April 6, 2011--Two Cheers for Congressman Paul Ryan
Though it may be more of a boondoggle for the largest corporations--it proposes to cut their tax rate from 35 to 25 percent--though it may be another tax giveaway for the wealthy--it would make the Bush tax cuts for millionaires permanent--though it would likely line the pockets of the largest health insurers--it would give Medicare recipients vouchers to purchase private health insurance instead of having the government continue to serve as the single-payer--and I could go on; but at least House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan has put a bold and more-or-less comprehensive long-term budget plan on the table. If implemented, he claims, it would save more than $6 trillion dollars over the next decade.
If he had included a plan to "save" Social Security and cut military spending significantly, I would be offering three rather than two cheers.
Thus far, because of his lack of leadership on the issue of our long-term, structural debt, I give Barack Obama two boos.
He paid a political price to establish a bipartisan deficit reduction commission, they came up with a detailed report not so, so dissimilar from Ryan's; but as of today, Obama has not had anything substantive to say about his own commission's findings and recommendations. Other than to thank them for their effort, he has not offered a plan of his own. Nor has the Democratic leadership.
And so the debate going forward will center around the Ryan plan, not the Obama plan, and in effect what gets discussed will be a reaction to it.
This is yet another example of change I don't believe in. It is certainly not what I voted for two years ago.
Also, it is a further sign of the political ineptitude of the Obama White House. To allow the Republicans, who are primarily responsible for our unsustainable debt, to get ahead of the Democrats, who were only complicitous, is not impressive. At least we would expect Obama to be controlling the agenda and the direction of the debate if not the ultimate disposition.
I don't know about you, but I'm going back to Dancing With the Stars.
If he had included a plan to "save" Social Security and cut military spending significantly, I would be offering three rather than two cheers.
Thus far, because of his lack of leadership on the issue of our long-term, structural debt, I give Barack Obama two boos.
He paid a political price to establish a bipartisan deficit reduction commission, they came up with a detailed report not so, so dissimilar from Ryan's; but as of today, Obama has not had anything substantive to say about his own commission's findings and recommendations. Other than to thank them for their effort, he has not offered a plan of his own. Nor has the Democratic leadership.
And so the debate going forward will center around the Ryan plan, not the Obama plan, and in effect what gets discussed will be a reaction to it.
This is yet another example of change I don't believe in. It is certainly not what I voted for two years ago.
Also, it is a further sign of the political ineptitude of the Obama White House. To allow the Republicans, who are primarily responsible for our unsustainable debt, to get ahead of the Democrats, who were only complicitous, is not impressive. At least we would expect Obama to be controlling the agenda and the direction of the debate if not the ultimate disposition.
I don't know about you, but I'm going back to Dancing With the Stars.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
5:53 AM
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