REP. PAUL RYAN, R-WISC.
RANKING MEMBER, HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE
Date of Birth: Jan. 21, 1970
Education: B.A., Miami University in Ohio.
Career Path: Ryan was elected to the U.S. House in 1998 at age 28, and is pressing for a reining in of entitlement spending. He runs a Web site, http://americanroadmap.org/, which details his plans to overhaul the federal tax code, social security, Medicare and Medicaid.
Role in Health Care Reform, 1993-94: None.
Why He’s a Player Now: A leader of the conservative Republicans on domestic policy, he’ll push for market-oriented solutions on health care. Ryan is also a member of the GOP health care reform task force and is the lead House sponsor of the Patients’ Choice Act, a conservative proposal billed as an alternative to a Democratic health plan. The bill would provide tax credits to purchase insurance and creates state insurance exchanges.
Quote: “Our Constitution gives the federal government no power to run health care programs. And bureaucracies cannot deliver services effectively because they have no market signals to understand what consumers want. Yet a federal health care monopoly remains the Left’s fondest dream. Conservatives must stop this dream from becoming America’s nightmare.” (GOP.gov, Feb. 26, 2009)
Read about the other ‘Players‘.
