William J. Bennett
3rd United States Secretary of Education
In office February 6, 1985 – September 20, 1988
President	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	Terrel Bell
Succeeded by	Lauro Cavazos
1st Director of the National Drug Control Policy
In office 1989–1991
Appointed by	George H. W. Bush
Succeeded by	Bob Martinez
5th Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities
In office 1981–1985
Appointed by	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	Joseph Duffey
Succeeded by	Lynne Cheney John Agresto (acting)
Personal details
Born	(1943-07-31) July 31, 1943 (age 68) Brooklyn, New York
Political party	Democratic Republican (1986-present)
Spouse(s)	Elayne Bennett
Children	John Bennett Joseph Bennett
Alma mater	Williams College University of Texas-Austin Harvard Law School
Religion	Catholic

William John "Bill" Bennett (born July 31, 1943) is an American conservative pundit, politician, and political theorist.

He served as United States Secretary of Education from 1985 to 1988. He also held the post of Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (or "Drug Czar") under George H. W. Bush. In 2000, he co-founded K12, a for-profit online education corporation which is publicly traded.

Bennett's admitted problem gambling has sparked controversy, with critics arguing that gambling is incompatible with his promotion of staunch social conservative values.^[1]

Life and career[link]

Bennett was born in Brooklyn but later moved to Washington, D.C., where he attended Gonzaga College High School. He graduated from Williams College, where he was a member of The Kappa Alpha Society, and went on to earn a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in Political Philosophy. He also has a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

From 1976 to 1981 he was the executive director of the National Humanities Center, a private research facility in North Carolina. In 1981 President Ronald Reagan appointed him to head the National Endowment for the Humanities, where he served until Reagan appointed him Secretary of Education in 1985. Reagan originally nominated Mel Bradford to the position, but due to Bradford's pro-Confederate views Bennett was appointed in his place. This event was later marked as the watershed in the divergence between paleoconservatives, who backed Bradford, and neoconservatives, led by Irving Kristol, who supported Bennett. It was in 1986 that Bennett switched from the Democratic to the Republican party. Bennett resigned from this post in 1988, and later that year was appointed to the post of Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy by President George H. W. Bush. He was confirmed by the Senate in a 97-2 vote.

Bennett is a member of the National Security Advisory Council of the Center for Security Policy (CSP). He was co-director of Empower America and was a Distinguished Fellow in Cultural Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation. Long active in United States Republican Party politics, he is now an author, speaker, and, since April 5, 2004, the host of the weekday radio program Morning in America on the Dallas, Texas-based Salem Communications. In addition to his radio show, he is the Washington Fellow of the Claremont Institute. Further work at the Claremont Institute includes his role as Chairman of Americans for Victory Over Terrorism (AVOT). He is also a political analyst for CNN.

Bennett and his wife, Elayne, have two sons, John and Joseph. Elayne is the president and founder of Best Friends Foundation, a national program promoting sexual abstinence among adolescents. He is the brother of Washington attorney Robert S. Bennett.

Political viewpoints[link]

Bennett tends to take a conservative position on affirmative action, school vouchers, curriculum reform, and religion in education. As Education Secretary, he asked colleges to better enforce drug laws, supported a classical education rooted in Western culture, and derided multicultural courses. He frequently criticized schools for low standards. In fact, in 1988, he called the Chicago public school system "the worst in the nation."^[2]

Bennett has tangled with the educational establishment (which he dubbed "the blob" or bloated educational bureaucracy) over the following reform measures, which he espoused:

• Competency testing for teachers
• Opening the teaching profession to knowledgeable individuals who have not graduated from "schools of education"
• Performance-based pay
• Holding educators accountable for how much children learn
• A national examination to find out exactly how much our children know
• Parental choice of schools^[3]

Bennett is a staunch supporter of the War on Drugs and has been criticized for his views on the issue. On Larry King Live, he said that a viewer's suggestion of beheading drug dealers would be "morally plausible." ^[4] He also "lamented that we still grant them [drug dealers] habeas corpus rights."^[5]

Bennett is an opponent of same-sex marriage.

In 1995, he teamed up with C. Delores Tucker to create advertising to target Time Warner's lack of regulation of gangsta rap and its glorification of violence and denigration of women. Bennett is a member of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) and was one of the signers of the January 26, 1998 PNAC Letter^[6] sent to President Bill Clinton urging Clinton to remove Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein from power.

Books[link]

Bennett's best-known written work may be The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories (1993), which he edited; he has also authored and edited eleven other books, including The Children’s Book of Virtues (which inspired an animated television series) and The Death of Outrage: Bill Clinton and the Assault on American Ideals (1998).

Other books:

• The Book of Man: Readings on the Path to Manhood (2011)
• A Century Turns: New Hopes, New Fears (2010)
• The American Patriot's Almanac: Daily Readings on America (2008 with John Cribb)
• America: The Last Best Hope (Volume II): From a World at War to the Triumph of Freedom (2007)
• America: The Last Best Hope (Volume I): From the Age of Discovery to a World at War (2006)
• Why We Fight: Moral Clarity and the War on Terrorism (2003)
• The Broken Hearth: Reversing the Moral Collapse of the American Family (2001)
• The Educated Child: A Parent's Guide from Preschool through Eighth Grade (1999)
• The Index of Leading Cultural Indicators (1999)
• Our Sacred Honor (1997, compilation of writings by the Founding Fathers)
• Body Count: Moral Poverty...and How to Win America's War Against Crime and Drugs (1996)
• Moral Compass: Stories for a Life's Journey (1995)
• The De-Valuing of America: The Fight for Our Culture and Our Children (1992)

Writings[link]

Bennett writes for National Review Online, National Review and Commentary. He is a former senior editor of National Review" and wrote the book "To Reclaim a Legacy."

