Paul Ryan may not favor Trump, but could not be doing more to help him. Ryan has now been in office long enough to take a number of actions that allow us to judge whether he can be the effective strategist that John Boehner never was.  Let's first remember that the most important political problem he faces is the contempt in which most of his party's voters hold its leaders and Washington office holders.  The most visible symptom of that contempt is Donald Trump's strength in the polls.  Ryan's main job is to convince the party's voters that they should trust the party again in spite of its recent history of torpor, because their turning in disgust to Trump may lead to electoral disaster: the latest NBC/WSJ poll has Trump losing even to Bernie Sanders by 15 points.  It's fair to judge Ryan's actions first and foremost by their impact on this crucial point. Take first of all the omnibus budget bill that Ryan negotiated.  What...(Read Full Article)