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Paul Ryan claims to be Wisconsinite through and through." But there is one thing about Wisconsin that he despises: the states progressive tradition. Wall Streets favorite congressman gives speeches decrying the legacy of Republicans like Wisconsin Sens. Robert M. La Follette and John Blaine, and he devotes several pages of his 2016 presidential campaign book to ripping the Wisconsin progressives for looking to methods of science to guide government and society.

The House Budget Committee chairman even appeared on Glenn Becks radio show to announce that: "What Ive been trying to do is indict the entire vision of progressivism because I see progressivism as the source, the intellectual source for the big government problems that are plaguing us today. And so to me its really important to flush progressives out into the field of open debate so people can actually see what this ideology means and where its going to lead us and how it attacks the American idea."

"I love you!" gushed Beck.

Beck referred to progressivism as "a cancer."

"Exactly, replied Ryan.

It is probably a good bet, then, that Ryan will miss Saturdays Fighting Bob Fest, the annual gathering of thousands of progressives that takes its name from Robert M. La Follette, celebrates La Follettes legacy and argues that his vision and that of the generations of Wisconsin leaders who have embraced it -- from his sons, Gov. Phil La Follette and Sen. Robert M. La Follette Jr., to Gaylord Nelson and Robert Kastenmeier, to Russ Feingold and Peg Lautenschlager, to Tammy Baldwin and Mark Pocan -- remains the truest expression of the state and its ideals.

When Ryan attacks La Follette, it is for national consumption. Like Gov. Scott Walker, who also rages against La Follette and the progressive tradition, Ryan wants to be considered as a 2016 presidential prospect. Both men would have a tough time winning Wisconsin as leaders of a national Republican ticket, as Ryan learned when he and Mitt Romney got whipped in 2012. So they are ripping on progressivism as part of a broader strategy of appealing to the new generation of robber barons who fund a degenerate remnant of the Republican Party of Lincoln, La Follette, Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower.

Charles and David Koch, and the network of billionaire and millionaire donors they lead, delight in attacks on progressive policies and politics. As a source for New Yorker writer Jane Mayers classic portrait of the Kochs explained, They are out to destroy progressivism.

And understandably so.

Progressivism as it has always been understood in Wisconsin seeks to bust the trusts, to break up the monopolies, to end the crony capitalist deals that help multimillionaires become billionaires. Above all, progressives have favored tax fairness that shifts the burden of maintaining government and a civil society off the shoulders of working families. This is done by addressing the abuses of the robber barons and corporate monopolies that use every method -- including foreign bank accounts and addresses -- to avoid paying their fair share.

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John Nichols: Why Paul Ryan and Scott Walker fear Bob La Follette