Paul Ryan: Intellectual Giant Among Dwarfs in Congress

FA Hayek in his Road to Serfdom described how the worst among us choose to become politicians. Paul Ryan is a rare exception to this rule. That Ryan is the intellectual leader of the Congress is evident in this speech on "The American Idea" at the Heritage Foundation in Washington.

Why have we extended an endless supply of taxpayer credit to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, instead of demanding that their government guarantee be wound down and their taxpayer subsidies ended?" Why are tax dollars being wasted on bankrupt, politically connected solar energy firms like Solyndra? "Why is Washington wasting your money on entrenched agribusiness?"

Rather than raise taxes on individuals, we should "lower the amount of government spending the wealthy now receive." The "true sources of inequity in this country," he continued, are "corporate welfare that enriches the powerful, and empty promises that betray the powerless." The real class warfare that threatens us is "a class of bureaucrats and connected crony capitalists trying to rise above the rest of us, call the shots, rig the rules, and preserve their place atop society.