Radio and television programs[link]

Bennett is currently the host of Morning in America, a nationally syndicated radio program produced and distributed by Salem Communications. The show airs live weekdays from 6 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time; it is one of the only syndicated conservative talk shows in the morning drive time slot. However, its clearances are limited due to a preference for local shows in this slot, and the show gets most of its clearances on Salem-owned outlets. Morning in America is also carried on Sirius Satellite Radio, on Channel 144, also known as The Patriot Channel ^[7]

In 2008, Bennett became the host of a CNN weekly talk show, Beyond the Politics. It is unknown whether this will be a limited run or a permanent addition.

Controversies[link]

Gambling[link]

In 2003 it became publicly known that Bennett was a high-stakes gambler who reportedly had lost millions of dollars in Las Vegas.^[8] Some^[who?] felt it conflicted with his public image as a leading voice for conservative morals. Criticism elevated in the wake of Bennett's publication, The Book of Virtues, in which he argued for self-discipline— an attribute at odds with problem gambling. Bennett and Empower America, the organization he co-founded and headed at the time, opposed the extension of casino gambling in the states.^[9]

Bennett never said he had a problem with gambling and has maintained that his habit did not put himself or his family in any financial jeopardy. After Bennett's gambling became public, he said that he did not believe that his habit set a good example, that he had "done too much gambling" over the years, and that his "gambling days are over". "We are financially solvent," his wife Elayne told the USA Today. "All our bills are paid." She added that his gambling days are over. "He's never going again," she said.^[10]

Several months later, Bennett qualified his position, saying "So, in this case, the excessive gambling is over." He explained that "Since there will be people doing the micrometer on me, I just want to be clear: I do want to be able to bet the Buffalo Bills in the Super Bowl."^[11]

Radio show abortion comment[link]

On September 28, 2005, in a discussion on Bennett's Morning in America radio show, a caller to the show proposed the idea that the Social Security system might be solvent today if abortion hadn't been permitted following the Roe v. Wade decision. Bennett responded that aborting all African-American babies "would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but the crime rate would go down."^[12] Subsequently, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, as well as civil rights groups, condemned Bennett's statements and demanded an apology. President George W. Bush said Bennett's statements were "not appropriate."^[13]

Bennett responded to the criticism saying, in part:

A thought experiment about public policy, on national radio, should not have received the condemnations it has. Anyone paying attention to this debate should be offended by those who have selectively quoted me, distorted my meaning, and taken out of context the dialog I engaged in this week. Such distortions from 'leaders' of organizations and parties is a disgrace not only to the organizations and institutions they serve, but to the First Amendment.^[14]

See also[link]

• The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime
• Legalized abortion and crime effect
• List of U.S. political appointments that crossed party lines
• Race and crime
• Roe effect
• Steven Levitt

References[link]

External links[link]

• Morning in America
• Best Friends Foundation
• Booknotes interview with Bennett on Book of Virtues, January 9, 1994.
• In Depth interview with Bennett, July 4, 2010

v t e United States Secretaries of Education Hufstedler Bell Bennett Cavazos Alexander Riley Paige Spellings Duncan

v t e Directors of National Drug Control Policy Bennett • Martinez • Brown • McCaffrey • Walters • Kerlikowske

v t e Cabinet of President Ronald Reagan (1981–1989)   Cabinet Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig, Jr. (1981–1982) George P. Shultz (1982–1989) Secretary of the Treasury Donald T. Regan (1981–1985) James A. Baker, III (1985–1988) Nicholas F. Brady (1988–1989) Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger (1981–1987) Frank C. Carlucci (1987–1989) Attorney General William French Smith (1981–1985) Edwin Meese III (1985–1988) Richard L. Thornburgh (1988–1989) Secretary of the Interior James G. Watt (1981–1983) William P. Clark, Jr. (1983–1985) Donald P. Hodel (1985–1989) Secretary of Agriculture John R. Block (1981–1986) Richard E. Lyng (1986–1989) Secretary of Commerce Malcolm Baldrige, Jr. (1981–1987) C. William Verity, Jr. (1987–1989) Secretary of Labor Raymond J. Donovan (1981–1985) William E. Brock (1985–1987) Ann Dore McLaughlin (1987–1989) Secretary of Health and Human Services Richard S. Schweiker (1981–1983) Margaret M. Heckler (1983–1985) Otis R. Bowen (1985–1989) Secretary of Education T. H. Bell (1981–1985) William J. Bennett (1985–1988) Lauro F. Cavazos (1988–1989) Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Samuel R. Pierce, Jr. (1981–1989) Secretary of Transportation Andrew L. Lewis, Jr. (1981–1983) Elizabeth H. Dole (1983–1987) James H. Burnley IV (1988–1989) Secretary of Energy James B. Edwards (1981–1983) Donald P. Hodel (1983–1985) John S. Herrington (1985–1989)   Cabinet-level Vice President George H. W. Bush (1981–1989) Director of Central Intelligence William J. Casey (1981–1987) William H. Webster (1987–1989) Ambassador to the United Nations Jeane Kirkpatrick (1981–1985) Vernon A. Walters (1985–1989) Trade Representative William E. Brock, III (1981–1985) Clayton K. Yeutter (1985–1989)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008)

William Richards Bennett, PC, OBC (born August 18, 1932), commonly known as Bill Bennett, was the 27th Premier of the Canadian province of British Columbia 1975–1986. He is a son of the former Premier, W. A. C. Bennett. He was a 3rd cousin, twice removed, of R.B. Bennett, eleventh Prime Minister of Canada.

