the Fireside Lounge before speaking to a crowd of just over 300 gathered for the Distinguished Lecture, moderated by political commentator Charlie Sykes.

In his discussion with Sykes, Ryan touched on a need to find and address the root causes of tuition inflation in higher education and also prioritize STEM disciplines. “UWM does pretty well in STEM,” he said. “I love the School of Freshwater Sciences here. I’ve toured it several times.”

WISN: On Upfront, Ryan shares thoughts on debt ceiling, entitlements, & polarization  

In an interview with WISN’s Matt Smith for Upfront, former Speaker Paul Ryan talked about his visit to UW-Milwaukee to discuss the AEI-produced book American Renewal, the debt ceiling, and his relationship with Speaker Kevin McCarthy. On entitlements, Ryan said:

“The current debate is awful. It is not serving anybody and what troubles me most is the current President and the last President are demagoguing this issue. What happens when you try to scare people with reckless rhetoric is we have bankruptcy and then these programs get cut for the current seniors. Let’s not forget Medicare and Social Security go insolvent in a decade which will mean cuts to these programs and which will lead to a debt crisis.

“The smart thing to do, knowing that is coming, is to step ahead of the problem, reform the programs so they can keep the promises [to current seniors], and be there for the next generation and avoid a debt crisis…. I passed four budgets in Congress and we lived to tell about it. You can propose reforms and you can vote on these reforms and politically survive. The problem is a lot of people lost that lesson…. [You can] keep the programs like they’re working today for those in or near retirement but for those 60 years old and below, you have to change your programs because they will be bankrupt by the time we retire.”

TMJ4: Ryan says Biden, Trump ‘playing politics’ with Social Security, Medicare

TMJ4’S Chief Political Reporter Charles Benson caught up with Ryan before his speaking event at UW-Milwaukee Thursday night.

Benson: Do you think Republicans should be having more conversations on college campuses?

Ryan: Absolutely, I do. That’s one of the reasons why I’m here. These are our future leaders, and our future leaders need to be part of a policy debate about the future.

Speaker Ryan left Congress four years ago after deciding not to seek re-election, but he still likes talking about policy issues – especially the need to keep Medicare and Social Security solvent….

“By demagoguing these issues, which I think both Trump and Biden are doing, they’re forfeiting the leadership mantle,” Ryan said. “They’re playing politics with these issues.”

Washington Post: Ryan says Biden, Trump put country at risk by swearing off changes to Medicare, Social Security

Former House speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) accused both President Biden and former president Donald Trump of putting the country at financial risk by swearing off making changes to Medicare and Social Security.

“Biden and Trump — and I lump them in the same sentence — Biden and Trump are doing the opposite of leadership,” Ryan said in an interview Tuesday. “They’re trying to scare people, and they’re playing political demagoguery with one of the most important issues facing our country this century….”

Ryan said he was frustrated that some of his fellow Republicans were walking away from an issue that they rallied around during his time as a top-ranking member of the House.

“Do I think our party has done some backsliding? Yes, because of Trump populism,” Ryan said in a telephone interview. “But I still believe there’s a very big core in our party that understands the magnitude of this issue, wants to be responsible and fix this problem before it gets ugly and out of control….”

Ryan said Republicans and Democrats need to address the cost of Medicare and Social Security now because the fiscal problem will become more difficult to solve as time passes. He said Republicans should not fear the issue because they survived politically when House Republicans passed his budget proposals.

“I think what happened in my party is people got intimidated by the politics. And Trump, who has chosen to engage in demagogic entitlement populism, has led a lot of people away from being responsible and from doing the right thing,” he said. “And the consequence of that, much like Biden’s politics, is to push us closer to bankruptcy.”

Fox 6: Ryan: If Trump is GOP presidential nominee, ‘we are going to lose’

Former Speaker Paul Ryan is warning Republicans they’ll lose if they nominate Donald Trump for president. In a new interview with FOX6, Ryan also defended his call for changes to Medicare and Social Security.

Ryan was in Milwaukee Thursday, Feb. 23 to speak at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and to talk about the new book he edited, “American Renewal….”

Ryan also defended some of the arguments laid out in a new book he edited. “American Renewal” lays out a conservative vision for the future, including changes for Medicare and Social Security….

“Every one of these proposals says don’t make changes to people who are in or near retirement presently. But, you need to make changes for those of us in the younger generation for two reasons: So that we don’t go bankrupt as a country, and these programs exist for them; but also, so you can cash flow the current promises to current seniors.

“The dangerous rhetoric that we’re seeing right now in Washington by both Presidents Biden and Trump is this demagoguery saying don’t touch these programs. With that, the other way of saying that is: ‘Let them go bankrupt and watch current seniors get hurt.’ Remember, within a decade, both Medicare and Social Security go insolvent.”

