Scot, just days before the well-orchestrated and disingenuous attacks against Paul Ryan started recently, President Obama praised him for (again) offering his Roadmap for America's Future, calling it a "serious proposal." Of course then Obama's budget director smacked the olive branch that he extended across Ryan's face, and liberal hacks throughout Congress and the press followed suit. While the president mentions the need for "eventual" fiscal restraint, he and his party are spending this country to the point of fiscal collapse. I know it is very Alinskian of the left (see more on Alinsky) to take Ryan and demonize him, but don't you think we should have a serious discussion about the out-of-control government spending that, if left to continue, will overwhelm not just the budget, but our nation's entire economy?

Wow, that's a mouthful of revisionist history. Acknowledge these facts and we can begin: Paul Ryan voted for eight straight GOP budgets which jacked spending by $1 trillion. All told, these eight straight budgets included total spending Ryan voted for of $20 trillion. That's not counting either the two off-the-books wars he voted to finance or the Medicare Part D boondoggle, which former GAO head David Walker called a $8 trillion unfunded mandate. So, excuse America if we scoff at the Young Gun's budget austerity. Unless you want to defend those eight budgets, the two off-the-books wars and the $8 trillion unfunded Medicare Part D nonsense. The floor is yours to explain ...

Yes, as a member of Congress, Paul has voted for spending. But to compare the GOP budgets of the past with Obama's spending spree of the present and future is like comparing the payroll of the Beloit Snappers with that of the New York Yankees (spring training begins this weekend, folks!) Now, back to the topic at hand: Paul Ryan's Roadmap is a provocative and detailed plan that not only recognizes the fiscal train wreck that is looming, but proposes to do something about it. Ryan recognizes that the main problem is the pending crisis of entitlement spending. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are well on the way to collapse. Ryan's Roadmap offers some thoughtful and workable solutions. He fulfills all current commitments to those who are over the age of 55 and provides a new, secure plan for those who are younger. If we do not heed his call, we will pile massive amounts of debt on future generations, decimate Americans' standards of living and endanger our national security. But in your world, his thoughtfulness merely makes him a target to vilify and demonize. Here's a challenge. Comment on his Roadmap. Offer some thoughtful critique and try to keep the personal invective on hold for a day.

Bull roar. This fantasy by the Republicans and conservatives that "saviors" like Ryan are solving the problems caused by President Obama is literally the opposite of the facts. You and the GOP Teabag crowd and all the Fox News yakkers can yammer as loudly as possible that somehow Obama is to blame for the failed policies of the Republican anti-working families, bankster coddlers. But it just ain't the truth. Here's my comment on his road map: I copied the key components of your explanation of Ryan's road-massacre into "the Google" and the search result: George W. Bush on Social Security.

Ok, I understand. Rahm wants all of you to just demonize Congressman Ryan, rather than engage in a serious discussion. But the fact is that the federal government cannot continue to spend at its current pace without repercussions. Ryan has offered a comprehensive, and thoughtful plan. You offer no alternative, just invectives. Just more evidence that so much of the withering liberal movement in America is bereft of ideas. When it comes to government spending, we are reaching a tipping point. Ryan realizes this, and despite petty personal attacks by your side, knowing Paul, he will not be deterred. Wisconsin, and America will be better for this courage if others are willing to at least engage in the debate. Because I don't care if you are a Democrat, Republican, Greenie, whatever. This should scare the hell out of you.

The centerpiece of Ryan's plan is privatizing Social Security. If this had happened when Ryan and Bush first tried it before the market collapsed, seniors and boomers would be preparing for a life with no safety net and the fruits of a lifetime of labor financing the eighth homes of sleazy Goldman Sachs speculators. Privatization is at the heart of Ryan's roadmap. All available evidence shows: every single public service that is privatized results in lower quality, lower service levels and higher costs to the public. Contrary to the revisionist history being offered, if Ryan had an ounce of courage, he would have stood up to the profligacy, corruption and bankruptcy of Tom DeLay and George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, perhaps even once. Once. These policies of failure resulted in an entire decade of no job creation -- something unprecedented in American history. How much more of their failure would you personally like America to swallow before we can say "enough"?