Following his father's resignation, Bill Bennett was elected on September 7, 1973, as the British Columbia Social Credit League Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for South Okanagan.

To distinguish him from his famous father, also named William - though usually called "W.A.C." in the media or "Ceece" by his friends^{[citation needed]} - he was usually called simply Bill Bennett. One media term coined to describe the younger Bennett was "Mini-Wac,"^{[citation needed]} derived from another of his father's nicknames, one created by his enemies but ultimately embraced by some supporters - "Wacky".

Leader of Social Credit Party[link]

He was elected the leader of the Socred Party in November 1973, at a convention in Whistler, British Columbia. This same convention also altered the name of the party to the British Columbia Social Credit Party. Bennett set about establishing a political organization modeled closely on Bill Davis's Ontario "Big Blue Machine." Bennett's organization was called the "Baby Blue Machine." He embraced a new coalition of Liberals, social conservatives, and the corporate sector, rather that appealing to the populist base as his father had done.

Premier of British Columbia[link]

He became premier of the province in the 1975 election when his party defeated the New Democratic Party of Premier David Barrett. In the election of December 11, 1979, the Social Credit Party was re-elected with a reduced majority, followed by another one in the 1983 election. He served until August 6, 1986.

His cabinet included a vast array of politicians new to the provincial scene who would soon become some of BC's most prominent political players. These included Grace McCarthy, Bill Vander Zalm, Garde Gardom and Rafe Mair.

Inspired by conservative economist Milton Friedman, his government passed a series of laws, known as the "Restraint" program, which slashed social services and gutted labour laws in response to economic woes in 1983, provoking a general strike which further crippled the economy. To justify massive education cuts, Bennett blamed many of the province's difficulties squarely on the shoulders of public school teachers, an argument that deeply split the electorate. In several television interviews, he labeled those who disagreed with his policies as "Bad British Columbians."

On the other hand, his ostensibly anti-socialist government ironically spent hundreds of millions of dollars to bring the 1986 World Exposition to Vancouver, distributed free shares to British Columbians for the British Columbia Resources Investment Corporation or BCRIC, and spent hundreds of millions of dollars constructing the Coquihalla Highway with the controversial^{[citation needed]}, non-union Kerkhoff Construction Company as the main contractor. His government also spent over $1 billion on the Northeast coal project to create jobs. Critics noted that by creating only 1,000 jobs, each job cost taxpayers $1 million. The coal project was a very successful venture after it was reviewed in 2000 by the press: Northeast Coal returned twice the revenues than were expended over its lifetime. The mass media acknowledged this point in its review of the project in 2000 - check the news reports from Global BC.

Retirement[link]

Though still reviled by the left, Bennett remains generally highly respected among conservatives in BC, who view his rule as a "golden era" before the corruption of the Vander Zalm government and the NDP that succeeded him. In recent years Bennett has advised current BC Premier Gordon Campbell, who has openly stated his desires to emulate the policies associated with Bennett's government.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007 Bennett was awarded the Order of British Columbia, B.C.'s highest award for achievement. The new replacement bridge across Okanagan Lake in Kelowna is named after him.^[1]

Controversies[link]

In 1996, Bill Bennett was convicted under B.C. securities laws of insider trading involving the sale of shares in a Duncan, B.C., company two years after he stepped down as premier. This was known as the Doman Scandal.^[2] A British Columbia Securities Commission panel imposed trading sanctions against Russell James Bennett and Harbanse Singh Doman and ordered them along with former B.C. premier William Richards Bennett to pay the commission $1 million to cover the costs of an insider trading case that spanned 11 years.^[3]

British Columbia Resources Investment Corporation (BCRIC or "Brick") (Social Credit Party), a holding company formed under the government of William R. Bennett, was a public boondoggle involving publicly-distributed and soon-worthless shares of a former Crown Corporation.

Bennett's tenure also included mega-projects such as the Coquihalla Highway, which cost approximately $848 million.^[4]

References[link]

v t e Premiers of British Columbia McCreight · De Cosmos · Walkem · Elliott · Walkem · Beaven · Smithe · A.E.B. Davie · Robson · T.E. Davie · Turner · Semlin · Martin · Dunsmuir · Prior · McBride · Bowser · Brewster · Oliver · MacLean · Tolmie · Pattullo · Hart · Johnson · W.A.C. Bennett · Barrett · B. Bennett · Vander Zalm · Johnston · Harcourt · G. Clark · Miller · Dosanjh · Campbell · C. Clark

Bristol Palin
Bristol Palin at a book signing in Phoenix, Arizona in July 2011.
Born	Bristol Sheeran Marie Palin[1] (1990-10-18) October 18, 1990 (age 21)[2] Wasilla, Alaska, U.S.
Residence	Anchorage, Alaska
Alma mater	Juneau-Douglas High School West Anchorage High School Wasilla High School - (High school diploma, 2009)
Occupation	Spokesperson
Years active	2009–present
Partner	Levi Johnston (2005–2009, 2010)
Children	Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston (b. 2008)
Parents	Sarah Palin Todd Palin
Relatives	Track, Willow, Piper, Trig

Bristol Sheeran Marie Palin (born October 18, 1990) is the second child and oldest daughter of former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd.

