Thanks to House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, the Republicans have an issue large enough to provide a compelling message in the general election. His budget plan is a vehicle for potentially moving the eventual nominee above the noise and into what qualifies as a space in which the enormous stakes for the American future can be properly defined. Ryan himself properly characterized this positioning as follows: “It is rare in American politics to arrive at a moment in which the debate revolves around the fundamental nature of American democracy and the social contract. But that is where we are.” The question is, can the nominee match the moment and the opportunity? And as I have said so many times before, it’s a moral debate, because government decides not only who gets what, but why. So let’s get on with it.