He's barely 40 years old and is already a six term veteran in the House of Representatives. Clearly, the people of the First District in Wisconsin have seen something they like in this very brainy, very passionate man. And this year, the rest of America is beginning to see what residents of his district have known for years; Paul Ryan is a man of intellectual heft and strong conservative principles.

I'm trying not to like this fellow too much, but it is very hard. He hands out a copy of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugs to each new member of his staff. His Roadmap for America's Future Act , which calls for virtual privatization of Medicare and Social Security while cutting the rate of growth in benefits has even earned grudging praise from some liberals for Ryan's willingness to face the crisis we are in and offer bold, controversial solutions.

At the health care summit, he was a man among boys, firing broadsides at the health care reform bill that hit their target with devastating accuracy. Obama didn't even bother to try and counter the points Ryan made. In 11 minutes, he destroyed the Democrats' talking points - and they knew it.

His own health care reform bill, The Patient's Choice Act , was buried by House Democrats who refused to even consider most of the common sense, market oriented alternatives he was promoting. In fact, the president and the Democrats pretended that the bill wasn't even offered, referring constantly to the GOP having "no new ideas" about reform when a 248 page bill was staring them in the face, just waiting for the opposition to acknowledge its existence.

But we all know that is not the Democrat's game. It's been their way or the highway with every bill they've introduced.

Now, as we move into what may be the critical week for health care reform, Paul Ryan gets us off to an excellent start with a great op-ed in the Washington Post:

Rather than tackle the drivers of health inflation, the legislation chases the ever-increasing premiums with huge new subsidies. Already, Washington has no idea how to pay for the unfunded promises in Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security -- and creating this new entitlement would accelerate our path to fiscal ruin. When you strip away the double-counting, expose the hidden costs that must be funded and look at the price tag when the legislation is fully implemented, the claims of deficit reduction are as hollow as claims of cost containment.

This legislation includes a range of job-killing tax hikes and controls on all Americans -- to fund this new entitlement and to penalize employers and individuals who don't play by Washington's new rules. The CBO said last July that "requiring employers to offer health insurance, or pay a fee if they do not, is likely to reduce employment." The mix of mandates and higher costs will drive Americans into government exchanges, with an ever-enlarging number reliant upon taxpayer subsidies for their care. The architecture is designed to give the government greater control over what kind of insurance is available, how much health care is enough and which treatments are worth paying for.

If this debate had actually been about health care, we could have worked together to get a grip on costs, make quality care more accessible, address exclusions for preexisting conditions and realign the incentives of insurance companies with those of patients and doctors. Yet this process -- including its embarrassing conclusion -- demonstrates that the debate has never been about health-care policy but, instead, paternalistic ideology.

Should the Democrats' health-care train wreck make it to the president's desk, it will be a pyrrhic victory, and its devastating consequences will take their toll on our health-care system, our budget and our economy.