After Bristol Palin became a single mother at age 18, she began to publicly advocate teenage pregnancy prevention, and is now a paid speaker on the subject of teen pregnancy.

She competed in the fall 2010 season of Dancing with the Stars, where she received lower scores from the judges than some other contestants but was voted through week after week by fans.^[3] She reached the finals, finishing in third place.

Early life and education[link]

Palin was born and raised in Wasilla, Alaska.^[1][4] She was named "Bristol" after the Bristol Inn where her mother Sarah was employed; Bristol, Connecticut, the headquarters city of ESPN, where her mother Sarah hoped to work as a sportscaster; and the Bristol Bay area of Alaska, where her father Todd grew up.^[5][6]

Beginning in 2005, Bristol attended Juneau-Douglas High School and began dating Levi Johnston.^[7][8] In 2008, she briefly lived in Anchorage with her aunt and uncle and attended West Anchorage High School. She returned to Wasilla, where she graduated from Wasilla High School in May 2009.^[9][10]

Career[link]

Teen pregnancy prevention spokesperson[link]

In May 2009, at age 18, Palin started working with the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy to inform young people about the negative consequences of teenage pregnancy. The campaign's spokesman, said that working with Palin made sense, because "she's had the highest-profile teen pregnancy of the year."^[11] Several interviews and pictorials for similar organizations followed. Also in May 2009 Palin was named a Teen Pregnancy Prevention Ambassador for the Candie’s Foundation,^[12][13] a teen pregnancy prevention organization that is a division of the Candie's clothing brand.^[14] In April 2011 it was reported that Palin was paid more than $262,000^[15] by the foundation for her work in 2009. This level of compensation, which constituted 12 percent of the Candie's Foundation operating budget, was criticized by some commentators^[who?] as excessive.^[16][17] Her duties as a paid spokeswoman involved attending town hall meetings, public service announcements, and giving interviews on morning talk shows.

On Good Morning America, she stated, "Regardless of what I did personally, abstinence is the only 100% foolproof way you can prevent pregnancy."^[18] In another interview on Good Morning America with Robin Roberts she stated that 'Pause Before You Play hits a wider range of message, it can mean pause and go get a condom, it can be pause and think about your life, or it could be pause and wait until marriage.'^[19] Before Palin became a spokeswoman, she told Fox News that abstinence is "not realistic at all", but that she would like it to become more accepted among people her age.^[20] Several weeks later, she stated that that quote had been "taken out of context."^[21] However, in a July 2011 interview with Drew Pinsky, she said she doesn’t want to "be named as an abstinence preacher…. I’m not out there saying don’t have sex. I hate that kind of stuff. Birth control needs to be used effectively each and every single time if you’re gonna be having sex.... I’m not advocating [abstinence] for everyone else."^[22]

Her role as a spokesperson has been controversial. Bonnie Fuller, former editor-in-chief of YM, has questioned whether the net effect of Palin's presentations has glamorized rather than discouraged teen pregnancy, noting that the "picture perfect" imagery of a People magazine spread seemed to make her "the poster girl for teen momhood."^[23] Meghan McCain stated her support for sex education and criticized Palin's sexual abstinence campaign, saying it was "not realistic for this generation."^[24] Former MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann declared Palin his "Worst Person in the World" for her advocacy,^[25] to which Palin replied "Accusing me of hypocrisy is by now, an old canard... Parents warn their children about the mistakes they made so they are not repeated. Former gang members travel to schools to educate teenagers about the risks of gang life. Recovered addicts lecture to others about the risks of alcohol and drug abuse. And yes, a teen mother talks about the benefits of preventing teen pregnancy."^[26]

Palin works on the speakers' circuit asking between $15,000 and $30,000 for each appearance. She has signed with Single Source Speakers and is listed on their website as available for conferences, fundraisers, special events and holidays, as well as women's, youth, abstinence and pro-life programs.^[27][28]

In January 2011 she was invited to speak at Sexual Responsibility Week at Washington University in St. Louis, but students protested the high fee she was to be paid out of student-generated funds and her appearance was cancelled.^[29][30]

Business venture[link]

In September 2009, Palin formed BSMP, a lobbying, public relations and political consulting services firm.^[31] While the initial focus will be working with Candie's Foundation, BSMP plans to work with additional clients.^[32]

Television[link]

[edit] The Secret Life of the American Teenager

Palin appeared in an episode of the ABC Family network series, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, playing a friend of the fictional character Amy, a 15 year old who is dealing with an unexpected pregnancy. She filmed the scenes in Los Angeles in March 2010; the episode aired on July 5, 2010.^{[33][34][35][36]} "I like doing speaking engagements and stuff like that," she told E!. "I don't think I'll be doing any more acting in the future."^[37]

[edit] Dancing with the Stars

Palin joined the Fall 2010 season of Dancing with the Stars (DWTS), partnered with professional Mark Ballas, who is a two time champion on the show, having won with Olympic figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi in season 6, and with Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson in season 8.^[38]

