By Kay Nolan
For WisBusiness
U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, drew cheers Wednesday from a crowd of nearly 1,000 attendees of the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce Business Day in Madison when he asserted that “the path to prosperity is through entrepreneurship” and warned that government spending must be brought under control and regulations reduced to “release the entrepreneur to be the entrepreneur.”
But he also told the gathering not to view all Democrats as polar opposites, and said he deplored the partisan politics taking place in recent days in Wisconsin.
“Right now, it’s a time here in Madison of partisan controversy,” said Ryan. “This does not have to be partisan. This does not have to Republicans versus Democrats.”
Ryan reached out for support of some Democrats, saying they aren’t all against responsible government or in favor of a welfare state. “I’ve been working with well-known Democrats who want to see America get its mojo back,” said Ryan. “This does not have to be a partisan issue.”
But atttendees saved their applause for whenever Ryan reiterated conservative political views, such as opposition to cap-and-trade policy and health care reform.
Especially loud applause erupted when Ryan announced that he and his colleagues had voted on Saturday to rescind funding for high-speed rail, a project he had earlier referred to as “crony capitalism.” Ryan said the marketplace, not the government, should pick winners and losers of products to support, “whether it’s solar shingles or high-speed rail.”
And the crowd cheered when Ryan criticized Wisconsin Democrats who fled the state to stall a vote on Gov. Scott Walker’s budget repair bill until more discussion could take place.
“I didn’t like cap and trade; I didn’t like ObamaCare, I didn’t like the stimulus, but I didn’t walk out,” he said. “We stayed and did our jobs.”
While strongly promoting private business as the answer to the struggling economy, Ryan also spoke of a moral responsibility to workers. He said the most gut-wrenching letters he’s gotten as a politician are from people who have worked for big companies like airlines and auto manufacturers that have made promises to workers “and then all those promises were evaporated.”
Ryan talked about the need to make changes to federal retirement programs so that Generation X and beyond won’t be left with similar empty promises. Ryan emphasized the need to ensure a “sound safety net that catches people who are down on their luck and people who cannot help themselves.” He said it’s important to ensure that today’s adults who have worked hard and counted on these programs will still receive benefits and “won’t even notice any change.”
On the other hand, he said those safety nets should not become “hammocks” that promote “equal outcomes” for citizens instead of a culture that fosters upward mobility — a society, he said, in which some people will be successful and some people won’t. “Prosperity is what we want,” Ryan said. “Opportunity, upward mobility is what made this country so great.”
That message rang true for Chris Hanson, who runs a home-based business in Kimberly, which coordinates employee benefits for small businesses. “We’ve been vilified as business owners,” she said. “You know, we’re the sect that has all the money. But no, we don’t. We invest it back in our employees, back in our communities.”
Hanson said she supports Ryan’s views, as well as those of Walker, who spoke to the group earlier Wednesday, restating his pledge to limit collective bargaining for public sector unions as a way to help balance the state budget.
“This is a control issue, it’s really not about benefits and wages,” said Hanson. “If you have unions in control of who they’re representing, then they’re turning around and investing that money back into their party to elect the officials who will help them, then you have a circle of control, and that’s not really a democracy of our state or our country.”
Brad Austin, president of Beloit-based CCI Inc., a general construction contractor, said his 60 or so employees are not unionized. Instead, he says he runs a “merit shop,” in which he pays workers based on competency, education and craft level.
Like Hanson, Austin has little use for unions and agrees that collective bargaining should be struck down among public sector unions.
“Everything (Ryan and Walker) talked about is needed,” he said. “Like Paul was saying, all these falsehoods are out there, all these (protesters) across the street need to understand this isn’t about benefits or anything. It’s about the unions’ power struggle.”
Jennifer Braunschweig, a physician from La Crosse, however, said she disagrees with Ryan on tossing out the Obama’s health care plan altogether.
“I wonder if there might be a way to salvage parts of it that were well-thought out,” she said. “Increasing health care (access) for more people is a great idea. We need to figure out a way to do that.”
Braunschweig said she admired Ryan’s diplomacy and his reaching out to Democrats. “Walker definitely has a different approach than Ryan,” she said, but said of Walker, “He’s making a stand, and I agree. This is a tough economic time.”
Walker, who appeared at the WMC event earlier than initially scheduled, got two standing ovations during his speech.
Walker told the group that the collective bargaining changes in his bill are needed to solidify the state’s finances.
He said his bill is aimed at keeping future generations from being saddled with debt.
