Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Kudos to Paul Ryan

Paul Ryan is one of those rare politicians who not only understands how the government and the economy really work, but is willing to say and do what is necessary to get us out of the deep spending and deficit-drenched predicament we are in today. His vision of reform, laid out in today's WSJ op-ed, may not be perfect, but it is bold, brave, and a big breath of fresh air from my perspective. Lesser politicians will criticize his plan at their peril.

UPDATE: Mark Perry adds some good information on how Paul Ryan's plan compares to the Bowles/Simpson plan, and what his driving philosophy is, here.

7 comments:

Benjamin Cole said...

Ryan left several sacred cows untouched, the usual R-Party pet spending boondoggles in rural infrastructure, military and veterans benefits.

Ron Paul speaks more bluntly about what could be cut.

I give Ryan's plan a B-.

Paul said...

Benji,

So what grade do you give Obama's plan? His crackerjack economic team squeezed out a budget that grows the debt to 90% of GDP by 2025. His Democrat minions are screeching from the rooftops about the "extreme" and "irresponsible" Ryan plan that slightly dents their freeloader constitutent pocket books.

Paul Ryan's plan brought to you by the GOP control of Congress Benji repeatedly declared would be a disaster.

Benjamin Cole said...

Paul-

I give Obama a "C."

As I have said many times, I do not have faith in either party cutting the deficit.

It may reflect that reality we have Reps and Senators who are elected from geographic districts.

Thus, every Congressman wants to cut the deficit, and boost spending in his district or state.

As each state gets two Senators regardless of population, we see rural states have perfected the art of "bringing home the bacon," and are very successful at bringing into their states much more in federal outlays than they pay in federal taxes.

Rural states have become dependent on federal largesse.

So, who is going to cut the deficit?

Paul said...

"I give Obama a "C."

Based on what criteria? His own budget projections create an unsustainable upward debt trajectory. That's failure of epic proportions. Meanwhile, the Democrats are already screeching about the heartless GOP's plan to throw grandma out into the snow.


"As I have said many times, I do not have faith in either party cutting the deficit. "

And yet here is Ryan's plan that does exactly that. Is this hard for your to grasp?? If it fails, it will only be because of Obama and the Democrats you helped put into office.

"So, who is going to cut the deficit?"

Do you pay more than passing attention to current events? There's a government shutdown looming because one side wants to cut spending, the other side wants to talk about fiscal discipline while sending deficits to the stratosphere.

I'll leave it to you to investigate which side is which.

Benjamin Cole said...

Paul-

Ryan has made a proposal.

That is a long way from the rubber hitting the road.

No votes taken, no pet projects wiped out. (Side note: Why does Congress want to cut entitlements and not federal departmental spending? Because Congress can use federal departments to bring lard to campaign backers and ditrictis. But I am entitled to Medicare wherever I live).

I do wish Obama has called the bluff, and said to Ryan, "Okay, we will accept your cuts,and add additional $4 trillion in cuts to the Department of Defense, VA, USDA and military pensions. And every state will receive back from the federal government as much as they kick in."

BTW: Why no Ryan propsal to shut down the VA and give veterans vouchers instead? They would be "free to choose."

Paul: It's all politics. I wish there was an annointed one in D.C., But Ryan is no more it than Obama.

Frozen in the North said...

paul:

By now you will have seen that Ryan's number include some rather "aggressive" assumptions. There is no way the GOP will agree to cut Medicare -- it just will not fly with the GOP base.

One aspect I agree with, Ryan is the first to really get the scope right of the distance that needs to be covered between what we spend and what revenues. What is truly astounding is that all the heavy lifting come from the middle class and none from the well off (or corporations).

If there is a perception that not all Americans are involved in solving the problem, then the efforts will fail. Despite his best efforts (and some rather out of this world economic assumptions), Ryan's plan retains the GOP blinkers that will ensure its failure -- the rich are getting off with lower taxes, and share none of the burden.

A for effort, F for realistic assumption and F for delivery and implementation

Paul said...

"I do wish Obama has called the bluff, and said to Ryan, "Okay, we will accept your cuts,and add additional $4 trillion in cuts to the Department of Defense, VA, USDA and military pensions. And every state will receive back from the federal government as much as they kick in."

Instead, Obama offers nothing but massive increases in debt. But you lash out at Paul Ryan instead.