by Adedotun Michael

House Speaker, Paul Ryan has embarked on a tour of businesses in the Pacific Northwest to send signals of Republicans ability to produce a historic revision of tax code despite its herculean nature and the growing anxiety of President Trump which is causing division within the GOP.

According to the Washington Examiner, the belief of Ryan and other notable GOP leaders, tax reform is both a response to and the only solution to halt the divisions and put a smile on Trump’s face, and in turn put an end to the daily controversies and criticisms between the White House and GOP lawmakers.

The Speaker said, “I’ve been focused on this literally my adult life. But now, more than ever, a major overhaul of the tax code could help reduce that anxiety that the country feels over politics”.

Ryan who has been a crusader of this agenda even before Trump became President would draw criticism from Democrats some conservatives who would rather prefer Ryan confronts Trump than getting caught in the same moment with the President.

In variance to Ryan’s move, William Kristol, an editor at large of the Weekly Standard who has vehemently opposed Trump said, “Just don’t kid yourself that [tax reform] resolves the question of: Is Trump fit to be president, or what happens on the Russian investigation, or what happens with his fighting with McConnell, or are there going to be primaries in 10 different states between Trumpy and non-Trumpy Republicans, or what happens on the government shutdown or the wall”.

Nevertheless, Ryan’s belief that tax legislation could help right the ship is what brought him to the American Northwest, talking up a reform on a two-day tour of the Intel and Boeing factories near Portland, Ore., and Seattle.

Interestingly, the CEOs of the host companies of Ryan’s tour were among the CEOs who quit Trump’s manufacturing Council over the President’s equivocations about white supremacy and neo-Nazism last week, yet they hosted Ryan for his tour.

Ryan, however, exploited the trip to highlight the essence of business and the GOP’s tight connection now than ever on taxes irrespective of surfacing rifts.

While speaking to Washington Examiner in an interview at Intel’s Hillsboro, Ryan said, “I have not seen the kind of coalescing around tax reform from the business community like I have seen today”. He also ruled out the possibility of losing business support.

Ryan maintained that he doesn’t need a better motivation from the Oval Office to complete the expedient and tremendous task of getting a tax bill through the House and Senate and signed by the President.

Ryan stressed further, ‘The never-ending drama actually helps us concentrate our minds and focus on getting this done, especially because of the acrimony that’s in America and the distraction.”

“Tax reform is the one area in which White House and congressional Republicans are most in sync,” he added.

Editor