With Ryan in the race, a serious debate can begin

Regarding your editorial on the selection of Rep. Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney's vice-presidential running mate, the question of vision you raise can be restated in terms of whether government has become too large and pervasive in the lives of average citizens ("With Paul Ryan, Romney bets on the wrong vision for American," Aug. 11).

Certainly the escalating deficit has been in part the result of big government spending on social programs which, while beneficial to many, we simply cannot afford anymore.

Is there a middle ground in the debate about how to cure the economy? Certainly the new campaign focus will not be on finding a compromise but rather on whether the government should be shrunk or expanded.

This will be an election with two well-defined and opposing agendas. Hopefully the candidates on both sides will stop their petty sniping and instead address what really should be the issues, namely deficits, employment and economic growth.

Nelson Marans, Silver Spring