Ronald Reagan famously challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to "Tear down this wall!" Mitt Romney has just challenged President Obama to "Show us your plan!" Mr. Obama has painted this presidential election as a stark choice; in choosing Paul Ryan as his running mate, GOP contender Mitt Romney has answered in kind. While Reagan pushed Gorbachev to free his country, Romney will now push Mr. Obama to address our nation's fiscal abscess -- something the president has resolutely refused to do. 

Paul Ryan is the nation's premier budget wonk; he understands better than anyone that the looming fiscal cliff is nothing compared to the chasm that lies further down the road. He has studied the future, and he has a plan. Nothing could be more important. Without a clear program for reducing our deficits, our social safety net will unravel and our investments in our future - in schools, in infrastructure, in defense -- will wither.