Tea Party Patriots: Paul Ryan 'Losing His Focus' on Obamacare

Tea Party Patriots national coordinator Jenny Beth Martin blasted House Budget Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Friday for his role in negotiating some kind of a “grand bargain” on the debt ceiling and Continuing Resolution (CR), saying he lost his focus when it comes to Obamacare. 

“Thanks to the tea party movement, and courageous leaders like Sens. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, the #1 issue in the country is how the American people have turned against Obamacare,” Martin said in a statement released Friday afternoon. “Now is not the time to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, and sign some ‘grand bargain’ to allow the White House to escape the wrath of Americans, who deplore Obamacare so much that they have driven the President’s approval rating to a near-Bush low of 37%.” 

“Now is the time to stand firm and give the American people what they want: a peaceful end to Obamacare,” she declared.

Martin called out Ryan by name, saying his op-ed for the Wall Street Journal–and the fact he never even used the word “Obamacare” once in it–shows his lack of resolve when it comes to fighting government takeover of the healthcare industry.

“Earlier this week, Paul Ryan wrote a 1,000 word op-ed for the Wall Street Journal – and not one of those words was ‘Obamacare,'” Martin said. “Clearly, Paul Ryan is losing his focus on the #1 issue in the country – Obamacare – and the desire of the American people to rid themselves of its costs and consequences.” 

“The Tea Party Patriots reminds the GOP in the House that they are standing up for the American people, they need to stop negotiating with themselves, and focus all their energies to say they will not allow Obamacare to be fully implemented,” she continued. “Obamacare is harmful to Americans and they need to stop Obamacare from causing more burdens and hardships for American families.”

Earlier in the day in a pre-taped video address to the Family Research Council (FRC) Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C., Ryan did mention Obamacare.

“The way I see it, our job is to preserve our values in the 21st century,” he said. “We need to apply our principles to the challenges of today. And that means we need to completely rethink government’s role in our lives. We need to completely rethink government’s role in helping the most vulnerable. We need to completely rethink government’s role in health care. That means we can never give up on repealing and replacing ‘Obamacare.'”

Ryan did not attend the conference in person due to the ongoing fiscal negotiations across town.