State of the Union 2011: Who is Paul Ryan?
Paul Ryan is 鈥渢he man with the plan鈥� to save America, in part by making deficit reduction 鈥渟exy for the iPod 驳别苍别谤补迟颈辞苍.鈥�
He鈥檚 the man who鈥檚 tangled with President Obama in public a year ago 鈥� .
He鈥檚 a Republican who can rattle off a list of his favorite Democrats to work with (see video).
And now Rep. Paul Ryan is the man who鈥檒l deliver Republicans鈥� response to Mr. Obama鈥檚 State of the Union speech Tuesday night.
He may be a seven-term congressman, who鈥檚 now Chairman of the powerful House Budget Committee, but on first blush Mr. Ryan looks and acts like the average white yuppie dad you鈥檇 see tailgating at a Green Bay Packers game in his native Wisconsin.
Quiz: Test your knowledge of the Green Bay Packers
It鈥檚 that casual, everyman exterior 鈥� with a budget-wonk brain 鈥� that鈥檚 made Ryan a Republican up-and-comer.
He鈥檚 best known for his 鈥�,鈥� which would dramatically decrease federal deficits, including by attacking social security. And he鈥檚 one of the founders of the GOP 鈥測oung guns鈥� leadership group. Although, interestingly, he didn鈥檛 attend the young guns鈥� roll-out last fall of their Pledge to America 鈥� perhaps because it didn鈥檛 do enough to tackle the deficit.
He鈥檚 conservative 鈥� having worked for Republican stalwarts William Bennett, Jack Kemp, and Sam Brownback early in his career. He may not get as rhetorically fired-up as some Tea Party icons, but he鈥檚 certainly in sync with Tea Party philosophy, telling a Monitor opinion writer recently, 鈥淭he progressive movement and ideology is a repressive, big-brother movement that drains you of your freedom and liberty, and therefore of your prosperity... The government is taking away your discretion, taking away your choices.鈥�
For a preview of how he鈥檒l likely handle Mr. Obama on Tuesday, here鈥檚 a video clip of Mr. Ryan at a Monitor Breakfast last month.
