Rep. Paul Ryan says legislation to deal with the crisis of illegal migrant children is imminent – but broader reform unlikely – and talk of impeachment is President Barack Obama's "ridiculous gambit . . . to change the narrative."
The Wisconsin Republican and House Budget Committee chairman also hammered the Export-Import Bank as "representational of some of the crony capitalism that we have in Washington," and urged tax reform to keep companies from setting up shop overseas, during a breakfast with reporters Wednesday hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.
In highlights excerpted by
The Wall Street Journal, Ryan said it was "hard to see" how Republicans would agree to a broad immigration deal, though he predicted passage Thursday of legislation addressing the flood of undocumented children who've crossed illegally into the United States across the southern border.
"You know that I'm a fan of immigration reform," he said. "But having said all that, there is just no confidence or faith that the president will discharge his duties in executing and implementing the laws as written by Congress at this time."
Ryan said he was frustrated with the Export-Import Bank, but dodged a direct question about whether he'd support reforms to allow its reauthorization.
"We asked them to reform years ago and they didn't do so, and we had a debate with the Ex-Im Bank about reforming their activities, and in many cases they failed to produce some of these reforms," he said.
"I do believe the Ex-Im Bank is representational of some of the crony capitalism that we have in Washington. Big government and big business joining in a common cause to hand out preferences, and I believe that we as Republicans should be pro-market, not necessarily pro-business."
Joining in the chorus of Republicans who blame Democrats
for fueling rumors of a presidential impeachment, Ryan called the talk "a ridiculous gambit by the president and his political team to try and change the narrative, raise money, and turn out their base for an upcoming election that they feel is not going to go their way."
Ryan also took a shot at the Obama administration's regulations aimed at cutting pollution from existing power plants as "outside the confines of the law,"
The Hill reports.
"So, I don't see a solution here," he said. "I see an excuse to grow government, raise taxes and slow down economic growth."
As to how he would prevent U.S. companies from going overseas to incorporate – and cut their taxes – Ryan called tax reform the "solution."
"Because if we try to do some short-term patch, all we'll end up doing is accelerating the trend of foreign companies buying U.S. companies," he said. "So, we will actually make problems worse, we will make things worse off, and we will lose even more U.S. companies.
Ryan hastily brushed aside talk of his 2016 presidential aspirations, saying he's "focusing on the here and the now in 2014."
"In 2015, at the appropriate time, Janna [his wife] and I will sit down and have the proper deliberation and conversations that are necessary for that," he said.