Her long run on the show despite her frequently lower scores from the judges, attracted media attention and speculation.^[39][40] Questions were raised about the integrity of the public voting process^[40] including allegations of fraudulent online voting using multiple e-mail addresses. Executives at ABC and the show's executive producer, Conrad Green, stated that "checks and balances" in the system, including IP address verification, prevent such voting practices, and that "[t]here's nothing in the voting that looks dissimilar to previous seasons."^[41][42] Nonetheless, Green speculated that Palin may have received votes for political reasons by backers of her mother in the Tea Party movement,^[43] and support from older viewers who had maternal feelings toward her due to her youth and lack of prior experience.^[44] Palin herself credited her success to the support of her fans who were tuning in each week to see her improvement.^[39]

Palin's success on the show attracted other negative attention, including death threats against her. In one instance, suspicious white powder was received by the show. The powder turned out to be harmless, but as a result, security on the show was tightened.^[45]

Palin and her partner finished in third place. Prior to the final show, Palin stated that winning "would be like a big middle finger out there to all the people out there who hate my mom and hate me."^[46] Following the competition, she remarked that she was happy with her third place finish, that prayer and faith had helped her, and that she had grown as a person.^[3]

Due to her dancing rehearsal schedule, she said she forgot to mail in her absentee ballot for the November 2010 general election.^[47]

[edit] Sarah Palin's Alaska

Bristol made an appearance on the TLC travelogue/documentary Sarah Palin's Alaska, helping on a commercial halibut fishing boat.^[48] During the airing of the first episode, Bristol posted defensive comments on Facebook against posters who criticized the Palin family. Some of Bristol's comments included profanity,^[49] for which she later issued an apology.^[50]

[edit] Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp

Bristol Palin's docu-series "Life's A Tripp" will be premiering in the fall season of 2012 Lifetime in the US. Lifetime has ordered 10 episodes for original broadcast, which will follow Palin as she adjusts back to normal routine in Alaska.^[51]

Music video[link]

While still competing on DWTS, Palin appeared in a music video for an Alaskan symphony rock band, Static Cycle. The video was shot at the Ice Museum in Chena Hot Springs, Alaska, with Palin dressed in a fur hat and coat and played a mother-nature-type role of melting the ice.^[52][53]

Memoir[link]

In June 2011, Palin released a memoir, co-written with Nancy French, entitled Not Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far, in which she candidly discusses aspects of her personal life, including tensions with the McCain family and losing her virginity. The book has received mixed reviews from critics and readers alike, many of them criticizing her for releasing a memoir at only 20 years old.^[54][55] The book appeared briefly on the New York Times bestseller lists in July 2011.^[56]

Personal life[link]

2008 Republican National Convention and pregnancy announcement[link]

When Sarah Palin was chosen as John McCain's vice presidential running mate in late August 2008, his advisers already knew of Bristol's pregnancy, which they believed would be a political liability.^[2] On September 1, the opening day of the 2008 Republican National Convention, it was publicly announced that Palin was pregnant and engaged to Johnston, the father of her unborn child.^[7] Palin's entire family, along with Johnston, appeared at the convention.^[7][57] McCain's advisers reportedly thought a wedding between Johnston and Palin would boost the waning popularity of the McCain-Palin ticket.^[2] Johnston denied claims that he was being pressured into a shotgun wedding, stating, "We were planning on getting married a long time ago with or without the kid. That was the plan from the start."^[7]

Motherhood[link]

Palin and Johnston's son, Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston, was born in 2008.^[58][59] She denied claims that her mother's pro life views influenced her decision to give birth to and raise her son Tripp: "It doesn't matter what my mom's views are on it. It was my decision."^[60][61]

Palin and Johnston broke off their engagement in March 2009.^[62] In November 2009, a custody and child support case was filed in a local Alaska court. Palin asked the court to use pseudonyms for herself and Johnston to keep the normally public proceedings private, arguing that the media attention would not be good for the child.^[63] Johnston argued for open proceedings, saying he wanted the case to be decided on the merits,^[63] and that he did "not feel protected against Sarah Palin in a closed proceeding."^[64] In December 2009, on Tripp's first birthday, the judge ruled in favor of Johnston, and it was publicly announced that the pair had been battling for legal custody. Palin, who wished to win full custody rights and child support consistent with Johnston's income, stated that Johnston had "exercised sporadic visitation rights" and "wants the rights for his own self-promotion".^[63][64][65] Johnston sought shared custody and lower child support payments. In February 2010 a judge ruled that Johnston had to pay back child support, with a hearing set to determine the amount of ongoing support payments.^[66][67]

That month, Palin and her son began living in a condo she had purchased in Anchorage, where she was working at a dermatologist's office and taking business courses at a community college.^[68][69] In July 2010, Palin and Johnston announced that they had reunited and were again engaged,^[70][71] but less than three weeks later, they ended their second engagement.^{[72][73][74][75][76]} In August 2010 she moved out of the condo and returned to her parents' home,^[77] and the couple reached an agreement giving primary custody to Palin and visitation rights and child support responsibility to Johnston.^[78] In December 2010, Palin purchased a five-bedroom house in Maricopa, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix, for $172,000 in cash, according to Pinal County property records.^[79]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bristol Palin

