By Shane Shavitsky summarizing Mike Allen's interview, @ Axios.com, May 24,  excerpt:

Mike Allen sat down with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan at this morning's Axios News Shapers event.

[....] On policy...

• Taking responsibility on health care: "I accept that we will get hit for this. We're in leadership, we don't have a choice, we're a majority...I just don't think from a moral standpoint that's something we can do. We have to intervene to fix this problem because real people are actually getting hurt."
• The AHCA vote: "I'm glad we went through it. It was very cathartic."
• His message to insurers: "My hope is that you stick it out in the marketplace so you're there to catch people when the help arrives which is a more helpful, more vibrant marketplace."
• His hope for health care: "Let's just buck up as a society and pay for the catastrophic illnesses."
• His takeaway from Trump's budget: "We have a president who, for the first time in 8 years, said, 'Let's actually balance the budget'…I think that's refreshing."
• Infrastructure: "I don't know what the timing of that will be for that as much because we've got to come up with the fiscal space."
• Border adjustment tax: "Full immediate border adjustment would be too disruptive — nobody's advocating for that."

On Trump...

• Branding Comey a "nut job": "Yeah, I don't agree with that. And he's not."
• Calling him a Boy Scout: "I took it as a compliment. I'm not sure it was meant that way. We're just different people." [.....]