Rep. Ryan is understandably alarmed. In The Wall Street Journal May 21, he wrote about a bill he's proposing that would: give individuals tax credits with which to buy their own health insurance in a competitive national marketplace, let the states have flexibility in running Medicaid, give workers under 55 money to buy insurance rather than rely on Medicare when they retire, permit younger workers to invest up to a third of their Social Security taxes in private accounts, increase the retirement age and temper the growth in Social Security benefits .

I don't know if that would be enough. What we really need is a top-to-bottom freeing of the economy, including the health-care industry, and massive cuts in government both spending and taxes. This would leave us wealthy enough to take care of ourselves, with private charity assisting those who can't manage. But Ryan's heart is in the right place. At least he's trying to get the public and his colleagues to focus on what's important. He told me he hopes to play the role of "Paul Revere, sounding the alarm about the government's unsustainable fiscal path."

Sadly, his proposal has been largely ignored. The Wall Street Journal didn't even publish any letters about it.

At least Office of Management and Budget Director Jim Nussle said, "I am encouraged by Congressman Ryan's leadership in his efforts to address this serious problem that continues to swallow the budget and swamp our economy."

And the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget agreed: "It shows tremendous courage and leadership on Congressman Ryan's part that he is willing to lay out a comprehensive and detailed plan ...."

Pleasantly surprising is the lefty home-state Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's reaction, praising Ryan for "putting a plan forward" while the presidential candidates are "skirting the issue."

But for the most part, Ryan's plan is being ignored.

That's too bad, because this budget problem is the big one. The longer we wait to address it -- the uglier it gets.