Paul Ryan's $4 Trillion Budget Cut

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Fairly moderate proposal, but it is the first serious starting point proposed by anyone. Details tomorrow, but here's what he had to say on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace:

www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2011/Apr/03/interview_with_paul_ryan___part_1.html

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

RYAN: By cutting spending, reforming entitlements and growing our economy. Look, we intend to not only cut discretionary spending and put caps on spending, you have to address the drivers of our debt. We need to engage with the American people on a fact-based budget, on stopping politicians from making empty promises to people and talk to the country about what is necessary to fix these problems.

Now the good thing we have going for us is we have time to fix this problem. So the kinds of reform we're going to be putting out there won't make changes to people who are already in or near retirement. If you're 55 or older, you won't see changes. You won't have to reorient your lives around these things.

But if we keep kicking the can down the road and keep making more empty promises to people, then we'll have the European kind of pain and austerity. Then you have cuts to current seniors, tax increases that slow down your economy.

By addressing the drivers of the debt now, we do it in a gradual way. We can guarantee the mission of health and retirement security, not just for current generations, but for future generations. And we are going to put out a plan that gets our debt on downward trajectory and gets us to a point of giving our next generation a debt-free nation. That in and of itself will help us grow the economy today and create jobs.

[privateinvestor]

OK but remember Ryan said " Whether it is dead on arrival, I don't know but where the president has failed to lead we are going to fix this problem"

Or from his remarks you can sense the frustration because would we have this budget problems if Obama had decided to take the lead instead of watching from the sidelines??

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Apr 4, 2011 9:51:40 GMT -5 @privateinvestor said:

OK but remember Ryan said " Whether it is dead on arrival, I don't know but where the president has failed to lead we are going to fix this problem"

Or from his remarks you can sense the frustration because would we have this budget problems if ABM had decided to take the lead instead of watching from the sidelines??

True, and Wallace pressed him on that point:

WALLACE: Last question, as you look ahead, and a lot of people would say look, the answer is you're not going to get this budget passed. It's really setting up an issue and -- and a sensible debate for 2012.

As you look ahead to the next election, aren't Democrats going to be able to say, look at Paul Ryan, look at the House Republicans. They want to kill Medicare, they want to kill Medicaid, they want to gut the programs that you depend on. Aren't you playing into the Democrats' hands?

And Ryan correctly noted:

RYAN: We are. We are giving them a political weapon to go against us, but they [Democrats] will have to lie and demagogue to make that a political weapon.

[billisonboard]

Details tomorrow...

[privateinvestor]

Lets see what Ryan's new plan will be all about tomorrow when he releases it..and he wants to rework Medicare and Medicare and we can discuss it without all the liberal negative hype and spin which adds absolutely nothing to this debate

Ryan is looking at @ $4 Trillion in deficit reductions through 2020 and that has Dems screaming "Too Drastic, Too Draconian"..

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Yeah- we're borrowing $1.67 trillion THIS YEAR via Obama's proposed budget.

[billisonboard]

Lets see what Ryan's new plan will be all about tomorrow when he releases it..

Why any politician doesn't just release a proposal instead of announcing they are going to release it at some point in the future is frustrating to me. Give us the plan instead of spinning it left, right, and sideways for the weekend.

[privateinvestor]

The interesting thing to me is that the Obama Deficit Commission's ideas were all rejected by the Dems and the Republicans don't like the increased government revenues...Now we have Ryan's Plan vs Obama's Plan...but Will we see a compromise or will we see a government shut down? I have no idea but we are watching our Federal Government wrestle with a serious budget problem and the process is rather troubling to say the least and more disturbing if you really study this subject..

[privateinvestor]

What happened to Billsonboard promise to ignore each and every one of my posts because I have bullied him so much lately

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Doug Holtz Eakin, former Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is on Fox Now rasing some good points.

"More important than the cuts is changing how Medicare and Medicaid work. These are the largest programs in the federal budget, they are the source of the large growth in debt that endangers our economy, and that indeed our national freedom, so if you change those programs, you don't just reduce the deficit, you make them secure for the next generation and you eliminate the problem of this coming back again, we're going to fix this problem once and for all if we take this plan.

If you look at those two programs alone- Medicare and Medicaid, and we let them grow as the baby boom retires, and health care costs rise, those two programs alone will become as large as the current federal government. That's unacceptable. It endangers the programs themselves as the next generation won't have those programs, and it endangers the economy."

