Mike, you might be interested in this:

"Paul Ryan Is Not Spineless"

<<It is true that Ryan does not care about the principles he claims to care about. But it’s inaccurate to imagine him as merely a soulless careerist. Ryan does have serious principles. He is deeply committed to the principle of liberating the affluent from the burdens of progressive taxation. That description may sound like an arch comment to those of us who don’t share Ryan’s bent. But to people like Ryan, it is a moral conviction of the highest order.>>

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/01/paul-ryan-is-actually-not-spineless.html