More Praise for Paul Ryan

Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberly Strassel penned a great article in support of Congressman Paul Ryan's decision to support the bailout package this last week. I attempted to post a response on the WSJ Forum but alas, it was locked. Here, in entirety, is that response:

The negative comments seem to be overlooking one thing: he didn't create this mess, but is damned if he isn't going to do something to fix it. A simple analogy can relate this to everyday life ...

Suppose Paul Ryan was the head of a city's sewage control center. Over the course of several years, he noted that a large storm would cause the city to become awash in sewage and that it would destroy farm land and pollute the local lakes and rivers. He made his case to the mayor and his superiors at the state level, but everyone assured him that the system was fine and would handle the next storm just as it had in the past. Lo and behold, soon enough a large storm passes through and all the rainwater seeps into the sewage control's storage and causes a massive overflow, just as he had warned. Well now it comes down that the city has to spend tens of millions in clean up and expansion efforts, but there isn't much room in the budget so there must be a tax increase. As a fiscal conservative in nature, it would be against his principles to put his name behind such a proposal, but it is the only thing that can be done. After it passes the city council and is signed by the mayor, angry citizens call his office and demand he resign for not preventing this situation.

This is exactly what happened to Rep. Ryan. He warned the nation's leaders and tried to fix the faults in the system that created this mess in the first place. But even though he did everything he could to prevent this mess and nothing to create it, he knows it is his responsibility to fix it before it gets worse, even if that goes against his principles. I live just north of Ryan's district, so I hear plenty about the great things he does in Congress, and I can live with his decision even if the Paulies can't ... This is a time for rationality, not idealism ...