He wore a sweater and showed off the heavy boots he was wearing because, in the aftermath of the snow storm, this wasn\u2019t \u201ca wingtips day.\u201d<\/p>\n
He paused in mid conversation to plop a mint his mouth because \u201cif I\u2019m ever in the neighborhood, I always go to Real Chili.\u201d<\/p>\n
He poked fun at himself for being nervous when the cameras went on for his nationally-televised response to President Barack Obama\u2019s State of the Union speech\u00a0last week. \u00a0<\/p>\n
He shrugged off talk of his political future. \u201cWhen I look in the mirror, I see a broken nose and a widow\u2019s peak. I don\u2019t see a future president.\u201d<\/p>\n
But, during Rep. Paul Ryan\u2019s \u201cOn the Issues with Mike Gousha\u201d visit Thursday to Marquette University Law School, there was no mistaking that the Republican from Janesville regards himself as a key player in making the most crucial decisions the United States faces.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind of country do we want? What kind of country do we want to give our kids?\u201d he asked. He said if the federal government doesn\u2019t make major changes in its spending habits, reining in the amount of debt it is incurring, coming generations will have lower standards of living and the accelerating federal debt will \u201cswallow us down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ryan is the new chairman of the House budget committee and one of the hottest figures in American politics. As budget chair, he is in a key shaper of what will happen in answering the questions he posed.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, we\u2019re cutting spending,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s no two ways about it.\u201d And Ryan clearly is not going to be patient about when change will come. He is focused heavily on what can be done during federal budget process in the next several months, and he said he figures there is a window of about six months to work on issues before \u201cthe political silly season\u201d of presidential campaigning kicks into high gear.<\/p>\n
Ryan told Gousha he hoped he and other Republicans would be able to work on agreements with Obama and congressional Democrats on at least some important issues. \u201cI really hope we get something done,\u201d Ryan said. \u201cWe can\u2019t do nothing for two years.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said some of the harsh descriptions by opponents of what he wants to see happen to federal spending are wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a person who believes we need to have a safety net in this country,\u201d the congressman said. People who are down need help. But, he said, if spending on programs such as Medicaid is not reduced to sustainable levels, the safety net will be shredded.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom\u2019s been on Medicare for 10 years,\u201d he said, and he wants older Americans to have good health care \u2013 but, again, within the limits of what is financially realistic.<\/p>\n
He said wealthier people should not receive Social Security payments that are the same size of those of less well-to-do people.<\/p>\n
And when a man in the audience said he needs epilepsy medication that costs $3,000 a month and he was concerned that Ryan\u2019s plan s for health insurance would leave him without coverage, Ryan responded he wanted to see people such as\u00a0him have stable premiums that were allow them to keep their coverage. \u201cLet\u2019s have robust high-risk pools,\u201d Ryan said. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0In Washington, Ryan said, when you make proposals, such as the \u201cRoad Map\u201d he first offered in 2008, you become the target of highly partisan attacks. But in general throughout the country \u2013 and he said Janesville is a good example — \u201cI think people are ready for an adult conversation\u201d about what federal programs and spending should look like.<\/p>\n
He said he expected health care to be a defining issue in the 2012 elections. Asked by Gousha how people should sort out the competing claims about whether the health care law backed by the Obama administration would help or hurt, Ryan said, \u201cWatch the results.\u201d He said, \u201cSo far, the results are proving us right\u201d when it comes to costs exceeding projections and the way private employers are reacting to the law.<\/p>\n
For all his amiability in the hour-long session, Ryan described the 2012 elections in heavy duty terms. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is going to be the biggest, most impactful presidential election in the history of current generations,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a huge election. I see at as sort of a realignment election. I see it as where America picks the path it wants for the rest of the century.\u201d<\/p>\n
Given that the election will come 88 years before the end of the century, that\u2019s quite a thought.<\/p>\n