Rep. Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican with possible presidential ambitions, will take over the chairmanship of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee with the intent of taking small steps toward big goals, according to
Politico.
The big objectives include tax and entitlement reform. But with President Barack Obama in the White House, Ryan knows the process will have to be incremental.
He plans to start with reforming business taxes.
"What I've always tried to do is lay out a very broad vision, a big vision that shows what you're trying to accomplish in totality — what does that horizon look like?" he told Politico. "And then, because you can't get everything you want at a singular moment, take incremental steps."
He is willing to take unpopular positions as he presses to reform Medicare, mortgage interest deductions, and to slash anti-poverty monies.
Critics say he will need to compromise more if he is to produce passable bipartisan legislation. Ryan says he's proven he can find the middle ground, pointing to
his 2013 budget deal with Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, chairwoman of the Senate Budget Committee, to finesse sequestration.
On Ryan's new chairmanship, longtime colleague Pete Wehner says, "Paul is principled, but he's not an absolutist. I think he's viewing this on the merits, that it's a great chairmanship, and it's probably not going to move the needle one way or another on the presidency," Politico reported.
Ryan says his near-term work will be dictated by approaching deadlines — what to do to fund Medicare, the national debt, and Social Security's disability program.
"Deadline-driven issues are going to take a lot of the time," he told Politico.
An ardent opponent of the Affordable Care Act, Ryan appears unsure about whether to run for president.
He does say that once he completes his tenure as Ways and Means chairman he will probably look toward leaving Congress, Politico reported.