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Ryan delivers keynote address at OU’s Spring 2024 Presidential Speakers Series

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By: AIF Staff

On March 27, American Idea Foundation President and former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan delivered a keynote address on the State of American Politics. As part of OU’s Presidential Speakers Series, Ryan was invited to share his thoughts on the challenges facing the next generation of American leaders and to discuss how we can overcome them in a way that reflects our nation’s timeless principles.

Ryan’s entire speech is accessible via the following link. Excerpts from his address (edited lightly for clarity) are included below.

A personal connection to the University of Oklahoma:

“I was in this room not even a year ago for the Owl Ceremony for my late mother-in-law, Prudence Little, who was inducted (posthumously) in the Order of the Owl. I have lots of deep roots here that span the length of my marriage and so, I call myself a kissing cousin to Oklahomans… I’ve been coming to your ball games every other year during deer season, which some people around here also call Thanksgiving.

I’ve been coming here since 1999 and to give you a sense of the appreciation that I’ve developed over the years for not just this particular institution, but for this community, this network of people, this tight state of people who care deeply for one another – my father-in law, Dan Little, is here. Our cousin, Dan Boren, is here. And just to give you a sense of how the decisions get made in my house, as many of you are, we are big bird hunters where I come from. I import cheese to your state, and I export venison and ducks from your state and so, my wife and I decided to get a couple of bird dogs. And as a lifelong Wisconsinite, whose parents lived in Madison, I thought naturally our dogs are going to be named “Bucky” and “Badger.” Long story short, our dogs are named “Boomer” and “Sooner”, so you understand how we make decisions in my family!”

The State of American Politics & Tests facing our Democracy

“The state of American Politics today is under duress. It’s easy to identify where and how and under what circumstances, it’s a little hard to identify what we do about it but… it’s not just America. Democracy itself is being tested around the world in two basic ways: From without and from within….

We are being tested by our adversaries – the illiberal, anti-democracies like the Communist dictatorship of China, the thugocracy of Russia and Iran and North Korea. We are being tested by autocrats where one man makes a decision, and they get stuff done…. [These adversaries are hoping their form of government] will be better than democracy. It will perform better than democracies. It will be faster and leaner and meaner, and they’ll get to the finish line faster than we do. That’s their bet and that’s a serious test.

The good news in this – and I think Stephanie Bice and Tom Cole will agree with me – the one basically bipartisan thing in Congress today is this mutual bipartisan agreement that this is a challenge. We have got a China challenge on our hands and the House Select Committee on China has been remarkably bipartisan. They put together a huge vote the other day on tactics and theories and things we need to do to address [TikTok]. So, I think our political system is rising to the occasion to take on this challenge from “without,” to take on this challenge from tyrannies trying to undermine democracy and poking and prodding at us in many different ways….

The bigger test of democracy is from within ourselves. It’s this polarization. These tyrannies are betting that America cannot get this job done. They are betting that we will so polarize ourselves and tear ourselves apart and relativize ourselves into self-immolation. We will be so polarized that we will render ourselves incapable of solving big problems, of coming together and achieving consensus and solving the things in front of us. They are betting we’ll be too slow to act versus their lean, mean, efficient, one-guy-makes-a-decision system.

We’ve been at each other’s throats [in America before] but we really haven’t had this level of digitization and a new wrinkle in this story is this idea of moral relativism. This idea that there are no fixed truths. It’s your truth, his truth, her truth, my truth, whatever your truth…. And the challenge with this type of relativism is we’re not putting any premium on actual facts and actual truth.”

Overcoming the “zero sum” mindset to solve America’s problems:

“When you have politics designed to divide, when you have a digital system where the incentive structure is to tap into emotions of fear, envy, anger, hatred, and differentness – not hope, inclusion, and inspiration, when you have a political system with that center structure baked into it, we end up with a type of politics that has all of us playing a “zero sum” game.

“There are a lot of games that are zero sum. We have static games all the time right over there in that football stadium. I love watching OU beat OSU, but a football game is “zero sum” where there’s one winner and one loser. This is, frankly, not how the game of life works. It’s not how individual personal relationships work; it’s not how economics works; it doesn’t need to be how national alliances work. You can have “positive sum” games. You can have win-win situations.

My whole management philosophy in Congress was to set as many “positive sum” games as you can possibly have so that legislators – men and women who came from districts with individual passions, with different political stripes and parties – can play a “positive sum” game. I wanted them to find that Venn Diagram where things overlap and can move forward so we get things done.

