he is a policy wonk, but the rare combination of a policy wonk and a good politician. he did very well and a fairly competitive district and wisconsin. he is one of the more conservative members of the house of representatives. that does not stop them from let -- from winning by large margins. >> we have got that on the internet here. i want to ask you about his speech making capabilities. >> he is seen as somebody this speaks with assurance and confidence about the issues that he cares about. i think that really explains why he has emerged as a major figure in the economic debate. he has a grasp of the issue. he is not just a policy wonk, he is immersed in economics. he has a highly developed and landings when it comes to economic doctrine. -- leanings when it comes to economic doctrine. she is -- he is a politician from wisconsin who is a bow hunter and comfortable in the midwest. he is a fairly accessible speaker as well. he is young and for some people, that might be a little jarring. his profile is rising and ureas delivering the republican response. >> what did h

wonk and he knows his numbers. i wonder if anyone on the panel will deny it. if we continued expansion of government and debt, our country will decline with incredible rapidity and it could encounter a collapse. moody's is are we speaking of downgrading the ratings of the united states, which is in tripoli for 100 years. >> "our nation is approaching a tipping point" -- paul ryan. >> when you talk about investments are spending, and this is entitlements, which i've talked about before, one of the scary statistics as, as recently in "national journal" is that in every decade, the past whatever number of decades, the number of jobs created has grown at least 20%. in the decade since 2000, before the recession, the number of jobs have only grown 5%. we have to prepare for this century with new kinds of education, more kinds of transportation, rebuilding the infrastructure. that does take investment or spending. compared to entitlement reform, that really is not that much. >> why was michelle bachmann also giving a response to the state of the union? >> it is beca

he is an extraordinarily detailed policy wonk and the fact that he has lived through... he's been in this job when he... when a democratic administration held the white house and when a republican... republicans held the congress and was able to get business done again goes to a large reason for why he's there. barack obama, as mark said twice now, wants to get things done and recognizes that the political terrain has changed. is gene sperling is a good guy to have in your shop under those circumstances. i also think that the other person who was being considered for that job, roger altman, who we all know, is someone who would have been very talented and very capable to take that job but i don't think it would have been possible for obama to put bill daley in the chief of staff's job and roger altman, two people with big ties to wall street would have been a bridge too far for obama and i think that also helped gene sperling to end up where he's going to end up. >> rose: the next big task for the president is to decide what he wants to say in the state of the union and

this issue is no longer just the per view of budget wonks and economists. the looming crisis of our national debt is a challenge that working americans recognize very clearly. while the magnitude of a $14 trillion debt is simply too massive to truly comprehend, those with a modicum of common common sense can appreciate the crushing whailt that will full on future generation if we do not immediately change course, the damage could quickly become irreversible. today's resolution is a clear signal that we are making that change in course. house resolution 38 is the first step, madam speaker, the first step in what will be a long and admittedly very difficult process over the next two years as we pursue the goal of living within our means. . this resolution lays down a marker to return to pre-bailout, pre-binge spending, pre-stimulus levels. this resolution provides the framework under which we will finally dispense with the fiscal year 2011 budget which the previous congress unfortunately failed to do. nearly halfway through the fiscal year, we're nearly halfw

this issue is no longer just the per view of budget wonks and economists. the looming crisis of our national debt is a challenge that working americans recognize very clearly. while the magnitude of a $14 trillion debt is simply too massive to truly comprehend, those with a modicum of common common sense can appreciate the crushing whailt that will full on future generation if we do not immediately change course, the damage could quickly become irreversible. today's resolution is a clear signal that we are making that change in course. house resolution 38 is the first step, madam speaker, the first step in what will be a long and admittedly very difficult process over the next two years as we pursue the goal of living within our means. . this resolution lays down a marker to return to pre-bailout, pre-binge spending, pre-stimulus levels. this resolution provides the framework under which we will finally dispense with the fiscal year 2011 budget which the previous congress unfortunately failed to do. nearly halfway through the fiscal year, we're nearly halfw

this issue is no longer just the per view of budget wonks and economists.he looming crisis of our national debt is a challenge that working americans recognize very clearly. while the magnitude of a $14 trillion debt is simply too massive to truly comprehend, those with a modicum of common common sense can appreciate the crushing whailt that will full on future generation if we do not immediately change course, the damage could quickly become irreversible. today's resolution is a clear signal that we are making that change in course. house resolution 38 is the first step, madam speaker, the first step in what will be a long and admittedly very difficult process over the next two years as we pursue the goal of living within our means. . this resolution lays down a marker to return to pre-bailout, pre-binge spending, pre-stimulus levels. this resolution provides the framework under which we will finally dispense with the fiscal year 2011 budget which the previous congress unfortunately failed to do. nearly halfway through the fiscal year, we're nearly halfway

for those of us who spent time in the policy wonk circles of washington, there is the state of the union and the release of the president's budget. i think that is what you have asked us to take a look at here. how could this budget be used to address the deficit? and also to address our economic priorities? i would like to say three things we should keep in mind about the rationale going into this budget year. i also want to say a few things about getting back on the right track and the things to avoid. i want to leave you with our best ideas from the aspen institute on how to go forward and getting our deficit under control. first on our rationale. i want to talk about the growth, savings and investment, and i want to talk about some progress of tax -- some progressive tax reforms. we have a deficit because we have a huge crisis and recession. this is a demand-constraint economy. means we do not have enough growth. if we could speed up gdp growth, we would not have this fiscal deficit in one year. we should be looking at where are the drivers for growth? where do we create the drivers