Robert Samuelson on the Ryan pick

Robert Samuelson thinks the Paul Ryan pick could trigger a debate about the size and role of the federal government. I'd like to see that.

A genuine debate is long overdue. The framework for government’s expansion since 1960 has broken down. Its political appeal was that we got more government (from food stamps to Medicare to Pell grants) without a parallel increase in tax burdens. In 1960, federal taxes were 17.8 percent of the economy (gross domestic product); in 2007, before the financial crisis, they were only 18.5 percent of GDP.
Two bits of good fortune enabled this something-for-nothing swelling of government: First, annual economic growth averaged slightly more than 3 percent; second, defense spending declined as a share of the budget — in effect, lower defense spending financed higher social spending. Both props are gone.