House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, made news May 22 with a speech at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley. Notably he warned against the kind of austerity trap — a combination of tax hikes and spending cuts — that has badly crippled several European economies. He also dodged questions about joining the ticket of presumed GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney as vice president.

The thing about talks at the Reagan Library is that they don’t happen by accident; they have subtext that are important to the influence of the West and particularly Southern California on the political scene. The coy Ryan seems to have done no harm to his prospects for a vice presidential nomination. Now we’ll just have to wait and see.