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In the GOP, Paul Ryan is a young and rising star(Wisconsin State Journal, The (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jun. 22--JANESVILLE -- As a young, economic policy wonk from a swing state, Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan is quick to dismiss as loose talk the suggestion that Arizona Sen. John McCain may consider him as his running mate. But there 's a reason columnists and colleagues in Washington say the First District Republican from Janesville deserves serious consideration for vice president. "He, right now, is probably the most influential young leader in the Republican Congress, " Bob Kasten, the former Wisconsin senator and now a Washington consultant, said of Ryan, who once briefly worked for Kasten. "When the Republican Party is clearly struggling in the House and the Senate, Paul is emerging as the most important leader. " Ryan, 38, was named the top Republican on the House Budget Committee last year by party leaders who chose him over several more senior colleagues. Since then, he has: Emerged as a leading voice within the Republican House caucus for fiscal restraint, a return to limited government and economic policies focused on tax cuts. Become an informal adviser to McCain 's campaign on economic and fiscal policy and on Wisconsin 's electorate. Introduced a widely discussed plan to reform the tax system and federal entitlement programs to limit federal debt. "I 'm just constantly impressed with Paul 's willingness to get specific about the kind of choices he would make to bring the budget into balance, " said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Budget, a centrist group in Washington, D.C. "Most politicians don 't do that, so it 's impressive. And I don 't give gushing endorsements very often. "Whether you agree on solutions or not, he 's got the right diagnosis of the problem. " Too conservative? Critics say Ryan 's support for the Iraq War -- which, along with military action in Afghanistan and efforts to combat terrorism elsewhere, is estimated by the Congressional Budget Office to cost up to $1.7 trillion -- undercuts his calls for a leaner federal government. And as the state 's most conservative member of the federal delegation, his views don 't always match up with the majority of his constituents in his southeastern Wisconsin district, which ranges from Janesville to Kenosha to some Milwaukee suburbs. "He marches to the most conservative of drummers, " said Joe Wineke, chairman of the state Democratic Party. "His problem is his voting record. He 's a very loyal guy, but he 's very loyal to a guy who 's in a lot of trouble: George W. Bush. " Ryan has also taken hits for his support of international free trade agreements that critics said contributed to the decision by General Motors earlier this month to close its Janesville plant. And opponents argue that his plans for changing federal entitlement programs would privatize big portions of the nation 's social safety net. But even Democrats acknowledge that Ryan remains popular in the district, and Washington observers are following his career keenly. Ryan said he has no interest in running for governor but is eyeing the U.S. Senate. Although reluctant to take on Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold -- another Janesville native with whom Ryan is friends and whose family is friendly with Ryan 's family -- he declined to say whether he might take on Democrat Herb Kohl if Kohl runs for re-election in 2012. "I think, Keep your options open, ' " Ryan said in a recent interview. "I don 't want to be in politics my whole life. I want to be there long enough to make a difference. " He added: "I don 't have it all mapped out. I didn 't plan on doing this with my life to begin with. " Grew up fast Ryan was just 16 when he discovered his father dead of a heart attack in the family 's Janesville home. It fell on Ryan to inform his mother and siblings, who were out of town. "That was probably the biggest single event that shaped my life, " Ryan said. "You do a lot of growing up really fast when you have that situation. I decided not to wallow in self-pity, so I ran for junior class president at Janesville Craig High School. I focused on my grades and succeeding in sports to make him proud. Before he died, I was a carefree kid who was worried if the musky I caught was legal or not, or whether the girl I liked liked me. " At home, he helped his mother grieve and cared for his grandmother with Alzheimer 's. After high school, Ryan enrolled in Miami University of Ohio to study medicine. He wanted to follow in the footsteps of his cardiologist grandfather. But he disliked physics and chemistry and kept being drawn to economics. By the time Ryan entered the classroom of Richard Hart, a Miami economics professor, the young conservative had already read works by Milton Friedman and Friedrich August von Hayek, advocates of free-market capitalism. "He had one characteristic you don 't see much these days in college students: That is intellectual curiosity, " Hart said of Ryan. "He was always probing, asking questions, challenging conventional views. " Ryan intended to pursue a doctorate in economics when he took a detour to the nation 's capital to work for Kasten. In Washington, he found he could use his economics knowledge to influence public policy. "I was writing amendments that were making it into law as a staff guy, " Ryan said. "I learned early on you could make a difference. " But Feingold intervened. Then a Democratic state senator, Feingold defeated Kasten in 1992 and put Ryan out of a job. Ryan returned to Janesville and worked for the construction and excavation company started by his great-grandfather and still run by his cousins. In Washington, a trio of powerful Republicans, including former education secretary William Bennett and former housing secretary Jack Kemp, created a conservative think tank. They asked Ryan to join their staff to work on economic issues. "He had a passion for the ideas of empowerment and personal ownership and for an economy as a tide that will lift all boats, " Kemp said of Ryan. After a couple of years at Empower America, the think tank, Ryan went on to work for Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan. In 1998, he decided to make his own run for Congress in Wisconsin 's First District. George Petak, a former Republican state senator from Racine, was considering running for the then-open seat. But Petak had just lost a recall election to his state office after casting the deciding vote in favor of a tax to help build Miller Park in Milwaukee. He had previously vowed to vote against the measure. Petak stepped aside for Ryan. "It 's been the best thing that happened to that district, " Petak