It’s why you are so blessed here in Oklahoma. You have legislators. You have do-ers. Tom Cole is the manifestation of someone who works…. really hard, who knows his stuff, who is respected by the other side of the aisle, who looks for the Venn Diagram of “positive sum games” daily and gets things done. Tom is about to become one of the most powerful guys in Congress, the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee…. The only thing that has to get done every year is writing the federal budget and Tom Cole is about to be named Chairman of that Committee. It’s really a high honor and we need more Tom Cole’s coming to Congress…. That’s also why you’re blessed to have Stephanie Bice…”

Reasons for Optimism that America will meet its challenges:

“The thing that makes me excited and happy and hopeful is the afternoon I spent with students here at OU. They had amazing questions and were such thoughtful people who are really interested in learning about the world, making a difference, and finding their path in life. I’m trying to find the happy ending here – and there is a happy ending here – which is America is known for regenerating itself….

We’ve got adversaries trying to take out democracy and replace democracy. We have problems internally where we are at each other’s throats and we’re sending people to represent us who are going at people’s throats, but we know we can regenerate and get ourselves past these problems. That’s the one amazing thing about America and that’s the upside of all of this.

We have some serious problems. We’ve got big fiscal problems. We have all these foreign policy challenges. But every one of America’s problems are totally within our own capacity to solve. What I think we’re going to go through — and it probably won’t be in this election cycle – is polarization fatigue where people are unsatisfied and sick and tired of problems going unsolved. And when that polarization fatigue sets in and when the pile of unresolved problems gets high enough, I believe, just like we have always done in the past, the American people are going to demand results. They are going to demand we stop this and actually solve problems.”

Channeling Winston Churchill:

“Winston Churchill said two things that I think are so appropriate for today. The first thing he said is democracy is the worst possible form of government, except for all the other forms of government.

Democracy is messy and sloppy but when it resolves itself, when the consensus occurs, nothing can stop it because it is the true power of a self-determining people. We are a free society and the things that come out of free societies – the innovation, the private property rights, the freedoms – are going to beat the tyrants. They can’t centrally plan the kind of things that democracies can do and that’s why we will win the 21st century. These are things that only a free people can do and that’s why I am so bullish about it.

The other thing that Churchill said, and this is where the entire world is looking to us, is the American people can be counted upon to do the right thing, but only after they’ve exhausted all of the other possibilities.

I think we are going through that churn now. This is going to be one ugly election. We all know it. It will be [one of the longest] general elections we’ve had in modern history but at the end of this thing, because you’re electing people like Tom Cole and bright rising stars like Stephanie Bice, we are going to get through it.”

To read more about Speaker Ryan’s visit to the University of Oklahoma, check out these articles from the Norman Transcript, the Journal Record, and theOU Daily.

At OU, Paul Ryan laments current political landscape, calls for more civility

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By: AIF Staff

This week, American Idea Foundation President Paul Ryan delivered the keynote address at the University of Oklahoma’s Presidential Speakers Series Spring 2024 event. Talking with over 700 Oklahoma residents and supporters of the University, former Speaker Ryan discussed the challenges facing younger Americans, how they can rise to meet these challenges, and how we can preserve America’s timeless principles for generations to come.

Excerpts from press coverage of Speaker Ryan’s time in Norman, Oklahoma follow.

Norman Transcript: Ryan laments current political landscape, asks for more civility

Former Speaker of the House and 2012 Vice President Nominee Paul Ryan told Norman residents that the U.S. needs more civility in politics as the keynote speaker for the University of Oklahoma’s Presidential Speakers Series.

Ryan told The Transcript that Oklahoma holds a special place in his heart since he married his wife, Janna, who is from Madill.

“I come to Oklahoma a lot because my wife is from Madill and their family ranch is there. I come to Oklahoma every year to hunt and fish in Madill, and I’ve been going to OU games for the last 20 years,” Ryan said….

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He said his biggest concern for young people is that they are witnessing an unprecedented tone as far as political dialogue.

“I think it’s really important that young people, particularly college students, get a sense that politics and political discussion is not just about anger and personality destruction,” Ryan said. “There are bigger issues to talk about, and there are civil discussions to be had….

“I think younger Americans get fed this content 24/7 via social media algorithms that often play on the emotions of anger and fear, and they push people further into illogical corners that dumbs down policy and ratchets up partisanship,” Ryan said.

