3. Paul Ryan’s ideas are pointedly not included, and he isn’t attending the unveiling.

Rep. Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who has released a “Road Map” to reform entitlement spending, has been praised by policy experts on all sides of the political spectrum – who cite his willingness to offer up any plan at all as sorely lacking in Washington – but has opened up the GOP to attack ads that seek to scare seniors, even though Ryan’s plan wouldn’t change anything for those currently in the programs.

So Ryan was not included in drafting the “Pledge” and will be conspicuously absent from the event with Boehner and a dozen other GOP leaders at Thursday’s unveiling. And the GOP document does not come within several light years of talk about moving Medicare toward a voucher system or Social Security toward private accounts.

“We will make the decisions that are necessary to protect our entitlement programs for today’s seniors and future generations. That means requiring a full accounting of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, setting benchmarks for these programs and reviewing them regularly, and preventing the expansion of unfunded liabilities,” the document reads.