Congressman Calculator

摘要

When numbers are the political weapon of choice, the Republicans turn to Paul Ryan to do their fighting. In prep-ping for the Feb. 25 televised healthcare showdown with President Barack Obama, it was Ryan, a representative from southern Wisconsin's rolling hills and industrial enclaves, who was tasked with challenging the math of the Administration's $2.3 trillion healthcare overhaul. At 40, and already on his sixth term, Ryan has the right mix of freshness and experience for the moment. In 2006 he leapfrogged past 13 more senior colleagues to become the House Budget Committee's ranking Republican. Now he's on a mission to spark serious debate about entitlement spending that he argues will "swallow us alive" if left unchecked.