Paul Ryan Reality Check

A couple good links about Wisconsin’s very own, Paul Ryan (R-Wall St.).

1. Paul Ryan wants to DISinvest in America:

By now you might have heard that the Republican budget plan proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) wants to eliminate Medicare as we know it and to give hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts to U.S. billionaires —paid for by raising taxes on the middle class and slashing services to families that our economy has left behind. You might also have heard that, in spite of all the pain Rep. Ryan’s plan would inflict on regular families, it makes almost no progress in reducing the federal budget deficit by 2021.

But did you also know that Ryan’s plan will strip bare investments in innovation and competitiveness that are critical to long-run growth and prosperity in the U.S. economy?

Aside from being fundamentally unfair, the Ryan budget plan is bad economics, too. Investment—both public and private—is the most fundamental determinant of economic growth and job creation. Investment boosts productivity and raises living standards for the long-run competitiveness of our economy. Economists across the political spectrum are warning of the threat that cuts to government services pose for job creation and growth in the near term. Most recently, economist Mark Zandi forecast that the Ryan-Republican plan will eliminate 1.7 million jobs in its first two years . But deep cuts to investments proposed in the Ryan-Republican budget plan will also set back the long-run growth and competitiveness of the U.S. economy.

( I recommend the whole read)

2. In JSOnline yesterday, Paul Ryan re-election not a given:

As the fiscal voice of the GOP and the architect of its plan to scale back Medicare, Paul Ryan is the Republican many Democrats would most like to defeat next year.

A Ryan loss would cost his party a lot more than a seat in Congress. It would deprive it of one of its most influential figures. And it would be a huge blow to its policy agenda, which Ryan has played a central role in crafting.

Could Ryan, often touted as a candidate for Senate or even president, lose a re-election bid for his own U.S. House seat?

That would be a shock. By any conventional calculus, the odds are substantially against it.

At the same time, Democrats are correct in saying this contest won’t be a nonevent like Ryan’s past campaigns. Wisconsin has been turned upside down politically since the last time Ryan was on a ballot.

As always let’s help this story come true: Support Rob Zerban!