Ryan’s Budget and 2012

Even with House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) deciding not to enter the fray for the GOP presidential nomination, his entitlement-reforming budget resolution, approved by the House earlier this year, is almost certain to play a prominent role in the race. Whichever candidate Republicans select will be forced to either defend it against the inevitable onslaught of Democratic “Death to Granny” scare tactics, or put forward a compelling alternative plan of his or her own. If the conservative uproar following Newt Gingrich’s comments on Meet the Press in May — in which he called Ryan’s plan “radical” and an example of “right-wing social engineering” — is any indication, the eventual GOP nominee could find it extremely hard not to embrace the underlying concept of sweeping entitlement reform, although at this point in the race, no candidate seems eager to do so.

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