Speaker of the 'Hurt House'

When Republicans took over the House of Representatives under the leadership of Paul Ryan, America went to hell in a hand basket, and you can see the pain coming. First of all, Speaker Paul Ryan is most unqualified to be a U.S. Representative much less Speaker of the House. The reasons why he scored poorly include:

1. He lacks achievements and accomplishments aside from being a professional politician. He was a marketing man for his family-owned earth moving business. That's it.
2. His academic education at Miami University, Ohio is political science and economics, BS. He is not trained in the law. He has no real-world application of economics. He shot from undergraduate to managing the nation's budget without credentials.
3. He is conflicted by special interests.
4. He has obstructed an investigation into President Donald Trump whereby he is the gatekeeper to initiating impeachment for violation of the Emolument Clause, Making False Statements, and overtly lying as a member of the Federal Government.

Using the approach recommended in How to Select an American President by James A. George with James A. Rodger (c) 2017 Archway Publishing, I scored Paul Ryan's resume.

Paul Ryan ResumeBorn: Paul Davis Ryan
January 29, 1970 (age 46), Janesville, Wisconsin, U.S.
Education: Miami University, BS, economics, and political science
Occupation: Politician
Job History:
Private Business
Restaurant work in college and drove the Wienermobile for Oscar Mayer
Worked in marketing for the family-owned earthmoving company
Public Service
54th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
Incumbent, assumed office, October 29, 2015
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin's 1st district, assumed office January 3, 1999
Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, in office, January 3, 2015 – October 29, 2015
Chairman of the House Budget Committee
In office, January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2015
Political party: Republican
Spouse(s): Janna Little
Children: 3
Religion: Roman Catholicism

How did he rise in the U.S. House? Seniority and not achievement.

Scoring Paul RyanQualifications required by law —1
Home state or residence from which the candidate is from —2
No college 0
College graduate BS/BA 2 —2
GPA H 3, M 2, L 0 —3
Academic Honors and Distinctions H 3, M 2, L 1 —3
Post Graduate Masters —0
PhD 2
Professional Certifications: Bar, CPA, Cert. Engineer, MD 2
Occupation/Vocation: Law/CPA/Professional, 2
CEO 2
Other 1
Health: Excellent 2, Good 1, Poor 0 —2
Affected Class 2—0
Character H 3, M 2, L 1 —3
Leadership H 3, M 2, L 1 —3
Continuing Education and Training —1
Knowledge H 3, M 2, L 0 —2
Skill H 3, M 2, L 0 —2
Life History H 3, M 2, L 0 —1
Platform/Agenda H 3, M 2, L 1 —2
Relationships +1, 0, -1 —1
Political Party 2 —2
Values 3—3
Military Experience: Veteran, 3, Officer 2, NCO 1, None, 0—0
Public Office: Vice President 0
Public Office: Judge 1 0
Department Secretary H 3, M 2, L 0
Governor H 3, M 2, L 1 0
U. S. Senator 2 —0
U.S. Representative 2 —2
Mayor H 3, M 2, L 1 —0
State Legislator 1 —1
Other Public Office 1 —0
Private Sector CEO/President H 3, M 2, L 1 —0
Private Sector VP H 3, M 2, L 1 —0
Private Sector Director H 3, M 2, L 1 —0
Manager H 3, M 2, L 1—0
Entrepreneur H 3, M 2, L 1—0
Inventor H 3, M 2, L 1—0
Memberships—0
Religion —1
Score: 37/83

Very low score.

There is an important lesson, and that is you cannot expect to improve your foundation qualifications by camping out in the U.S. Congress, at least not in this system.

Now, the news is that Speaker Ryan is leading the "repeal and replace" campaign to take down Obamacare. It isn't going well. Conservative Republicans want an even harsher version than Ryan has already cobbled together. The complete Republican package of lawmakers is doing Americans a disservice.

To learn more about what it takes to be a U.S. Representative, read more here at these links:

How to Select a US Member of the House of Representatives, Part 1 of 2

How to Select a Member of the US House of Representatives Part 2 of 2

Five Things to Know About the New GOP Health Care Bill
by MAGGIE FOX 

The American Health Care Act (AHCA), the Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, is wending its way through the congressional approval process. 