[privateinvestor]

Ryan's basic premise is to cut entitlements and spending as well but his details are going to set a lot of Dems hair on fire..because that is a much different approach the Obama fans want to see.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Apr 4, 2011 10:30:48 GMT -5 @privateinvestor said:

The interesting thing to me is that the Obama Deficit Commission's ideas were all rejected by the Dems and the Republicans don't like the increased government revenues...Now we have Ryan's Plan vs Obama's Plan...but Will we see a compromise or will we see a government shut down? I have no idea but we are watching our Federal Government wrestle with a serious budget problem and the process is rather troubling to say the least and more disturbing if you really study this subject..

The Republicans need to do a better job rejecting the underlying presupposition that tax increases = increased revenue. At current levels, furhter tax increases will almost certainly REDUCE revenue.

Ryan is correct to focus on meaningful tax reform. Democrats are already demogoging the "tax giveaways to oil companies" and the "rich" but what Ryan failed to articulate is comprehensive tax reform would put an end to many of the tax loopholes that are at the heart of the problem. Republicans should focus on ALL loopholes, not just some politically poll-tested, focused group phrase like "big oil".

These kinds of attacks by Democrats are really just a sign that they don't get it. They aren't serious about comprehensive budget cuts, tax reform, entitlement reform, and pro-growth policies.

Democrats are clinging to the old failed ideas of the past that got us here in the first place. Obama's and the Democrat's proposed continued wreckless, irresponsible, unsustainable borrow-and-spend policies now threaten children, the elderly, and each person's economic security.

[billisonboard]

Apr 4, 2011 10:34:51 GMT -5 @privateinvestor said:

What happened to Billsonboard promise to ignore each and every one of my posts because I have bullied him so much lately

I will continue to post my thoughts, opinions, and feelings on any and all political topics of interest to me without regard to whether any other particular poster has posted on the topic.

[Angel!]

I am liking his medicare proposal, sounds like a good plan depending on the details.

[ugonow]

I think I read those already recieving it will get the cuts proposed in Obamacare rolled back,and those under 55 are the only ones that will be affected by his proposal.... I doubt it will have the same level of benefits.Since it is mostly those under 55 that are now footing the bill for it,is that generational theft?

[ugonow]

WALLACE: OK, let's talk about entitlements. You would cut spending for Medicare by turning it into a voucher system after 2021, which means anyone under 55 would not be affected by this. But a voucher system where seniors would get government money to buy private health insurance.

RYAN: That's actually not accurate, and there's been some leaks that are not -- my road map does do a voucher program, which means the money goes to the person and they go out and buy insurance.

WALLACE: Right. You're not--

RYAN: That's not what we're proposing.

Our reforms are along the line of what I proposed with Alice Rivlin, the Democrat from the Clinton administration in the fiscal commission, which is a premium support system. That's very different from a voucher.

Premium support is exactly the system I as a member of Congress and all federal employees have. It works like the Medicare prescription drug benefit, similar to Medicare Advantage today, which means Medicare puts a list of plans out there that compete against each other for your business, and seniors pick the plan of their choosing, and then Medicare subsidizes that plan. It doesn't go to the person, into the marketplace. It goes to the plan. More for the poor, more for people who get sick, and we don't give as much money to people who are wealthy.

Doing that saves Medicare. It doesn't apply to anybody. Those who are 55 or above keep their Medicare exactly as is it today, but the problem is the biggest driver of our debt is Medicare. It has trillions, tens of trillions of dollars of unpaid promises.

We want to keep these promises. Meaning, we want to fulfill the mission of health retirement security for future seniors, and so we will be proposing a premium support system like the Rivlin-Ryan plan, which is identical to the system I as a member of Congress and all federal employees have.

WALLACE: Obviously, I am at a disadvantage, because I haven't seen the plan, but the CBO did an analysis of the Ryan-Rivlin plan, and it said that it would -- the effect of the plan would be to shift more of the burden of health care costs out of their own pockets to seniors.

RYAN: Right, so for wealthy seniors especially. It also did not say these are vouchers. These are premium support, and there's a big difference here with that. It said that we're going to protect people who are low-income. We are going to protect people as their health condition gets worse. If you get sicker, you'll have more so that you can have -- your rates stabilize. No more premium increases.

www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-news-sunday/transcript/rep-paul-ryan-previews-gop-budget-sen-marco-rubio-debt-crisis-libya?page=2

[Angel!]

