U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin)
The conversation has begun.
U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin), chairman of the House Budget Committee, just started it.
His proposal to trim more than $4 trillion in federal spending over the next decade is exactly what we need to be talking about. Agree with it; disagree with it; praise it; attack it, or parse it. But talk about it, because the future of the country depends on it. All the other banter in Washington is shadow boxing.
There has been a lot of buzz about 41-year-old Ryan. It’s not that he’s just a true fiscal conservative; it’s that he’s honest and unafraid. It’s what makes him stand out among others in the nation’s capitol. Ryan has guts, and this proposal proves it. It also proves that he trusts the American people.
Ryan is handing a loaded gun to the Democrats with four trillion extra rounds of ammunition. He’s giving them everything they need to destroy the Republican Congress. Every sacred ox is gored; third rails are firmly in hand. Millions of voters will see favorite programs diminished as a result of this plan. In short, this Republican is placing his and his Party’s jugular on the chopping block and asking Americans to “check the math” before swinging. Great stuff.
Ryan is betting everything that the American public will rise above selfish politics for the greater national good. He’s betting that they get it.
If he’s right, the prospects for America’s future will brighten immeasurably. If he’s wrong, Americans will have lost their heads a moment before Ryan’s hits the floor.
Let the great debate begin.
The ideas are all worth discussing. The timing couldn’t be worse. If you want to guarantee a double-dip recession, then rush right in. In the long run, cutting spending in a down economy will reduce tax receipts for decades. It’s just incredibly stupid. The fact is, Bush had a surplus and that was the time to cut spending. Instead he spent that surplus on tax cuts. He plundered the palace and we’re still paying for it. Sorry, I don’t mean to look backwards, but it’s a perfect example of what should and shouldn’t be done in a surplus economy. When I’m feeling really cynical I point out that Republicans know the negative effect that spending cuts will have on the economy, they don’t care, and they’re only talking about it for political gains. In the end, if the talk is insincere then it really is not worth talking about.
Put down the Krugman pipe!
(With these deficit numbers Keynes is way too much of a gamble.)
Just the facts, Ma’am. US net debt is really not as bad as you think, relative to the size of the economy (see the list below which puts us in the company of my favorite country, Mauritius). What’s really funny is how my conservative father used to always tell me this and I never believed him. Now that I believe him he assures me he was wrong for the last 40 years.
http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/economics/list-of-national-debt-by-country/
That is very funny!
I will also say that Paul Ryan is a legitimate threat in 2016.
Of course, the devil is in the details on this budget thing. Why do I have to feel like a caveman for thinking that making the Bush tax cuts permanent is a bad idea? Those cuts are what got us into this mess in the first place (that and I my other favorite thing — WAR!!). You do realize that keeping the cuts is a total non-starter, right? It can’t happen, we have to increase revenue along with making cuts. There are only two ways to do that — job growth and increased taxes.
Which leads me to broach the topic that is related to all of this. Immigration. I feel, very strongly, that contrary to all of this right-wing fear of the foreign invasion nonsense, immigration is our true savior. That is, we need to increase it dramatically. More people, more homes, more infrastructure, more jobs, bigger tax base. It solves everything, I swear. Are you with me?
I am with you 100%
Count me in, too! Can you imagine the additional problems we’d be facing if the U.S. were aging the way Japan and many European countries are? Immigration is our friend.
[…] was a particularly egregious breach of trust to conservatives because Ryan had voluntarily put his neck on the chopping block. Ryan’s deficit reduction plan is tantamount to political suicide […]