An Open Letter to Conservatives Who Care About the Deficit: Wake Up!

During the Bush years, the conservative movement enthusiastically supported the president until late in his second term, when fiscal conservatives started raising their voices. Their protests and the subsequent rise of the Tea Party were supposed to signal a change. Everywhere, folks on the right talked about the urgency of addressing present and projected deficits. Rep. Paul Ryan rose to prominence partly because he proposed a way forward. And conservative publications that worry about the deficit are all backing Team Romney-Ryan, arguing in part that righting America's fiscal ship is...