From Ben Mathis-Lilley at Slate Magazine:
For years and years, Rep. Paul Ryan’s self-projected “thing” was that he was a geeky budget wonk who was gravely, gravely concerned about the American government’s unsustainable fiscal future. Liberal critics, meanwhile, have claimed for almost as long that Ryan’s vaunted plans to balance the budget were baloney and that his only actual interest was in passing massive tax cuts for high earners and corporations. Now that he’s leaving Congress after having just passed major tax legislation and a budget as Speaker of the House during a period of total Republican control over the federal government, we can finally determine who was right.