Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who pushed the Republican tax plan that capped New Jersey’s SALT deduction, as well as the architect of the Ryan budget, which would have gutted Medicare, is coming to the district tomorrow to fundraise for Leonard Lance – and why wouldn’t he? Despite his political deathbed conversion, Lance has always been, and will remain, a reliable vote for Congressional Republicans’ anti-New Jersey priorities. Let’s recap:
In 2011, Paul Ryan proposed “The Path to Prosperity: Restoring America’s Promise” while chair of the House Budget Committee. The proposal would have replaced Medicare with a voucher program. Up to 80 percent of Americans opposed the legislation. Lance voted in favor of it in 2011, then again in 2012 and 2013.
In 2015, while Paul Ryan was campaigning for Speakership, he told the Republican Caucus that he would strongly enforce the Hastert rule on immigration, meaning only legislation that a majority of Republicans support would be allowed to come to the floor, essentially barring any chance of bipartisanship. This was before Lance was campaigning as a moderate, and he voted for Ryan as Speaker in 2015, and again in 2017.
In early 2017, Ryan pushed the AHCA through the House at breakneck speed, blocking hearings with experts and voting before the CBO score was published. Lance voted the AHCA out of the Energy and Commerce Committee in March, and voted forward the rules that cut off debate before final passage in May.
And as recently as September of this year, Lance voted in lockstep with House Republicans to limit debate over taxes 2.0, which made the cap on the SALT deduction in NJ permanent. Lance’s vote blocked two amendments that would have reinstated SALT from being considered.
“Leonard Lance is a dependable Republican vote in Congress. He votes with them 90% of the time and is endorsed by the Tea Party. Paul Ryan can rely on Lance supporting his priorities,” said Benji Schwartz, Malinowski Communications Director. “That’s why Ryan’s Super PAC has already spent more than 3 million dollars on advertising to protect Lance’s seat. But his dishonest ads aren’t working, so now he’s here himself to prop up Lance’s anemic fundraising efforts.”