It's catching heat from virtually all quarters — doctors and nurses, hospitals and the AARP, conservatives, liberals and even the right-wing Heritage Foundation.
And yet President Donald Trump has given it his blessing — and GOP leaders say they are determined to push it through. Here are five things to know about the plan: 

It can't fully repeal Obamacare 

"Repeal and replace" has been the refrain of Republicans for years; Trump issued an executive order on the very day he took the oath of office that directed agencies to ease the regulatory burdens it imposed. But a president cannot repeal a law passed by Congress, and Congress can't even repeal one of its own laws without the votes.
To repeal Obamacare, the Senate needs 60 votes. There are only 52 Republican senators, so the Republicans are instead using a budget process called reconciliation to pass the AHCA. That only takes a 51-vote majority. The catch? Every measure has to have a budgetary impact. 

It would redefine Medicaid 

Some experts believe this could be the biggest overall effect of the AHCA long term if it is passed. 

Obamacare required states to expand the Medicaid program — the joint state-federal health insurance plan for the poor, disabled, pregnant women and for some elderly — to cover more people. The Supreme Court ruled that was voluntary and only 30 states, plus Washington, D.C., opted to expand. An estimated 11 million people got health insurance through this expansion, which was 100 percent paid for by the federal government at first before gradually rolling back to 90 percent. 

Related: Many Experts Say the GOP Plan Won't Work 

Republicans argue this open-ended federal spending is out of control. The AHCA provides a per capita federal contribution to Medicaid starting in 2020. This starts to put the onus back on states to pay rising health care costs for Medicaid enrollees. Supporters of the AHCA say this provides an incentive to keep costs down and gives states flexibility to decide what's best. Critics say it's a formula for weakening Medicaid, which currently covers about 70 million people. 

It may take away benefits 

Obamacare lays out 10 "essential benefits" that most health insurance policies must cover. They include outpatient care, emergency services, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, mental health services and addiction treatment, prescription drugs, rehabilitative services, laboratory tests, preventive services (including cancer screenings and vaccines) and pediatric services. 

The AHCA takes away the requirement that Medicaid cover these benefits. That means some states can drop them for Medicaid enrollees — and many almost certainly will as they get into cost crunches. This could hit mental health and addiction coverage especially hard. 

It also takes federal funding away from Planned Parenthood and any other health provider that offers abortion, even though federal law already prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars for abortion. 

It will probably make health insurance more expensive 

Obamacare heavily subsidized insurance premiums. An estimated 85 percent of the 10 million to 12 million people buying individual insurance on the exchanges got a federal subsidy. Plus, it provided help with other costs. The AHCA stops the subsidies, which varied state by state and according to a customer's income using a complicated formula. Instead, the AHCA provides a much simpler tax credit of $2,000 to $4,000 per person.
Related: Health Care Bill Cuts Crucial Disease Prevention Fund 

The nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation estimates the credit averages out to $1,700 less per person. Almost all projections say the tax credit will help higher-income people more and lower-income people less. 

People complained that insurance premiums rose under Obamacare and they did. But they were rising long before Obamacare, and rose for non-Obamacare plans, also. 

Fewer people will have health insurance 

Few dispute that the Obamacare law got more people covered by health insurance - 20 million people more, by most estimates. It was also designed to ensure that this was quality insurance that would actually cover people for their claims. Republicans say they want to expand access to health insurance, which is not quite the same thing as making sure people get covered, and they say they want people to have the choice to choose bare-bones plans if they want to. 

The Brookings Institution projects that 15 million fewer people with end up with health insurance under the AHCA. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is due to release its estimate next week. 

"Insurance is not really the end goal here," White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told MSNBC this week. 

One way Obamacare aimed to make sure people had coverage was through mandates. People had to pay an extra tax if they didn't have health insurance for most of the year. The new plan would let health insurance companies charge clients 30 percent higher premiums for a year if they do not stay continuously insured." 

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-care/five-things-know-about-new-gop-health-care-bill-n732031

The devil in Paul Ryan's details