Paul Ryan (R-Wis.)

Why He Matters

Ryan, first elected to Congress at the age of 28, has turned himself into a fresh-faced budget hawk. The Wisconsin Republican has pointedly challenged his party and President George W. Bush to return to the fiscal conservatism that once characterized Republicans.

Ryan represents Wisconsin’s 1st House district, including Racine and Kenosha Counties and some of Milwaukee’s southern suburbs. He won handily in 2008, although his district was carried by President-elect Barack Obama.

He is likely to be a major GOP player in the 111^th Congress as the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee. 

Path to Power

A fifth-generation Wisconsin native, Paul Ryan was born Jan. 29, 1970, in Janesville.  He is the youngest of Paul Sr. and Betty Ryan’s four children. He attended Miami University of Ohio, where he graduated in 1992 with a degree in economics and political science.

While still in college, Ryan started working for former Sen. Robert Kasten Jr. (R-Wis.). Later, Ryan was a speechwriter for former U.S. Representative, Housing Secretary, and vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp and former Education Secretary and “Drug Czar” William Bennett at Empower America, a conservative think tank. Before running for Congress himself, Ryan was legislative director for Sen. Sam Brownback (R) of Kansas.Biographical and career based on the Almanac of American Politics, 2008 edition, and Paul Ryan’s official Web site

Ryan had been a consultant to the family construction business, Ryan Incorporated Central, founded in 1884 by his great-grandfather and now run by his cousins. It’s a union company.  “I grew up in organized labor,” Ryan says. “I have a lot of constituents who are in organized labor. I really do not have this ‘us against them’ mentality.” Ryan receives more endorsements and campaign donations from unions than many fellow GOP candidates.Gunn, Erik, "That Hair, Those Eyes, That Plan," Milwaukee Magazine, July 1, 2005  Twice, the Carpenters and Joiners Union has been a top donor to his campaign.
In 1998,  Rep. Mark Neumann (R-Wis.) ran unsuccessfully for Sen. Russ Feingold’s (D-Wis.) seat and Ryan went after the open House seat. He faced Kenosha County alderwoman Lydia Spottswood, who had lost to Neumann in 1996. Both candidates spent more than $1 million on the campaign, but Ryan won, 57 to 43 percent. “I’m going to work my butt off for you guys!” he shouted in his victory speech. Ryan has not faced a serious re-election threat since. 

In 2007, Ryan defeated Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.) to become the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee. Crenshaw was first in seniority; Ryan was 13th.Gilbert, Craig, “Ryan named as top Republican on Budget,” The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Dec. 8, 2006 Ryan also sits on the Ways and Means Committee, which oversees tax policy, health care, and Social Security; he is on its Social Security and Select Revenue Measures Subcommittees.

He maintains a website, (http://americanroadmap.org/). A Roadmap for America’s Future, http://americanroadmap.org/ that details his plans to rewrite no less than the entire federal tax system, Social Security, and the health care system including Medicaid and Medicare. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former presidential candidate Ross Perot have praised the “Roadmap for America’s Future.”

Ryan married Janna Little, a Washington tax attorney and former aide to a Congressional Democrat, in December 2001.Sauer, Bobbie Kyle, “10 Things You Didn’t Know About Paul Ryan,” U.S. News & World Report, July 23,2008 They live with their three children in Janesville, where Ryan was born and raised. He is an avid fisherman and bowhunter.

The Issues

Ryan has voted with the majority of Republicans 92.1 percent of the time in the 110th Congress.The U.S. Congress Votes Database, Washington PostThough socially and financially conservative, Ryan is seen as a moderate when it comes to foreign policy. And he isn’t afraid to challenge those within his own party, especially the president, in pushing for larger private Social Security accounts or higher tax cuts.

After the 2008 elections, Ryan wrote in the Wall Street Journal that Republicans needed “a substantial party shake-up. …We need to be honest about the root causes of our current financial crisis: loose money, crony capitalism and a lack of market transparency and information.” He emphasized the importance of keeping inflation in check, curbing entitlement spending, and enacting business tax reforms.Ryan, Paul, “Take Some Political Risks,” The Wall Street Journal, Nov. 11, 2008

The Network

Ryan has a reputation for developing good working relationships with colleagues, even those with starkly different views.

He once called then-Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) his “best friend in Congress.”Mangu-War, Katherine, “Young, Wonky, and Proud of It,” The Weekly Standard, March 17, 2003
  Since leaving Congress in 2004, Toomey has served as the President and CEO of the Club for Growth, a political action committee that helps fund the congressional races of fiscal conservatives.

Now Ryan works closely with New Hampshire’s Sen. Judd Gregg, the ranking Republican member of the Senate Budget Committee.

When Ryan challenged a more senior member of Congress to become the ranking minority member on the Budget Committee, his bid was bolstered by support from then-House Majority Leader John Boehner (R) of Ohio.

Ryan has also relied on family contacts: Tommy Thompson, the former Wisconsin governor and Health and Human Services Secretary, was his father’s fraternity brother, and Sen. Russ Feingold’s (D-Wis.) father had a law office on the same floor as Paul Ryan Sr.