Ryan blasts ObamaCare in return to Iowa

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) late Saturday slammed ObamaCare’s botched rollout in his first appearance in Iowa since campaigning with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney before last year’s election, calling the Affordable Care Act’s implementation “big government in practice.” [WATCH VIDEO]

{mosads}“As I look back at the campaign, the problem Mitt and I had was that we were arguing against big government in theory,” Ryan said during the keynote speech at Gov. Terry Branstad’s (R) annual birthday fundraiser, according to the Des Moines Register. “Here’s the difference now: We’ve got big government in practice,” he added.

“The next time you have a famous politician coming through Iowa, breezing through the towns, talking about big government, let’s be a little more skeptical,” Ryan said.

Ryan also said that that he thinks the left is “learning a pretty valuable lesson.”

“The lesson they’re learning, unfortunately with all the human collateral damage from this ObamaCare spectacle, is that you don’t shut out the opposition. You don’t cram [through] a bad bill; you don’t say one thing when you know it’s another thing, and then when it all blows up in your face, ‘I’m sorry’ is just not going to cut it,” he said, according to the Register.

The former Republican vice presidential candidate’s return to Iowa, a testing ground for potential 2016 candidates, stoked speculation about whether he’d run for president in 2016.

Ryan last week said he is going to take a hard look at running for president after the 2014 elections.

“I’ve decided I will consider this later,” Ryan told the Register. “Once I’m through with this term, then I’m going to give a hard look at it.”

Ryan added that he is not currently “worrying about my own personal ambitions and career moves.”