This week, Speaker Paul Ryan announced he will not be running for re-election. On the bright side, this means we are closer to flipping his very winnable seat and getting us one step closer to a majority. But there is also a down side. Paul Ryan literally is that guy at the bar who ordered drinks on your tab and extra buffalo wings and then decided to leave early before paying his share of the bill.
As a millennial, we are the generation that is going to have to pay off that tab. The $1.5 trillion debt that Paul added last year is much worse than a few extra pitchers of soda and wings. It will leave us with an economic hangover for decades. All of this was done so he can fulfill an ideological dream and lower corporate tax rates. Aside from being the jerk who left us with the tab, what does this actually mean?
Well, first, we are now set up for a big fight against reform of Social Security and Medicare that will define the next few years in Congress. Trump and whomever succeeds Ryan are going to use the ballooning deficit they created under Bush and through the Trump tax reform to justify the need to make sure that Social Security and Medicare are "solvent." This means they will do everything they can to cut Social Security and Medicare and break the promise we made to not just our seniors, but the next generation of Americans.
You would think if they really cared about keeping these programs funded, Republicans in Congress wouldn't have undermined our tax code and deficit. But this has been a part of their ideological agenda for decades. Their holy grail was tax reform, which is why so many House Republicans, like my Congressman Ed Royce, are sprinting to the exits.
What is worse is that the legacy of Ryan isn't just the clear and present threat to Social Security and Medicare, its years of budget gridlock that have left our schools, roads and health care underfunded with more cuts coming. We stopped building for the future years thanks to Ryan's budget fights. And now we have no money left to start building.
This is a problem when you look at the reality of where our economy is going. As a country, we are beginning to face significant changes to the nature of work. Cars will soon start driving themselves. Machines are already checking out our groceries and we can order a meal through a machine instead of ever engaging with a person. And this is just the start when you see the trend of retail jobs disappearing and big box retailers, like Toys R Us, closing shop. Add to this the nature of global competition and we are facing a serious turning point to make sure our workers are trained and our students are educated.
We face very real threats to the economic opportunities of many Americans. It's a shift in jobs that can be addressed through clean energy jobs and a focus on ensuring we have the workforce to assist our aging Baby Boomer population. But no one is talking about this shift or making investments to ensure we are prepared. And the need to prepare for the next generation of jobs doesn't take in to account the fact that most Americans haven't received a raise in years and are struggling to stretch a dollar further than ever before.
Ryan took our money to fortify the middle class and our economy so his donors could buy a second home on the beach.
What's worse is that millennials like myself will not only see fewer government funding for job training, science, education, health care and our veterans, but also we will be footing the bill for this deficit.
We are the ones at risk to see the promise of Social Security and Medicare disappear. We are the ones who will be paying down the bills for the wars of recent years - let along the foreign policy consequences. We are the ones who will fully experience the effects of climate change and the new costs associated as a result of years of inaction.
There is a lot of criticism in the media of millennials for loving their avocado toast at the expense of saving for the future. But, under Paul Ryan's speakership and years of horrid Republican fiscal policy, it seems the government was on the full avocado toast diet. Spend what you don't have today and forget about tomorrow.
Well, tomorrow is going to be here quickly. We are going to have to address an aging senior population, the effects of climate change on our budget and real changes to our economy. We stopped planning for rainy days and have set up our government to make those days worse.
Good riddance to Paul Ryan. We won't miss you. But this election shouldn't be just about flipping the House. We need the next generation of leaders in Congress ready to preserve vital programs and make sure our budget plans for the future. The election must be about a vision of governing and new voices willing to fight.
This is why I am running for Congress where I grew up in California's 39th congressional district. I am a millennial and I am concerned our government is not planning for the next generation and, in some ways, is actively undermining the next generation through tax cuts we can't afford, wars we have no plan for, zero preparation or leadership on climate change and no plan to train workers for the jobs of the future.
It's time for my generation to step up and lead. We need our voice in Congress as tough decisions are being made about our future. You can learn more about me at www.sam4congress.com.
While we can't make Paul Ryan pay off his part of the tab, we can set ourselves up to not have a hangover from bad Republican decisions. And we can make sure our economy and future retirements are secure. It's just time we add our voice to make this a reality.
Sam Jammal is a civil rights lawyer who recently worked to create jobs in clean energy after serving in the Obama Administration and Congress as a Chief of Staff. He is running for Congress in California's 39th congressional district, which is a top 10 race to watch according to the Washington Post. Help support his grassroots campaign by donating here.