“So, that’s why we’re saying let’s get ahead of this problem. Let’s reform these programs so that they work better so that they’re solvent, so that we can keep the promises that have already been made to current seniors,” Ryan added. “The problem is that took me three or four sentences. It wasn’t as easy as demagoguing entitlement reform, which is what our current and former president are doing. It’s reckless. It’s the opposite of leadership. And my point is, we need to step ahead of this problem as a country, guarantee these benefits for current seniors and reform these programs, so they don’t go bankrupt.”

Click here to download a copy of American Renewal: A Conservative Plan to Strengthen the Social Contract and Save the Country’s Finances. 

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WKOW: Ryan previews upcoming stop at UW-Madison, discusses debt ceiling & fixing the social contract

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By: AIF Staff

On February 22nd, former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan will be a featured guest at UW-Madison’s La Follette School as part of the University’s Policymaker in Residence program. Ryan, who represented Southern Wisconsin for two decades in the House of Representatives, will talk with the UW community about ongoing fiscal fights in Congress, the increasing polarization in American politics, and his recently released book, American Renewal: A Conservative Plan to Strengthen the Social Contract and Save the Country’s Finances.

Previewing his remarks in Madison, Ryan spoke exclusively with WKOW’s A.J. Bayatpour in an interview that aired on Capital City Sunday. Excerpts of the interview follow and video of the conversation are accessible here.  

On visiting UW-Madison & talking to young Americans about our fiscal challenges:

“I represented Southern Wisconsin for 20 years in Congress and have been visiting Madison on and off for my entire life, but also throughout my career. I’m speaking at the La Follette [School] and my main message is going to be the subject that I’ve been working on through this book from the American Enterprise Institute, which is: How do we make the 21st century a great century for all Americans? How do we avoid a debt crisis? How do we restructure our social safety net and our social contract and get our economy growing with all the big challenges we have in our future?

“It’s really more of a public policy address and I just like talking to young people [about these issues]. I teach Economics at the University of Notre Dame today, and that’s [part of] what I do now among other things and I just love engaging with young people about their future and the big policy challenges and choices they have in front of them.”

On a possible Biden-McCarthy debt ceiling deal:

“Senate Republicans don’t have the majority and therefore, they’re not in the driver’s seat. They’re not in a position to basically determine what comes to the floor and what doesn’t. So yes, it should be the House Republicans taking the lead because they are the only Republican majority that we have.

“And by the way, it’s very common for things to be attached to debt ceilings. I was on the Bowles-Simpson Commission in the middle 2000s, which was [created as] a result of negotiations on the debt limit. I also helped write the Budget Control Act, which again was because of the debt limit negotiation and that put spending controls and caps in place. So, it is very common.

“I did two of these deals with President Obama himself when Joe Biden was Vice President, which were a result of these [types of] negotiations. So yes, House Republicans should lead and yes, it is very typical to try and put some kind of fiscal reforms in place while you deal with a deadline.”

On McCarthy’s ability to navigate a thin majority & a push for fiscal common sense:

“It’s a razor thin majority and it’s going to be very hard for my successor, Kevin McCarthy, to get everyone on board and thinking that every move he makes is the right move. It’s almost impossible with a five-seat margin.

“The question is: Can he get good fiscal reforms and can you get President Biden to engage? I don’t know the answer that question, but it’s definitely worth the effort.

“What I like about this situation is the fact that Republicans are raising the issue that we have a debt crisis in our future, that really important programs like Medicare Social Security are going bankrupt this decade or the next decade, and that we ought to do something about it. It’s good to raise these issues.

“[Speaker McCarthy] should try to get some things done. Is he going to keep the caucus or the conference unified this entire time? It’s hard to do and I don’t necessarily see that happening. But [the debt ceiling] is going to be a bipartisan agreement at the end of the day anyway, because you have a Democratic Senate and a Democratic president, so whatever happens will be bipartisan and it will get bipartisan votes because it has to get bipartisan votes.”

On how a debt ceiling standoff might impact the markets:

“We had this happen in 2011. It was very temporary. I do not think we will default on our debt. I think the Department of the Treasury will make sure that they prioritize the spending so there is never a debt default.

“Frankly, I know there’s going be a lot of fireworks, a lot of hysteria, but at the end of the day and I’ve been through a few of these myself, I really do not think we will default on our debt. And I think it’s important that we make it crystal clear that the full faith and credit of the US government and the US Treasury are sacrosanct.  I think you’re going to have a lot of hysterics surrounding that, but that’s what democracy is like. This is what governing is like, especially with divided government between two different parties, so I expect this time to be no different.

“It may be a little closer to the wire than probably other episodes but again, the goal here is to try and bring some fiscal sanity. If we weren’t heading toward a debt crisis like we are in this country, I don’t think you’d have all of these fireworks but we are heading toward a debt crisis and something does need to be done and it’s going to take more than just this episode over the debt limit but at least that conversation is getting started. To me that’s a good thing.

