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Live webcast: Ryan kicks off week two of listening tour in Lake Geneva

LAKE GENEVA -- Week two of Rep. Paul Ryan's listening tour kicks off at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at Lake Geneva City Hall. We plan to webcast the session live here.

Much has changed since Ryan met with his constituents in Lake Geneva.

A year ago, Ryan typically attracted a few dozen folks at these town-hall-style meetings. But this year, the House Budget Committee Chairman and the architect of the Republican plan to tackle the deficit, Ryan is attracting attention far beyond the borders of the 1st Congressional District.

After last week's standing-room-only sessions, Ryan has moved some of this week's meetings to larger venues. (See below).

The response to Ryan and his plan in many ways mirrors the polarization in the country as a whole. Here in Walworth County, a traditional Republican stronghold, Ryan was for the most part warmly received.

In Janesville and Milton, however, where manufacturing and unions have struggled following the closing of GM, the crowd was more critical; eliciting boos at one point in Milton.

A clip of those boos were a highlight of liberal commentator Rachel Maddow last week in her MSNBC show, but even those who don't like the Ryan's plan still regard him as someone who's done his homework.

I was talking to one of the other dads last week at a high school track meet in between watching our sons run.

A Madison firefighter, he's skeptical of Ryan's plan to dramatically change Medicare and Medicaid. But he went to Ryan's listening session in Janesville because he wanted to hear for himself what Ryan had to say.

There's no time in my recent memory that people have been so engaged in the policy choices our country is grappling with. This is what "difficult choices will have to be made" looks like.

What I observed at some of these sessions was a genuine frustration that comes for the acknowledgement that the debt and deficits are a huge problem. The differences come in how to solve it.

Frustration has many faces. Some in the crowd in Elkhorn, for example, were 100 percent behind Ryan, but didn't understand why Ryan couldn't simply put his plan in place.

The sticking point for many others was retaining the Bush tax cuts for the top earners while asking others to share the sacrifice.

After spending Easter at home in Janesville with his family, Ryan heads back out this week to continue what he's billed as the "Path to Prosperity" tour.

Whether or not he's tweaked his message remains to be seen. But in any case, many will be watching.

Listening sessions

Tuesday

Ryan's session from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in Lake Geneva will remain at city hall, 626 Geneva St. His schedule continues as follows:

Twin Lakes: 11 a.m. to noon, village hall, 108 E. Main St. Paddock Lake: 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., village hall, 6969 236th Ave.

Kenosha: 3 to 4:15 p.m., Gateway Technical College, Madrigrano Auditorium, 3520 30th Ave.

Thursday

Waterford: 9:45 to 10:45 a.m., village hall, 123 N. River St.

Franklin: 11:15 to 12:15 p.m., Franklin High School gym, 8222 S. 51st St. Attendees should park in the lower/student lot.

Oak Creek: 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., Oak Creek Police Department, 301 W. Ryan Road.

Greenfield: 3 to 4:15 p.m., Whitnall High School auditorium, 5000 S. 116th St.

Friday

Burlington: 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., Veterans Terrace (Liberty Hall), 589 Milwaukee Ave.

Union Grove: 1 to 2 p.m., Community State Bank, 1500 Main St.

Sturtevant: 2:15 to 3:15 p.m., village hall, 2801 89th St. Racine: 3:45 to 5 p.m., Caesar Chavez Community Center gym, 2221 Douglas Ave.