Paul Ryan Set a Trail to Prominence With His 'Roadmap' →
Before Rep. Paul Ryan had a chance to sell his budget ideas to the American people, the Wisconsin Republican first had to persuade his own party.
The initial version of his "Roadmap for America's Future," in summer 2008, was treated as an afterthought by party leaders, and some were openly hostile. Fearful of political backlash, just eight Republicans signed up for his conservative wish list: rewrite the tax code, scrap employer-based health care, rework Medicare and Social Security.
Today, many of Mr. Ryan's ideas have become the de facto Republican Party platform.
The Wall Street Journal paints a nice profile of Paul Ryan's work, over the past 4 years, to sell his budget plan. There are those that argue that the plan doesn't go nearly far enough. I agree. I also think that his plan is on the bleeding edge of what's politically possible. It's impossible to pass an overnight overhaul of anything in American politics. But this is a good (and very ambitious) first step.