On the biggest threats to the United States at present:

“I’d say three things: 1) The debt crisis in the future. 2) The challenge from China and the race towards superior technology in areas like quantum computing. And 3) Our labor market problems which are a long-term economic problem but it’s [due, in part, to] our immigration laws.

“We’ve got to fix our immigration laws once and for all. We’ve got to prevent a debt crisis. And we’ve got to rise to the challenge on behalf of freedom and democracy against the tyranny from China.

“I think those are the three really big challenges for America. There are many other issues, but those are the big existential challenges: Get our immigration laws fixed, prevent a debt crisis, and rise to the challenge with the threat posed by China.”

On whether Social Security becoming discretionary spending will be part of a debt ceiling increase

“I don’t think it will. Joe Biden supported that in his early days. Many of us have supported that proposal. I don’t think that that’s going to happen. I think it’s Senator Scott from Florida’s proposal. I don’t think that’s the way to go. I think there are better things to do to get Social Security shored up short of doing that.”

On getting ahead of Social Security and Medicare’s looming insolvency:

“Let’s be really clear: Social Security goes bankrupt in 2033 which means there’s a 23% across the board benefit cut if we don’t do anything before that. And the Medicare Trust Fund goes bankrupt in 2028. Doing nothing means you’re complicit with the bankruptcy of these critical programs.

“What we propose in this book at the American Enterprise Institute is to shore these programs up. And here’s the good news: It’s sort of a stitch in time saves nine. If you reform these programs early, you can do it in such a way that it doesn’t change anything for people in and near retirement. And for those of us in the X generation who will not have solvent programs when we retire, you can make them whole.

“What we argue in this book and what I spend my time on here at the American Enterprise Institute is we believe in the social contract. We, Republicans and Democrats, the center-right and center-left believe that we should have health and retirement security for all Americans and that we should have a safety net to make sure people — like those who cannot help themselves because of some disability — are taken care of and brought back up on their feet. We want to revive the system of upper mobility and save that social contract because the social safety net programs are really important parts of American life. And I believe that there is a durable political consensus among Republicans and Democrats that we need to maintain that.

“The problem is that these programs were written in the 20th century in ways that are proving unsustainable in the 21st century. The sooner we start realizing this and having sober conversations about that and stop demagoguing the issue, the better off we’re going to be. The point is, doing nothing is a really bad idea because that means they go bankrupt and current seniors get hurt. So, by getting ahead of that problem and solving it for future generations means you can guarantee the social contract for the existing generation and that’s going to compound it. By the way, the government made these promises to the America people and they need to be honored, but they won’t be if we don’t do something. That’s the point I’m trying to make.”

On how to achieve a bipartisan consensus on immigration reform & why it matters:

“I tried three different times in my career to get an agreement on this issue. It’s probably, next to entitlement reform, one of the most vexing political issues of our time. Your question is the answer which is both sides have to give something to get something done. You need to have border security and crackdown on unlawful immigration, along with the kinds of critical reforms for legal immigration that ultimately make our system work.

“Our nation’s gross domestic product and our growth rate is basically cut in half in the 21st century versus the rate we grew at in the 20th century because of labor force participation. After the Baby Boomers, we don’t have as many people because our birth rates have declined and so, legal immigration is going to be a critical part of getting the American economy to grow and produce the type of opportunities and jobs that we used to know in the 20th century.

“I think we can do this, but it does mean both sides coming together and addressing each other’s concerns, which by the way, are both legitimate concerns, in my opinion.

“The problem is getting the politics right. It takes a president who is willing to put a lot of political capital on the line to do it and I just don’t frankly see it right now if Joe Biden runs for reelection. I personally wish he would not run for re-election so that he could get an immigration deal and put a lot of political capital on the table to get a deal that secures the border, cracks down on unlawful immigration, and also fixes the broken illegal immigration system so that we have a system that is working well.

“I think there’s a vote coalition in Congress there to get it done but it takes a lot of leadership, particularly from the White House, and I just haven’t seen that.”

On issues he regrets not tackling during the Speakership:

“There are too many, that list would be too long. The two issues that got away from me and that I wanted to see progress made on was, like I said, entitlement reform. I passed a budget with entitlement reforms four years in a row out of the House during my career but it didn’t get to the Senate and the White House.

“And immigration reform. I was a part of three different separate efforts to fix our immigration laws. In my farewell speech to Congress as the Speaker of the House, those are the two things I mentioned then and that’s what I’ll mention to you today. Those are the two policy things we have to get done….

“My hope and goal is that we can depolarize our politics to the point where we can get back to rational policy conversations to fix these problems. And by the way, if we do, we’re going to have one awesome century in America and we will yet again lead the free world in peace and prosperity. If we can solve our own domestic problems, we can really set a tempo and example for the rest of the world and show them what a great American 21st century looks like.”

To learn more about Ryan’s book, check out his recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.