Journal Record: Ryan: Future depends on Congress

If you’re looking for good news or encouragement, don’t go to Paul Ryan, the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and former running mate of presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

While affable and charismatic on the outside, the Republican is a realist and a deficit hawk on the inside. He paints a dire picture of America’s future, and he gives it to you right between the eyes.

The future of Social Security and Medicare, the national debt and the crisis on the border, Ryan has been in the trenches over all those issues. And even though he left Congress in 2015, he says the problems and the dysfunction are the same as they were the day he stepped down. The only thing that’s changed is that the cans have been kicked further down the road.

Ryan was in Norman last week as a guest presenter for the University of Oklahoma’s State of American Politics Presidential Speakers Series.

In an interview with The Journal Record, Ryan said everyone in Congress knows how to solve the border crisis because they’ve all studied it. But the political agendas are standing in the way, just as they were in the 20 years he served as a House member from Wisconsin.

OU Daily: Ryan talks Trump, future of politics in student forum

Alongside lecturing at the Spring 2024 Presidential Speaker’s Series, Ryan held a public forum in the Price College of Business, where he discussed discouragement for young voters, populism’s role in the modern Republican party and the role of college students in the future of democracy.

According to Ryan, young voters are dissuaded from politics due to a lack of representation in both political parties, citing the ages of presidential candidates President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

“Younger voters are going to be drawn more towards younger people,” Ryan said. “Both parties have a problem with both of our tops of the ticket, Joe Biden and Donald Trump are basically 80 or pushing 80. Right now, younger people are seeing what’s out there and are looking for something else.”

Ryan said college students are responsible for decreasing political polarization. He added students should continue community involvement following college and seek diversity.

“It’s your job to try and take the sting out of the coarseness of our political dialogue and bring civility back in public conversations and the way you do that is you drop the phone and go and get yourself involved in civil society,” Ryan said. “Get involved in something out of college, where you’re spending time with people who don’t look or think like you or don’t come from where you come from, and learn how other peoples’ perspectives work.”

Ryan said the modern Republican party utilizes populism dedicated to a single person, Trump. He added personality-based populism is not durable, citing Trump’s potential to receive one more term.

“If your populism is untethered to any core set of ideas and principles, and in our current moment, tied to a person or a personality, that’s not good populism – that’s unhealthy populism,” Ryan said. “It’s not an ideology, it’s not a philosophy, it’s just a person and it’s a very inconsistent person at that.”

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Ryan said the Republican party requires “soul-searching” following Trump’s eventual departure from the public eye. Instead of Trump-related populism, Ryan believes Republicans will need to appeal to the majority of voters, fusing nationalists and traditional conservatives.

“Some kind of fusion of those policies and ideas hopefully will manifest itself into a coherent philosophy that is capable of speaking to the needs of the country and is capable of winning the hearts and the minds of a majority of the country,” Ryan said. “But that’s not going to happen until we’re through this moment and this moment is built around the guy.”

To watch Ryan’s full address at Oklahoma University, click here.

Ryan advises lawmakers to channel President Coolidge & tackle America’s fiscal problems

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By: AIF Staff

This week, American Idea Foundation President Paul Ryan served as a keynote speaker at the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation’s conference entitled: America in Debt. Held at the Library of Congress, the conference gathered a bipartisan array of elected officials, senior leaders in recent Administrations, noted historians, policy experts, and economists for a discussion on how the lessons learned from America’s 30th President, Calvin Coolidge, could help solve our nation’s 21st fiscal challenges.

Concluding the conference with a panel on “Looking to the Future: Solutions to America’s Debt Challenge,” Ryan, along with Steve Forbes and Romina Boccia of the CATO Institute, outlined ways that policymakers can channel Coolidge’s approach to a fiscal discipline and balancing the budget. 

In his remarks, excerpts of which are below, Ryan shared his experiences passing revolutionary balanced budget proposals through the House, making the case for sensible entitlement reforms, and developing a consensus on how to avoid a debt crisis.  

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I sincerely appreciate Amity Schlaes, Bill Beach, and the Coolidge Foundation convening this gathering. It is amazing to see old friends like Congressmen Chris Cox and Jeb Hensarling, with whom I spent years working on these big, fiscal issues.  The numbers have grown since then, but the fact remains that this is the most predictable economic crisis we’ve ever had. 

