It’s a safe bet that both Donald Trump and Ted Cruz aren’t exactly thrilled at the notion of a contested or, God forbid, a brokered convention when the Republican Party meets this summer in Cleveland. But as reported by Julia Hahn of the right-leaning Breitbart.com news portal on Apr. 2, 2016, more than a few of the newly social media tagged #GOPe (GOP establishment) are openly supporting someone who hasn’t even participated in any of the state primary races to date.
As it turns out, certain Republican insiders have come right out and endorsed House Speaker Paul Ryan to be the party’s choice for the White House. As former House Speaker John Boehner was quoted, “If we don’t have a nominee who can win on the first ballot, I’m for none of the above. I’m for Paul Ryan to be our nominee.”
However, prior to pulling the plug in Congress, Boehner saddled up with Speaker Ryan to give Barack Obama expanded trade powers.Needless to say, rank and file members of the GOP cite this specific example of why so many life-long Republicans are claiming their elected officials are more interested in the status quo than fighting the business-as-usual mentality that’s permeated DC for decades.
But it doesn’t end with Boehner. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who was hoped for by many to be a maverick in his own right, stated in regards to his fellow Wisconsinite, “If it’s an open convention, it’s very likely [the nominee] would be someone who’s not currently running.” The Governor’s thinly veiled comments regarding Ryan are on the heels of his pronouncement he would be “just fine” with leaving his state’s Sanctuary Cities firmly in place.
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
And as reporters Eli Stokolos and Alex Isenstadt Mar.16, 2016 of the left-leaning Politico.com news site recently noted, the GOPe love for Ryan has transcended to the divine. As the journalistic duo published, “there’s rising chatter on Capitol Hill that the party could nominate Ryan himself at the convention. ‘He probably wouldn’t [do it] but everyone thinks he’s Republican Jesus,’ said one GOP Senate staffer.”
Despite the failed Vice Presidential candidate now the proverbial establishment darling, it was reported by Breitbart.com in 2013 that Ryan was instrumental in striking a deal with Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats in Congress. It was then that Ryan joined forces with Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) to ensure that a veritable handful of years worth of proposed Democrat spending would be covered.
But in order to fund Obama’s spending spree, the Ryan-Murray deal will be paid for out of the hides of military retirees. Specifically, a sizable chunk of the annual COLA (Cost of Living Allowances) increases for those retired from the Uniformed Services, to include NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps) and the (Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHS) has been slashed.
While civilian federal employees, to include ex-senators and congressmen, see their future COLA safe, the Ryan-Murray deal will see a cut of a full “1 percentage point for military retirees who aren’t disabled and not yet 62 years old.” But what the Breitbart report failed to cite is that the 2014 COLA for uniformed retirees was a mere 1.5 percent.
If the initial 1.5 percent COLA increase was considered paper thin, the provisions of the Ryan-Murray deal equates to a microscopic 0.5 percent increase for the cost of surviving in the current economy. And with the vast majority of retirees being enlisted men who were low paid to begin with, many feel betrayed. Especially by the Republicans who promised to watch out for them.
Case in point would be Rebekah Sanderlin, an Army wife whose husband had 18-years of active service when the Ryan-Murray deal was approved. With her spouse already having 4 tours of duty in Afghanistan under his belt, Mrs.Sanderlin frankly stated, “The war has been very hard on our family. We’d like to stay in, but it seems stupid to give more time to a government that goes back on their word. To tax the very men and women who have sacrificed and served more than others is simply foul.”
The following groups have banded together to let the federal government just how betrayed they feel by the very same leaders they vowed to protect:
- Air Force Sergeants Association
- Air Force Women Officers Associated
- AMVETS (American Veterans)
- AMSUS, the Society of Federal Health Professionals
- Association of the United States Navy
- Chief Warrant Officer and Warrant Officer Association, U.S. Coast Guard
- Commissioned Officers Association of the U.S. Public Health Service, Inc.
- Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States
- Fleet Reserve Association
- Gold Star Wives
- Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America
- Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America
- Marine Corps League
- Marine Corps Reserve Association
- Military Officers Association of America
- Military Order of the Purple Heart
- National Association for Uniformed Services
- National Guard Association of the United States
- National Military Family Association
- Naval Enlisted Reserve Association
- Society of Medical Consultants to the Armed Forces
- The Military Chaplains Association of the United States of America
- The Retired Enlisted Association
- United States Army Warrant Officers Association
- United States Coast Guard Chief Petty Officers Association
- Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States
- Vietnam Veterans of America.
In the meanwhile, CBS News gives an easy-to-understand primer on exactly what the differences are of a first ballot; contended; and brokered convention — “If no one reaches the magic 1,237 number of delegates, Republicans would face a contested convention. The idea of a brokered convention refers to the notion that there are power brokers within the party who would help resolve a contested convention. State party chairmen, for instance, used to have near complete control over their delegates…”
Related:
- Obama and RINO Ryan Team Up To Turn Violent Prisoners Loose
- Ryan mulls Speaker run, past history of slamming military retirees haunts him
- Donor Class and Gutierrez Press for Paul Ryan for Speaker
- Unhinged: Liberals on Twitter express desire to rape Paul Ryan, wife
- Gay sex columnist to Bill Maher: I wish all Republicans were f—–g dead
If you haven’t checked out and liked our Facebook page, please go here and do so.
