I usually disagree with David Brooks of the New York Times but do find his columns well-worth reading as he often makes good points. In a recent column Ryan’s Biggest Mistake he makes the point that in voting against the Simpson-Bowles proposal and so denying a vote for the proposal which offered both deficit reduction and tax reform, Paul Ryan helped shoot down a good proposal which he viewed as less than perfect.

They do say the perfect is the enemy of the good or something like that and this seems to be a good example. While I don’t think Paul Ryans’s ideas are perfect, I’m sure he has a high opinion of them. But as David Brooks points out, Paul Ryan was giving up real progress for a fantasy. Read the column. It is interesting (good but not perfect).