Krugman- Ryan's 5 point plan

[n2doc]

I just did a taping for All Things Considered with Douglas Holtz-Eakin, and more or less on the spur of the moment came up with a simple description of the Ryan budget plan. Basically, the plan has five points — except that only two of those points are real, while the other three are fake.

The real points are:

1. Savage cuts in programs that help the needy, amounting to about $3 trillion over the next decade.

2. Huge tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, also amounting to about $3 trillion over the next decade.

The fake points are:

3. “Base broadening” that makes those tax cuts revenue neutral. Ryan has refused to name a single tax preference that he would, in fact, be willing to get rid of; all he and his party do is keep repeating “revenue-neutral” in the hope that people believe them.

4. Unspecified cuts in spending outside Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security that would shrink the government — including defense! — back to 1920s levels.

5. Replacing Medicare with vouchers that would leave most seniors unable to afford insurance. Right.

more

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/ryans-five-point-plan/