Young, Wonky, and Proud of It

"AM I TOTALLY BORING, or what?" asks Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.

Styling himself a "big supply-sider," "a policy guy," and a "political entrepreneur," Ryan happily holds forth on some of the driest topics Congress deals with--tax reform, market-based revamping of Social Security and Medicare, and his latest pet project, a redesign of the budget process. His commitment to this carefully selected set of reforms has made him an up-and-coming policy wonk on the Republican side.

Years after the Republican Revolution of 1994 fizzled, Ryan, a onetime staffer for Jack Kemp and Bill Bennett, still proudly carries the supply-side banner. He successfully lobbied for a seat on the Ways and Means committee two years ago, and has since demonstrated single-minded dedication to his economic agenda.

Just starting his third term at the tender age of 33, Ryan is young but devoid of Gen-X cynicism. He describes his marathon "listening tours," for example, as "a total rush," projecting a conviction about their usefulness that even the most seasoned politician often fails to muster.

Ryan refers to the federal entitlements he has set out to reform as "the last great vestiges of the welfare state." Entitlements make up two-thirds of the federal budget, he points out, and "have promoted a collectivist mentality, created a generation of dependency on the government, and eroded financial independence and self-reliance."

Though others in the House might talk this way in floor speeches, few are as caught up in the underlying principles as Ryan. He calls Friedrich Hayek's "The Fatal Conceit" "just a good ol' classic," and says things like, "I grew up on Hayek and [Ludwig von] Mises" at the place in a conversation where most people would say something like, "I grew up on a farm."