Is RINO Ryan Really Racist?

by Gerard Emershaw

Congressman Paul Ryan is a RINO. There is no doubt about that. His voting record screams “RINO” at the top of its lungs:

YES on TARP
YES on Economic Stimulus Act of 2008
YES on $15 billion bailout for GM and Chrysler.
YES on $192 billion additional anti-recession stimulus spending.
YES on prescription drug benefit for Medicare recipients
YES on extending unemployment benefits from 39 weeks to 59 weeks
YES on Head Start Act
YES on No Child Left Behind Act
YES on making the PATRIOT Act permanent
YES on allowing electronic surveillance without a warrant
YES on emergency $78 billion for war in Iraq & Afghanistan
YES on Budget Control Act of 2011 to raise debt ceiling
 

The only thing that supposedly gave Ryan any conservative cred was his budget proposal. Remember, the one that progressives labeled “social Darwinism?” Remember, the one that did not actually cut any spending?

Paul Ryan is not truly a conservative. There is no crime in that. Neither are the vast majority of Republicans these days. But is the Wisconsin Congressman also a racist? In a recent radio interview with Bill Bennett, Ryan made the following statement:

We have got this tailspin of culture, in our inner cities in particular, of men not working and just generations of men not even thinking about working or learning the value and the culture of work, and so there is a real culture problem here that has to be dealt with.

Ryan is correct that there is a joblessness problem among blacks in the inner city. Black unemployment in general is consistently twice that of whites. But the question is why so many black men in the inner city are unemployed. Is it really that they are lazy? Is it that they do not understand “the value and the culture of work?” Or is it more complex than that?

Paul Ryan is likely not a racist. The race card is played far too often in modern American politics, and it accomplishes nothing. However, Ryan’s statement is racist in that it inappropriately blames the victim. This has become the hallmark of Republican racism. The Democrats tend to espouse positions that are equally racist. Instead of blaming the victim, Democrats praise the victimizer—the government with its welfare programs which only foster dependence on the state. Democrats believe that poor minorities are not intelligent or hard working enough to make it on their own without the Nanny State. The Republicans believe—despite bashing the Obama economy when it is convenient—that blacks and other poor people in America simply do not wish to work hard enough to become middle class.

Individuals in the black community in the inner city certainly deserve some blame for the appalling economic situation there. However, they are victims. The federal government has systematically destroyed the economy. It has allowed the Federal Reserve has destroyed the value of the dollar. It has allowed corporatist draconian business regulations to force small businesses to close their doors. It has allowed illegal immigration to become an economic problem. All of these economic scourges combine to create the dismal employment situation. This problem affects those in poorer regions the worst. Paul Ryan and his fellow RINOs should work on fixing the economy and then after they have done that, then they can cast judgment upon others adversely affected.