• Bristol's Blog on Patheos
• Bristol Palin on Facebook
• Bristol Palin at the Internet Movie Database

v t e Sarah Palin Politics Early political career · Governor of Alaska · Resignation as Governor · Political positions Campaigns Electoral history · Alaska gubernatorial election, 2006 · McCain–Palin 2008 Other Death panel · Mama grizzly · Political action committee Books and media by Sarah Palin Going Rogue: An American Life · America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag · Sarah Palin's Alaska Family Todd Palin (husband) · Bristol Palin (daughter) · Levi Johnston (father of grandson)   Public image Book and media coverage about Sarah Palin Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska's Political Establishment Upside Down · Public image and reception · Katie Couric interviews · Going Rouge: Sarah Palin, An American Nightmare · Game Change (book, film) · The Undefeated Parodies and pranks Saturday Night Live parodies of Sarah Palin · The Masked Avengers' prank on Sarah Palin Related articles Alaska Public Safety Commissioner dismissal · Gravina Island Bridge · Sarah Palin email hack Conservatism Portal · Book:Sarah Palin · Category:Sarah Palin

Paul Ryan
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin's 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1999
Preceded by	Mark Neumann
Chairman of the House Committee on the Budget
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2011
Preceded by	John Spratt
Personal details
Born	Paul Davis Ryan (1970-01-29) January 29, 1970 (age 42) Janesville, Wisconsin
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Janna Ryan
Children	Elizabeth, Charles, and Samuel
Residence	Janesville, Wisconsin
Alma mater	Miami University (B.A.)
Religion	Roman Catholic
Website	U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan

Paul Davis Ryan^[1] (born January 29, 1970) is the U.S. Representative for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district, serving since 1999. He is a member of the Republican Party, and has been ranked among the party's most influential voices on economic policy.^[2][3][4]

Born and raised in Janesville, Wisconsin, Ryan graduated from Miami University in Ohio and later worked as a marketing consultant for Ryan Incorporated Central, run by a branch of his family. In the mid to late 1990s, he worked as an aide to United States Senator Bob Kasten, as legislative director for Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, and as a speechwriter for former U.S. Representative and 1996 Republican vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp of New York. In 1998, Ryan won election to the United States House of Representatives, succeeding the two-term incumbent, fellow Republican Mark Neumann.

Ryan currently chairs the House Budget Committee, where he has played a prominent public role in drafting and promoting the Republican Party's long-term budget proposal. He introduced a plan, The Path to Prosperity, in April 2011 as an alternative to the budget proposal of President Barack Obama, and helped introduce The Path to Prosperity: A Blueprint for American Renewal in March 2012, in response to Obama's 2013 budget.^[5] Ryan is one of the three co-founders of the Young Guns Program, an electoral recruitment and campaign effort by House Republicans. He endorsed Republican presidential candidate and former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney for the 2012 United States presidential election.^[6] Ryan has been considered as a possible running mate for Romney.^[7]

Early life, education, and career[link]

Ryan was born and raised in Janesville, Wisconsin, the youngest child of Elizabeth A. "Betty" (née Hutter) and Paul Murray Ryan, a lawyer.^[8][9][10] He is of Irish and German ancestry,^[11] and is a fifth-generation Janesville native. Ryan's great-grandfather is Patrick William Ryan, who founded the Ryan Incorporated Central construction business in 1884.^[12] Ryan's mother is an outdoors enthusiast who led her husband and four children (Ryan's sister Janet and two brothers, Tobin and Stan) on regular hiking and skiing trips in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.^[9][13] As a boy, Ryan attended Camp Manito-wish YMCA, a wilderness canoe tripping camp located in Boulder Junction, Wisconsin; while in college, he returned there to work as a staff member and counselor during summer vacation.

Ryan attended Joseph A. Craig High School in Janesville. In college, he briefly worked for Oscar Mayer as a Wienermobile driver.^[14] Ryan went on to graduate from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, with a BA in economics and political science in 1992. He also studied at the Washington Semester program at American University and was a member of the Delta Tau Delta social fraternity. Following his studies, Ryan returned to Wisconsin and worked as a marketing consultant for an earth-moving company run by a branch of his family.^[13][15]

Ryan was 16 years old when he found his father in bed, dead from a heart attack at age 55. As a result, he received Social Security survivor's benefits until he turned 18. Ryan's grandfather and great-grandfather had also died from heart attacks, at ages 57 and 59 respectively.^[16]

Early political career[link]

In 2005, Ryan said, "The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand".^[17] New York magazine has claimed that Ryan requires his staff to read Atlas Shrugged.^[18] In 2012, however, he said that while as a young man he became interested in economics because of her novels, "It’s a big stretch to suggest that a person is therefore an Objectivist... I reject her philosophy. It's an atheist philosophy. It reduces human interactions down to mere contracts and it is antithetical to my worldview. If somebody is going to try to paste a person's view on epistemology to me, then give me Thomas Aquinas. Don't give me Ayn Rand."^[19]

During his junior year at Miami University, Ryan worked as an intern opening mail for the foreign affairs advisor assigned to Senator Bob Kasten of Wisconsin.^[20] Concerned that her son "...was destined to become a ski bum", Betty Ryan reportedly nudged him to accept another congressional position as a staff economist attached to Kasten's office.^[20][21] In his early years working in D.C., Ryan moonlighted on Capitol Hill as a waiter at the Tortilla Coast restaurant and as a fitness trainer at Washington Sport and Health Club, among various other side jobs.^[22]

After Kasten was defeated by Democrat Russ Feingold in 1992, Ryan became a speechwriter and a volunteer economic analyst with Empower America, an advocacy group formed by Jack Kemp, former education secretary Bill Bennett, the late diplomat Jeane Kirkpatrick, and former Representative Vin Weber of Minnesota.^[16][23]

Ryan worked as a speechwriter for Kemp, the Republican vice presidential candidate in the 1996 United States presidential election, and later worked as legislative director for US Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas. Ryan then returned to Wisconsin, where he worked as a consultant to an earth-moving company.^{[citation needed]} In 1998, he ran for Congress.

