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Stephen Moore: The Kempian Roots of Ryanomics

By Stephen Moore, The Wall Street Journal President Obama's campaign is exulting that Mitt Romney's choice of Paul Ryan as his running mate...

By Stephen Moore, The Wall Street Journal President Obama's campaign is exulting that Mitt Romney's choice of Paul Ryan as his running mate highlights the contrast of campaign visions about America's economic direction. They're right. Mr. Ryan, who I have known for more than 20 years, has made his recent reputation as a budget wonk. But his policy roots lie in the growth and opportunity wing of the GOP. Mr. Ryan broke into politics in the 1990s at Empower America, where he became a protégé of former Buffalo Congressman Jack Kemp, the pro-growth, pro-trade, pro-immigration leader of the GOP during the Reagan revolution and into the 1990s. Kemp understood, as Mr. Ryan also does, that while spending restraint is important, faster economic growth is a precondition to averting a fiscal impasse. More than anyone else in Washington in recent years, Mr. Ryan has adopted the Reagan-Kemp message. Read More