We all know our debt is out of control. We all see a debt crisis coming. We don’t know exactly when it’s coming due. We don’t know the exact inflection point. If you ask an economist or a bond trader, they will give you different theories, but they all agree America’s fiscal path is unsustainable.

The problem that our nation has is, despite knowing a debt crisis is coming and would do bad things to our economy, our politics remain fundamentally unserious. It’s why I am glad you have focused on solutions today. I am hopeful that Steve and Romina will present some more because we have a backslid on this issue. 

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In the good old days, like just ten years ago, Republicans used to offer comprehensive proposals to solve this problem. During the Tea Party era and after, there were different plans to balance the budget and save our safety net programs on the Republican side of the aisle. In the House Budget Committee, Jeb Hensarling and I helped author proposals every year, from 2007 to 2018, that paid off the debt and strengthened entitlement programs by putting premium support into Medicare and block grants into Medicaid. The proposals showed, using CBO supported baseline-scoring, that America could balance its budget. It took a major lift to communicate these policies and gain the support of our colleagues, but Congressional Republicans have done this before. 

Those budgets had so many different elements to it, but in the interest of time, I’ll try to simplify the equation. 

Basically, entitlement programs are driving out debt. Obviously, the federal government needs a discretionary cap number so there is a clear budget level set, year in and year out, for discretionary spending. Ideally, this topline discretionary cap number is set at the beginning of a year so Congress can have a budget process – and there was a failed attempt at doing that this year – but with that level set, Congress can focus on mandatory spending, which is the heart of the problem. 

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Since we are at the Coolidge Foundation’s Conference, I would argue that many of the debates in America, from around the Coolidge Administration to the end of the 20th century, were debates over policies like the New Deal and the Great Society. At this point, it is safe to say that those debates are momentarily settled. Both parties tend to agree that the social contract, which can be described as health and retirement security and a safety net for those who slip through the cracks, is something America wants, needs, and wants to preserve. 

Neither the Democratic Party or the Republican Party are looking to abolish this social contract. Republicans aren’t proposing to get rid of Medicare and retirement security programs. 

So, knowing there is a consensus on having this social contract and safety net, policymakers need to also accept these programs were designed in the 20th century in a way that is unsustainable in the 21st century. Policymakers should accept that since these programs’ founding, we have had massive advancements in economics and technology, and we should apply those lessons so these programs can continue fulfilling their missions without bankrupting the country. 

I believe there is a lot that technology and the markets can do to help with this, particularly as it relates to health care entitlements. Private competition and choice can do a lot to make these programs work better, deliver better services and lower costs. Congress also should consider converting these programs into effectively, defined-contribution programs that grow at fixed rates. Pick your rate, but this, in and of itself, can wipe out trillions in unfunded liabilities on an accrual basis.

On the policy side, our proposals were clear: Address challenges in Medicare by grandfathering the grandparents. Congress can grandfather existing seniors into the current program, so the government keeps the current promises made to them – promises which are unfundable right now. It can then put reforms in prospectively, for future seniors, allowing these new systems to grow at set rates and harnessing the power of choice, competition, and market delivery systems. 

If programs are growing at fixed rates and utilizing better services and technologies at lower costs, America can avert a debt crisis. The bond markets would reward Congress for the effort, even though the debt would increase as Baby Boomers retire because it will come down once those defined-contribution programs kick in. This trend was always supported in our budgets and shows one way to step in front of a debt crisis and solve this problem. 

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There are a few other closing points: 

First, America can’t solve its fiscal challenges without economic growth. Congress needs to be careful what it does on economic and tax policy because economic growth is critical to fixing our problems. Growth is a necessary ingredient to America’s continued prosperity. 

Second, America needs presidential leadership on this issue. Both frontrunners for the White House are actively campaigning against doing anything on the debt problem. Both Presidents Biden and Trump are campaigning against legislators who propose to solve this problem. This is not helpful and increases the possibility that, after the Federal Reserve is done cutting interest rates and after debt comes due in 1st world countries facing similar demographic issues as America’s, there could be an auction failure. I shudder to think what happens then, but this could happen in the next presidency. Either way, Presidential leadership is likely required to seriously tackle this problem.  

Third, both parties have backslid on this issue in Congress so the most likely way to solve these programs’ looming insolvency and avert a debt crisis is through a Commission. As a former Member, it pains me to abdicate responsibility, but history has shown that a statutory Commission, which has teeth and enforcing mechanisms, is the most realistic way to solve this problem.