In Speech Defining His Views, Ryan Challenges GOP But Reasserts Plans To Repeal Health Law

Reuters: U.S. House Speaker Ryan Says Obamacare Replacement Plan Coming Next Year
U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Thursday that Republicans next year will unveil a plan to replace President Barack Obama's national health care program, widely known as Obamacare, in its entirety as part of a "pro-growth" Republican alternative to Democratic policies. ... "Next year, we are going to unveil a plan to replace every word of Obamacare," Ryan said in a speech at the Library of Congress, which his office billed as his first major address as Speaker, a job he has held for just over a month. (Cornwell, 12/3)

The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire: Speaker Ryan Calls On GOP To Offer Detailed Election-Year Policy Plans
Republicans have pledged before to offer a detailed GOP alternative to the 2010 health law. In January 2014, then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.) said Republicans would vote on a detailed GOP health-care plan. While Republicans have proposed potential alternatives to the 2010 health law, the party has yet to coalesce around a particular plan. ... “Speaker Ryan said nothing new today – only more of the same, tired Republican plans to empower the wealthy and well-connected at the expense of seniors, children and working families,” said Drew Hammill, a spokesman for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) (Peterson, 12/3)

The New York Times: Ryan Throws Down Republican Gauntlet In Outlining House Agenda For ’16
With the speech’s sweeping oratory and careful stagecraft, it was clear Mr. Ryan was aiming to step decisively into the role of the Republican Party’s leader in Washington, and to set himself apart not just ideologically from Democrats but also in tone and substance from some of the recent coarse language of his own party’s presidential candidates. ... A bigger test now looms in negotiations over an omnibus spending measure, which must be adopted before a Dec. 11 deadline to prevent a government shutdown. While it seems unlikely that Mr. Ryan would want to disrupt his early momentum by risking a politically disastrous shutdown before Christmas, the negotiations over the bill have become ensnared in recent days by Republican demands to attach dozens of policy amendments that are opposed by the administration. (Herszenhorn, 12/3)

Los Angeles Times: Speaker Paul Ryan Tries To Shift GOP Message From Gloom To Hope
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan is not running for president, but as he delivers a speech Thursday loaded with the cheery conservatism of Ronald Reagan, it's hard not to imagine some Republicans wishing he would. ... "If you don’t have a job, we want you to be confident that you can find one — and take it. If you do have a job, we want you to be confident that that job will pay well. We want students to know that all that school — and all that debt — will be worth it. We want seniors to know that all those years of hard work — and all those years of paying taxes — will be rewarded. Medicare and Social Security will be there when you need them," he will say. (Mascaro, 12/3)