Since hypocrisy comes as naturally as breathing to most Republican members of Congress, leaving the press and many voters numb to it, the mismatch between Paul Ryan's stated policy stances and his actions and personal history is unlikely to draw much attention. That mismatch is pretty breathtaking, too. Ryan has, of course, described Social Security as a Ponzi scheme despite having paid for college using Social Security survivors benefits. But here's a funny twist on Ryan's enthusiastic participation in the "you did build that" line Republicans are pushing so hard. See, what President Obama said was "Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business—you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen."

Actually, it turns out that Ryan's family construction firm (founded by his great-grandfather, now owned by his cousins) got big building roads. For the government.



Mr. Anti-Spending secured millions in earmarks for his home state of Wisconsin, including, among other things, $3.3 million for highway projects. And Ryan voted to preserve $40 billion in special subsidies for big oil, an industry in which, it so happens, Ryan and his wife hold ownership stakes.

To be fair, that's Ryan's family, not him. But his only private-sector work experience beyond things like waiting tables and selling bologna (for Oscar Mayer) was gained working for the family firm, so he doesn't seem to disapprove too strongly. And this is all him:But nothing to see here. Republicans have convinced the media to judge people as "fiscal conservatives" based solely on how badly they'll treat poor and middle-class people, and Ryan would treat those people very badly indeed, so no amount of earmarks or personal profit will strip him of that label in the press. What the millions of Americans he would victimize think is another matter.