Paul Ryan, a Republican congressman from a Wisconsin district bordering Illinois, has seen his profile skyrocket since he unveiled a plan to cut taxes and spending and scale back Medicare and Medicaid.

Lanky, high energy and conservative, Ryan, 41, won House approval Friday of his proposals, which have made him a fixture on talk shows and a sparring partner to President Barack Obama.

The two men, with homes 115 miles apart in Janesville, Wis., and on Chicago's South Side, adhere to political ideologies that are worlds apart.

Last week, Ryan was invited to sit in the front row at a speech Obama gave outlining his deficit reduction proposal. From Obama, referring to Ryan's plan: "There's nothing serious about a plan that claims to reduce the deficit by spending a trillion dollars on tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires." Ryan, normally not a grenade thrower, condemned the president's talk as "excessively partisan, dramatically inaccurate and hopelessly inadequate." Why does he want to cut a popular program like Medicare? His short answer is that he's trying to ensure the program is solvent for his kids, ages 6, 7 and 9, and their kids.

Washington - Calling for deep domestic cuts and a wholesale makeover of Medicare and Medicaid, Paul Ryan's 2012 budget plan was adopted Friday by the GOP majority in the House, a defining congressional vote that could leave a powerful stamp on future elections.

Passage of the Ryan budget reflects a new and striking Republican consensus that massive entitlement changes are a fiscal imperative and a political message that average voters may now be ready to hear.

"Will we be remembered as the Congress that did nothing as the nation sped toward a preventable debt crisis and an irreversible decline, or as the Congress that did the hard work of preventing a crisis? . . . This is our defining moment," said Ryan, the House budget chairman from Janesville, as he concluded the floor debate.

"Where is the shared sacrifice?" asked Maryland Democrat Chris Van Hollen, who said pulling back aid to the elderly and poor while exempting defense from the budget ax and wealthy Americans from paying more was "the same old ideological agenda, except this time on steroids."

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Harley Davidson Museum Riverwalk on 6th and Canal Street will be a location where all will be welcomed to Celebrate Earth Day. The event is free, beginning at 5 pm until 7 pm, activities will take place by the 6th Street Viaduct Bridge or the Hank Aaron Bike Trail. Activities planned include: The Eco- Puppet Parade by motorcycle statue at 5 pm.; Participate in the Inter-Faith Opening Ceremony; Opening address by Congresswoman Gwen Moore; Learn about Nature Deficit Disorder from Dr. Francisco Enriquez, physician, 16th St. Community Health Clinic; Learn about Habitat Protection from Butterfly Barb Agnew and Carrie Hennessy; Closing words by Rev. Will Brisco, president of MICAH; Hear musicians Tim Maher & Kristina Paris-with local singers and dancers; Special guests include, John Muir, Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson; Children’s supervised recycle art program. Attendees are welcomed to bring your own lawn chair, there will be plenty of parking and indoor rain space will be available.

A few Madison protesters overreact to Gov. Walker's modest proposal.

When Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker took his show on the road to Washington, D.C. Thursday for offer insights on "good government" at a hearing of the House Oversight Committee, he showed his under appreciated imagination in describing his "very modest proposal" for public employees.

Eventually, Gov. Walker was pelted with a set of hostile questions and searing comments, but he reacted impassively. After all, what do mere congressmen and women matter when you have the Koch brothers, the Club for Growth, FreedomWorks, Americans for Prosperity and the Heritage Foundation backing you up?

Gov. Walker, however, may have accidentally created the impression that his anti-public union law is in full effect and its beneficial effects are spreading across the state. In fact, its enforcement is under a restraining order because of Republican violations of the state's Open Meetings law. Because of litigation, it may take months before the status of the bill is resolved.

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