“Why did we lose? How did it happen?” Ryan writes. “Why does the Republican Party seem to keep losing ground?”

The point of the congressman's book is to answer those questions. But Ryan never gets there. Instead, he bogs down in pop psychology and strategic talking points — never recognizing that Cheney sorted it all out for him in 2001.

The American people do not want to reform Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid as part of some austerity scheme to balance budgets on the shoulders of the elderly, people with disabilities and children whose families cannot afford health care. And they reject Ryan’s claim that there is no alternative to cuts.

Budgeting is about priorities. Congress chooses which programs to preserve and whether to cover costs by asking more from those who can afford to pay or by shifting the burden onto those most in need. Voters get this. And they want their leaders to respond to proposals to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid by saying, "Yeah, we're not going to do that."