U.S. House of Representatives[link]

Following his first election to the US House of Representatives in 1998, one of Ryan's priorities as a new congressman was to convert a truck into a rolling district office. This allowed him to keep regular congressional office hours with his constituents at various locations across Wisconsin's 1st congressional district.^[24][1]

In 2002, Ryan voted in favor of the Iraq War resolution, authorizing President George W. Bush to use military force in Iraq.^[25] In 2003 he voted in favor of the Medicare Part D prescription drug expansion.^[26]

In 2005, Ryan spoke at a Celebration of Ayn Rand event hosted by The Atlas Society. During the event, Ryan spoke about the influence of Atlas Shrugged on his life.^[27]

He is one of the three founding members of the House GOP Young Guns Program.

In 2008, Ryan voted for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the Wall Street bailout that precipitated the Tea Party movement, and the bailout of GM and Chrysler.^[28]

In 2010, The Daily Telegraph ranked Ryan the ninth most influential US conservative.^[2] In 2011, he was selected to deliver the Republican response to the State of the Union address.^[29]

In 2012, Ryan accused the nation's top military leaders of using "smoke and mirrors" to remain under budget limits passed by Congress.^[30] Ryan later said that he misspoke on the issue and called General Martin Dempsey to apologize for his comments.^[31]

Ryan's Second Budget Plan[link]

At the end of March 2012, the House of Representatives passed a newer version of Ryan's budget plan along partisan lines 228 yeas to 191 nays; ten Republicans voted against bill, along with all the House Democrats.^[32] Ryan's budget would reduce all discretionary spending in the budget from 12.5% of GDP in 2011 to 3.75% of GDP in 2050. This goal has been criticized as unrealistic since it includes spending on defense, which has never fallen below 3% of GDP.^[33] Congressman Justin Amash, a Republican from Michigan criticized Ryan's budget for insufficient cuts, its continuation of deficit spending through 2022 and beyond, and its exemption of military spending from reductions. ^[34] His budget has also been criticized because it would not balance the budget until 2035. Marc Goldwein, the policy directory for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget stated "We may never, as a country, have a balanced budget again, And you know what? We don't have to." Ryan saw this as evidence of the severity of the deficit crisis.^[35]

The 2012 Ryan budget also received criticism from elements of the Catholic Church, specifically from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and from faculty and administrators of Georgetown University. In its letter to Rep. Ryan, the group of Georgetown faculty and administrators criticized the Ryan budget as trying to "to dismantle government programs and abandon the poor to their own devices," going on to say that Catholic teaching "demands that higher levels of government provide help—"subsidium"—when communities and local governments face problems beyond their means to address such as economic crises, high unemployment, endemic poverty and hunger." The letter also criticizes Ryan for his attempts at "gutting government programs" and states that Ryan is "profoundly misreading Church teaching."^[36] A statement issued by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops criticized the Ryan budget in similar terms.^[37] Ryan rejects the bishops' criticism that his budget plans would disproportionately cut programs that "serve poor and vulnerable people."^[38] Ryan's difficulties with the Catholic Church worsened when videos of Ryan praising and endorsing the "morality" of Ayn Rand's hyper-individualist philosophy were published on Youtube in 2012. ^[39]

In May of 2012, Ryan voted for H.R. 4310 which would increase spending on defense, Afghanistan and various weapon systems to the level of $642 billion - $8 billion more than what was agreed to by President Obama and the Congress in the summer of 2011. ^[40]

Committee assignments[link]

• Committee on the Budget (Chairman)
• Committee on Ways and Means
  • Subcommittee on Health

Caucus memberships[link]

• Congressional Middle East Economic Partnership Caucus
• International Conservation Caucus
• Republican Study Committee
• Sportsmen's Caucus (Co-Chair)

Roadmap for America's Future[link]

Ryan speaking at CPAC in February 2011.

On May 21, 2008, Ryan introduced H.R. 6110, titled "Roadmap for America's Future Act of 2008."^[41] This proposed legislation outlined a plan to deal with entitlement spending.^[42] Its stated objectives were: to ensure universal access to health insurance; to strengthen Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security; to lift debt from future generations; and to promote economic growth and job creation in America.^[43] Despite significant press coverage, it did not move past committee.^[44]

On April 1, 2009, Ryan introduced his alternative to the 2010 United States federal budget. This alternative budget would have eliminated the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, lowered the top tax rate to 25%, introduced an 8.5% value-added consumption tax, and imposed a five-year spending freeze on all discretionary spending.^[45] It would also have replaced Medicare.^[46] Instead, it proposed that starting in 2021, the federal government would pay part of the cost of private medical insurance for individuals turning 65.^[46] Ryan's proposed budget would also have allowed taxpayers to opt out of the federal income taxation system with itemized deductions, and instead pay a flat 10 percent of adjusted gross income up to $100,000 and 25 percent on any remaining income.^[47] Ryan's proposed budget was heavily criticized by opponents for the lack of concrete numbers.^[48] It was ultimately rejected in the house by a vote of 293-137, with 38 Republicans in opposition.^[49]

