William Murchison on Paul Ryan

Another fan, in addition to Daniel Larison. Paul Ryan and the Perils of Realism.

Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin’s First District, one of the smartest men in politics insofar as I can tell, goes around touting his brilliantly conceived free-market, limited-government approach called Roadmap for America’s Future. Whose main defect appears to be that in facilitating economic recovery it would change the ways Americans interface with federal social programs and the tax system that supports them. The prospect of that seems to disturb colleagues; thus … well, hear out Bacon: “[M]any Republican colleagues … even as they praise Ryan for his doggedness, privately consider the Roadmap a path to electoral disaster.”

His website. His campaign site.

Daniel McCarthy evaluates Paul Ryan in his reply to Michael Lind, Too Righteous for Facts.

Daniel Larison seems to like Paul Ryan:

Well, yes, my views are rooted in pessimism. After all, I am a pessimist. I’m all the more pessimistic because I see that there are figures such as Ron Paul and his son Rand, Paul Ryan and perhaps a few others, including our former governor Gary Johnson, who do offer the right sort of leadership, and I can also see that none of them can get a serious hearing from their own side.

What’s more, I see why these figures can’t get a serious hearing, and it certainly isn’t because they aren’t serious people. There is no large constituency on the right for the kind of deep and radical reforms they advocate. Whatever skepticism of the national security and warfare state there is, it is limited to a relative handful of libertarians and a few traditional conservatives, and even if there is theoretically more support for Paul Ryan’s proposals for domestic programs there is no political will to push for them.

Paul Ryan’s budget is a creditable effort to balance the budget and eliminate the long-term liabilities from entitlements. If the leadership had any convictions or spine, they would champion this is as the unpalatable but necessary reform that it is. That would mean embarking on a long uphill struggle against trends of public opinion, demographic changes and a national culture of entitlement, and it would probably be politically very dangerous for them to do this in the short to medium term. They couldn’t just sit back and wait to win back a couple dozen seats by default. They would have to risk what they have to do what is in the country’s best interest.

Of course, they remember how easily they were beaten back in ‘95-’96 when they proposed to do something with Medicare far less significant than what Ryan proposes, and they dare not go near it again. This is why we see their silly pose of being the saviors of Medicare in the health care debate. As their core constituents age and retire, the GOP is going to become the greatest obstacle to entitlement reform.

Related links:
Paul Ryan for U.S. Congress
Congressman Paul Ryan's Republican Healthcare Alternative
Republican poster boy Paul Ryan - Isthmus
The GOP's Alternative Budget - WSJ.com