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FILE - In this April 5, 2011 file photo, Republican Vice Presidential candidate, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., accompanied by Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., right, works with Republican members of the committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. Paul Ryan traveled a perilous route to political stardom. While other lawmakers nervously whistled past trillion-dollar deficits, fearing to cut popular programs, he waded in with a machete and a smile. Ryan wants to slice away at Medicare, Social Security, food stamps and virtually every other government program but the military. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)