In late January 2010, Ryan released a new version of his Roadmap.^[50] The modified plan would: give across the board tax cuts by reducing income tax rates; eliminate income taxes on capital gains, dividends, and interest; and abolish the corporate income tax, estate tax, and alternative minimum tax. The plan would privatize a portion of Social Security,^[51][52] eliminate the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance,^[52] and privatize Medicare.^[51][52]

On April 15, 2011, the House passed the Ryan Plan by a vote of 235-193. Four Republicans joined all House Democrats in voting against it.^[53] A month later, the bill died in the Senate by a vote of 57-40, with five Republicans and most Democrats in opposition.^[54]

Economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman criticized the contention that Ryan's plan would reduce the deficit, alleging that it only considered proposed spending cuts and failed to take into account tax changes. According to Krugman, Ryan's plan "would raise taxes for 95 percent of the population" and produce a $4 trillion revenue loss over ten years from tax cuts for the rich. Krugman went on to label the proposed spending cuts a "sham" because they depended on making a severe cut in domestic discretionary spending without specifying the programs to be cut, and on "dismantling Medicare as we know it," which is politically unrealistic.^[55]

In response to Krugman, economist and former American Enterprise Institute scholar Ted Gayer wrote a more positive assessment of the Ryan plan. Gayer agreed that, as written, the plan would cause a $4 trillion revenue shortfall over 10 years. He noted, however, that Ryan had expressed a willingness to consider raising rates in his tax plan.^{[clarification needed]} Gayer concluded that "Ryan’s vision of broad-based tax reform, which essentially would shift us toward a consumption tax... makes a useful contribution to this debate."^[56]

Journalist Ramesh Ponnuru, writing in National Review, argued that the revenue loss to which Krugman refers is based on a comparison between Ryan's plan and current law, which "includes middle-class tax increases... cuts in payment to Medicare providers... [and] the expansion of the Alternative Minimum Tax."^[57] He added that "current law automatically raises the tax rates to pre-Bush levels in 2013... so if you're comparing the tax level with current law, Ryan's plan represents a tax cut" and "the CBO's actual projections for the Ryan plan show a debt level in 2021 that is $4.7 trillion lower than its projections for Obama's budgets."^[57]

Rick Foster, the chief actuary of Medicare, endorsed Ryan's plan for reducing Medicare costs: "If you can put that pressure on the research and development community, you might have a fighting chance of changing the nature of new medical technology in a way that makes lower costs like this possible and more sustainable. I would say that the Roadmap has that potential. There is some potential for the Affordable Care Act price reductions, although I’m a little less confident about that."^[58]

In December 2011, it was revealed that Ryan would begin a new push for changes in Medicare in 2012 by working with Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon to modify Ryan's previous Medicare proposal. His most recent approach for semi-privatization of Medicare would keep traditional Medicare as an option for senior citizens, but would also introduce private insurance into an exchange market to compete with traditional Medicare. Seniors would still be given a voucher to purchase care if they so desired, as in his previous proposal. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has supported a similar plan in his campaign.^[59]

Opposition to SOPA[link]

On January 9, 2012, four months after the introduction of Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), Ryan pledged his opposition to the bill, saying, "The internet is one of the most magnificent expressions of freedom and free enterprise in history. It should stay that way. While H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act, attempts to address legitimate problems, I believe it creates the precedent and possibility for undue regulation, censorship and legal abuse. I do not support H.R. 3261 in its current form and will oppose the legislation should it come before the full House."^[60]

Political campaigns[link]

Ryan was first elected to the House in 1998, when two-term incumbent Mark Neumann retired from his seat in order to make an unsuccessful bid for the Senate. Ryan won both a Republican primary over 29-year-old pianist Michael J. Logan of Twin Lakes and the general election against Democratic opponent Lydia Spottswood.^[61] Ryan successfully defended his seat against Democratic challenger Jeffrey C. Thomas in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006.^[62] In 2002, Ryan had also faced Libertarian candidate George Meyers.

2008[link]

Ryan defeated Democratic nominee Marge Krupp by a wide margin in the 2008 general election.^[62]

2010[link]

Ryan defeated both Democratic nominee John Heckenlively and Libertarian nominee Joseph Kexel by a wide margin in the 2010 general election.

Electoral history[link]

Personal life[link]

Ryan married Janna Little, a tax attorney,^[1] in December 2000.^[8] The Ryans live in Janesville with their three children Elizabeth Anne, Charles Wilson, and Samuel Lowery.^[63]

Ryan is a Catholic and is a member of St. John Vianney's Church.^[64]

Ryan is a fitness enthusiast and promotes fitness as a daily routine for young people. In 2009, his exercise program was based on the P90x fitness program.^[22]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan

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• Congressman Paul Ryan official U.S. House site
• Paul Ryan for U.S. Congress official campaign site
• A Roadmap for America's Future Paul Ryan's alternative to the United States federal budget
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Appearances on Charlie Rose
• Collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Works by or about Paul Ryan in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Health Care Reform: The Long-Term Perspective at Cato Institute, June 2009
• Monitor Breakfast conversation on medicare voucher reform at Christian Science Monitor, December 2010