Paul Ryan's congressional career is ending, but his legacy of lies will survive

Say this for House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), who announced his pending retirement from Congress on Wednesday. Of all his powers, the ability to cloud Washington journalists' minds was the most remarkable.

Time after time, Ryan would be hailed as a sage: a budget wonk, a "reformer" of Social Security and Medicare, a defender of the poor. Time after time, he would articulate the most transparent lies about social insurance programs and the Affordable Care Act, while interviewers as august as Charlie Rose sat at his feet, lapping it up. It was a conspiracy of ignorance that placed the welfare of millions of Americans at risk.

Some journalists laudably were immune to the magic. Among them, Matthew Yglesias of Vox, who on Wednesday recalled Ryan's fatuous promise to protect "dreamers"—the beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program being canceled by President Trump. He failed to protect them and failed to move legislation to revive DACA.

As Yglesias observes, Ryan actually failed in almost everything he set out to do — repeal Obamacare, eviscerate Medicare and Medicaid — though his actions and inactions made all these government programs work worse for the people they were enacted to help. He did succeed, however, in passing a big tax cut for the wealthy.

Ryan will be showered with pro-forma encomiums as he takes a last lap around the legislative arena. They've started already. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) remarked on "his steadfast commitment to our country," though she took what might be considered a subtextual slap at his legacy, such as it is: "During his final months, Democrats are hopeful that he joins us to work constructively to advance better futures for all Americans."

The truth is that Ryan, a big fan of that avatar of plutocratic selfishness Ayn Rand, had only one detectable legislative principle. It was to promote the transfer of wealth upwards.

http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-ryan-20180411-story.html