Paul Ryan (R-Wis.)

Ryan was chosen to deliver the Republican response to President Obama's 2011 State of the Union address in which he argued that America was at a "tipping point" and that the country needs to "chart a new course."

"Our debt is out of control. What was a fiscal challee is now a fiscal crisis," Ryan said. "We cannot deny it; instead we must, as Americans, confront it responsibly."

2012 Budget or the "Path to Prosperity"

In April 2011, House Republicans, led by Ryan, took a major gamble in the midst of the 2011 budget fight (with the threat of a government shutdown looming), by introducing their 2012 budget to reduce the federal budget by $6.2 trillion over ten years, as described by Ryan in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.

The plan proposes to reduce government spending on domestic government programs to below 2008 levels and freeze it for five years and converts the federal share of Medicaid into block grants to be used more flexibly by the states. It also proposes "similar reforms" to the food-stamp program.

Its biggest changes would be to Medicare, which would become something of a private-voucher system for future enrollees by 2022.

"The open-ended, blank-check nature of the Medicare subsidy threatens the solvency of this critical program and creates inexcusable levels of waste. This budget takes action where others have ducked. But because government should not force people to reorganize their lives, its reforms will not affect those in or near retirement in any way," Ryan says.

Starting in 2022, Ryan's 2012 budget states, new Medicare recipients would be enrolled in a health-care program like the one available to members of Congress. Future Medicare enrollees would choose from various plans, subsidized by Medicare, in what Ryan calls a "premium-support model."

As for Social Security, the plan intends to build on the recommendations offered by President Obama's bipartisan fiscal commission.

The plan also calls for wholesale budget and spending reform, with "real and enforceable spending caps," as well as an overhaul of the tax code, with the top individual and corporate rates topping out at 25 percent.

Health-Care Reform

Ryan's plan to reform the health-care system shot into the spotlight in early 2010 when President Obama complemented it as a "serious proposal" during a bipartisan health-care meeting.

But actually, Ryan had been fighting a somewhat lonely battle to control runaway federal spending for years, releasing his first version of his "Roadmap for America's Future" in 2008.

Overall, the roadmap tries to reduce the budget deficit by reforming entitlement programs like Social Security (people under 55 could opt-in to individual retirement accounts, while the program would remain as is for those over 55) and Medicare (people 54 and under would, once eligible for the program, receive vouchers to buy private insurance, with the age of eligibility slowly increasing to 70).

In terms of health care, Ryan's plan promises "universal access" to health care through tax credits ($2,300 for individuals and $5,700 for families) "to purchase coverage in any state, and keep it with them if they move or change jobs." It establishes state-based exchanges in order to create a "one-stop marketplace to purchase affordable health insurance without being discriminated against based on pre-existing conditions."

The Economy

Ryan was in the minority of House Republicans who voted for the $700 billion financial industry bailout in October 2008. Before the vote, Ryan said, "This bill offends my principles. But I'm going to vote for this bill in order to preserve my principles, in order to preserve this free-enterprise system," adding, "I think the White House bungled this thing."

Ryan also supported federal assistance for the auto industry, but disagreed with the Bush administration's plan to fund an auto bailout with a portion of that $700 billion. Ryan has a General Motors plant in his district that was set to close and had previously stated his support to use funds set aside to encourage fuel efficiency. "Allowing the Big Three to access funds from the financial rescue package creates a dangerous precedent for other corporations to lay claim to TARP funds," Ryan said in December 2008.

From his position as the ranking minority member on the House Budget Committee, Ryan oversaw the Republicans' alternative budget in 2007. It would have cut entitlement spending, extended the Bush tax cuts, and balanced the budget by 2012. It was voted down, 160 to 228.

On the Ways and Mean Committee, Ryan has pushed for higher tax cuts for businesses and has said that George W. Bush's cuts didn't go far enough. Ryan is known for his desire to reduce total government spending, eliminate earmarks and lower the debt burden on future generations. "Whether you're Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, we can all agree it would be a good thing if we decentralized the concentration of wealth in this country," Ryan says. "It would be a good thing if we narrowed the gap between rich and poor and disseminated more broadly the wealth in this country," he said in 2005.

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