Paul Ryan's Challenge

[sheshe2]

Yesterday Speaker Boehner said that by April 15th Rep. Paul Ryan will have put forward a House Republican budget that will balance by the year 2023 - in 10 years. This might be just a hoax to get the lunatics in his party to vote today to "suspend" the debt limit until May 18th. But just in case they are actually serious, we should take a look at the challenge Ryan faces.

Snip:

Here's what President Obama said last time Ryan tried this.

Snip:

A 70 percent cut in clean energy. A 25 percent cut in education. A 30 percent cut in transportation. Cuts in college Pell Grants that will grow to more than $1,000 per year. That’s the proposal. These aren’t the kind of cuts you make when you’re trying to get rid of some waste or find extra savings in the budget. These aren’t the kinds of cuts that the Fiscal Commission proposed. These are the kinds of cuts that tell us we can’t afford the America that I believe in and I think you believe in.

Snip:

It’s a vision that says up to 50 million Americans have to lose their health insurance in order for us to reduce the deficit. Who are these 50 million Americans? Many are somebody’s grandparents -- may be one of yours -- who wouldn’t be able to afford nursing home care without Medicaid. Many are poor children. Some are middle-class families who have children with autism or Down’s syndrome. Some of these kids with disabilities are -- the disabilities are so severe that they require 24-hour care. These are the Americans we’d be telling to fend for themselves...

The America I know is generous and compassionate. It’s a land of opportunity and optimism. Yes, we take responsibility for ourselves, but we also take responsibility for each other; for the country we want and the future that we share...

More here.
http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2013/01/paul-ryans-challenge.html

[Angry Dragon]

1. Lyan Ryan is a soulless pet rock

and has no idea what works in an economy

[sheshe2]

2. He is the epitome of soulessness...

as is the entire GOP!

[okaawhatever]

3. The problem too is people have no idea what effect this will have on the economy long term.

One of the many problems I have with Randina/Liberterian types is that there is no "vision of the future" what effect will these policies have on life in America. Pell grants go down. What is the proposed net effect on citizens who don't go to college and earn less and pay less in taxes for the rest of their lives? What's the effect of not having welfare programs on crime? and so on. Sadly, the press is equally complicit in allowing the myth of small government to be circulated without also questioning the effects on quality of life for small government.