Since it is mostly those under 55 that are now footing the bill for it,is that generational theft?

Lol!. I am wondering how well this will be recieved. The proposal makes sense & people have known for decades that these programs were unsubstainable. The question is - will there still be a backlash by the public from this. As we have seen in WI, people want cuts until they realize what they have to give up. People 40-55 are probably not going to be too happy at all.

I am also wondering if this will piss off the rich. Now they won't get their "fair share" of medicare & will have to pay more than the poor folks.

[Angel!]

Actually, this isn't that different from the healthcare premiums being subsidized by the healthcare reform. Where are all the republicans screaming about what a bad idea this is?

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Apr 4, 2011 11:37:47 GMT -5 Angel! said:

I am liking his medicare proposal, sounds like a good plan depending on the details.

I would have responded sooner, but I passed out when I read this the first time...

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Apr 4, 2011 11:46:42 GMT -5 Angel! said:

Since it is mostly those under 55 that are now footing the bill for it,is that generational theft?

Lol!. I am wondering how well this will be recieved. The proposal makes sense & people have known for decades that these programs were unsubstainable. The question is - will there still be a backlash by the public from this. As we have seen in WI, people want cuts until they realize what they have to give up. People 40-55 are probably not going to be too happy at all.

I am also wondering if this will piss off the rich. Now they won't get their "fair share" of medicare & will have to pay more than the poor folks.

You bet it will. Seniors are some of the biggest whiners there are, and if it means a few less days on the golf course down in Boca, they're going to cry about it.

It's a big shit sandwich, and we're all gonna have to take a bite. But since the "rich" are basically paying for everything, you can bet the bulk of any reforms will be carried on their shoulders.

Means testing Medicare is just the beginning.

[ugonow]

Something needs to be done,there is no doubt.I am glad the baby is not being thrown out with the bathwater,so to speak.On other boards I see a lot of talk about doing away with all forms of medicare,privitized or government.In insurance the healthy subsidize the unhealthy. When you are talking seniors, it puts a new wrinkle into it. Should be interesting to see how much the government keeps up with insurance company increases. For a change,it is a benefit to be over 55. ;D

[Angel!]

Apr 4, 2011 11:54:53 GMT -5 AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP said:

Apr 4, 2011 11:37:47 GMT -5 Angel! said:

I am liking his medicare proposal, sounds like a good plan depending on the details.

I would have responded sooner, but I passed out when I read this the first time...

LOL! I am not as liberal as I think I come across on this board. I am aware this country has a major financial problem & applaud officials actually having the guts to go after medicare & SS to make cuts. They make up 1/3 of our budget & we can't possible expect to fix the problem without making some major changes to these programs.

[Deleted]

People 40-55 are probably not going to be too happy at all.

As one of those 40-55 group does this make me happy ? No. I am realistic though and willing to do what it takes. Go Paul!
I'm not rich either, but every one is going to need to face the music.

[Deleted]

Can you explain to me how privatizing Medi will decrease costs? When Advantage currently costs 30% MORE than fed run Medi?

[EVT1]

Apr 4, 2011 12:51:31 GMT -5 oped said:

Can you explain to me how privatizing Medi will decrease costs? When Advantage currently costs 30% MORE than fed run Medi?

It won't and they know it- all it will do is drop the level of care for seniors and fatten up the pockets of big insurance. The only rational solution is to convert Medicare/Medicaid into a single payer system and shut down the health insurance companies. Anything less will eventually bankrupt the government.

[workpublic]

could also be seen as a way to deplete inheritances.

[privateinvestor]

Don't forget that Obamacare is still hung up in the courts but the Justice Dept is arguing it is constitutional..But who knows what will happen to it and what effect it will have on the deficits.??-

[henryclay]

Who said the following? Was it....
Republican Bush one?
Republican Bush two?
Republican Reagan?
Economist F.A. Hayek?
Economist Arthur Laffer?
Democrat John Kennedy?
Democrat Harry Reid?
None of the above?
All the above?

“The soundest way to raise revenues in the long run is to cut taxes now. The purpose of cutting taxes now is. . .to achieve the more prosperous, expanding economy which can bring a budget surplus”.

[mmhmm]

That's a quote from JFK; however, at the time he said that the top marginal tax rate was 90%. Today, it's 35%. Big difference.