said of Ryan 's election. Leading budget voice Ryan was just 28 when he joined Congress. Despite his youth, Republican leaders placed him on the powerful House Budget Committee, which sets spending policy for the government but doesn 't allocate dollars. He had just begun a second term when George W. Bush replaced Bill Clinton in the White House, in 2001. With Republicans in control of Congress and the presidency, conservatives expected to see a shrinking federal budget. Instead, the federal debt and spending increased, earmarks ballooned and the GOP endured a series of embarrassments over spending. Republicans lost control of Congress in the 2006 elections, largely because of growing opposition to the war in Iraq. But voters were also outraged over their handling of tax dollars. In the minority now, Republican leaders tapped Ryan to be the top Republican on the budget committee -- and their party 's leading voice on fiscal policy. With the added responsibility, Ryan has frequently called on Congress to rein in spending and accused fellow Republicans of abandoning the principle of limited government. He and Feingold last year introduced a bill to give presidents line-item veto authority, allowing them to eliminate earmarks and other spending. The bill hasn 't passed. In 2007, Ryan introduced the "Budget Boondoggle Award " in which he highlights examples of what he considers wasteful spending. It 's modeled on the "Golden Fleece award " given by long-time Wisconsin Sen. William Proxmire, a Democrat. And earlier this year, Ryan introduced a bill that would impose a one-year moratorium on earmarks. Ryan himself hasn 't completely avoided earmarks. This year, he secured $735,000 for Janesville 's bus system, and he joined other Wisconsin lawmakers to get $3.3 million for transportation projects throughout the state and $1.4 million for the Ice Age Trail, according to Citizens Against Government Waste, a Washington watchdog group. But those amounts are far smaller and far less egregious than earmarks inserted into federal spending bills by other lawmakers, said Tom Schatz, president of the watchdog group. "It 's not for a teapot museum, " Schatz said of Ryan 's earmarks. "It 's for transportation and scenic trails. " Ryan has signed the group 's pledge to avoid earmarks in 2009 and is a leader in a new group of Republican Congress members, Reagan 21, that have sworn off earmarks. An unsafe district With its collection of blue-collar cities, Milwaukee suburbs, rural communities and the Lake Geneva resort area, Wisconsin 's First District is not inherently Republican. For years, it was controlled by a Democrat, Les Aspin, only going for the GOP in 1995 when voters elected Mark Neumann. But analysts say the district is now Ryan 's to lose. "He 's not in a very safe district but he is very safe, " said David Wasserman, House analyst for the Cook Political Report. "That 's a function of his own hard work and reputation as someone who has been egging on the Republicans to change their ways. " Critics say Ryan hypocritically rails against government spending but then votes to expand it when it suits his purposes. For example, said Scot Ross, executive director of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, Ryan voted for expansion of a Medicare drug benefit because it included health savings accounts, a health care reform promoted by Ryan. "His call for fiscal responsibility comes at a curious time, " Ross said. "It comes now because his party is no longer in control of Congress. If he 's going to be talking about reckless spending, who is he pointing his finger at? Because he 's been there while the deficit has been exploding. " Ryan, citing studies by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the Medicare drug plan has cost nearly 40 percent less than budgeted because competition has been introduced into the delivery of the drugs. And he backs creation of health savings accounts because he said the program could benefit from an injection of free market principles. Ryan also considers himself a social conservative; he opposes abortion rights. But he says he 's against regulating personal behavior. Last year, he voted for a bill outlawing discrimination against gays and lesbians in the workplace. Most Republicans opposed the bill. "I 'm not a Big Brother Republican, " Ryan said. Several largely unknown candidates are running to unseat Ryan in November. They argue that his conservative views are out of sync with the majority of the district, and that he doesn 't understand the difficulties facing average working people. But Wasserman said it will be difficult for them to defeat Ryan -- even if it 's a strong year for Democrats. That 's because in a year in which "change " is going to be a key theme and is expected to propel more Congressional seats into Democratic hands, Ryan can argue that he is seeking to change Congress -- and his party -- from within, Wasserman said. And if Republicans lose even more seats in the House, Ryan stands a good chance of moving into a leadership position, Wasserman said. Veep material? In a recent interview, McCain wouldn 't discuss whether he 's considering Ryan as his vice presidential pick. But he called Ryan "a very fine representative of the next generation of Republican leadership. " Ryan talks regularly with Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a senior domestic and economic policy adviser for McCain. And his tax reform proposal -- in which taxpayers could choose between the current system or a flat tax, and business income taxes would be abolished in favor of an 8.5 percent consumption tax -- is moving to the center of McCain 's tax policy ideas, said Kemp, who is advising McCain on fiscal matters. Kemp said he 's also pushing the campaign to review Ryan 's entitlement reform plan. On the vice presidency, Ryan demurs. What would happen if the job was offered to him? "To be candid, I have higher priorities in my life, " he said. "To be the best husband and dad that I can be. I can do that as a legislator. " Bio: Rep. Paul Ryan R-Janesville Age: 38 Family: Wife-Janna; children-Liza, Charlie, Sam Hometown: Janesville Education: Janesville Craig High School, 1988; bachelor's degree, economics and political science, Miami University (Ohio), 1992 Career: 1998-present, U.S. representative; ranking Republican, Budget Committee; member, Ways and Means Committee. From 1995-97, legislative director, U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.; 1993-95, economic adviser, speechwriter, Empower America; 1992, aide, U.S. Sen. Bob Kasten, R-Wis. To see more of The Wisconsin State Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.wisconsinstatejournal.com. Copyright (c) 2008, The Wisconsin State Journal Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |