My favorite economist, Dean Baker, is out with a critique of Paul Ryan's (R- Wall St.) budget. I recommend the whole read, but here are some highlights!
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan did a great public service when he released his budget last week. By throwing a piece of total garbage on the table and pretending it is a real budget plan, he allowed us to see who in Washington is serious about the budget and who just says things that will push their agenda.
Essentially Paul Ryan is an anarchist who is proposing to shut down the federal government.
This cannot be a misrepresentation of Representative Ryan’s agenda. He put out essentially the same budget last year at which point many people pointed out the fact that he shrank most categories of government spending to zero. If that was a mistake (albeit an incredibly foolish one) he has now had a full year to reflect on his error and redesign a budget to reflect his real priorities.
Instead, he doubled down. In Representative Ryan’s 2012 Path there is no room for federal funding for all the services that even conservatives expect the government to provide. Does the Republican right now want to shut down federal prisons and end border patrols as Representative Ryan’s budget implies.
While Pink Slip Paulie tends to throw a hissy fit and sic his friends at the Heritage Institute on people to defend his (perceived) honor, he usually leaves Dean Baker’s smackdowns of his juvenile policies alone. We will see if he responds to Mr. Baker or ignores him.
Of course he could have just been too busy preaching hate to the Defunding the American Dream Crazy Fest in Milwaukee recently.
PS: Challenge for the day…try and watch 5 minutes of paul ryan’s speech and not want to give your life savings to Rob Zerban.
I think the Ryan budget compares favorably to the Dems budget.
Unregulated billionaire control led us to the great depression and the second world war. The deaths of many of our finest young men and the restraints put on our financial system and anti-trust legislation against the moguls of power allowed small to medium businesses to grow and thrive. Those restraints have been removed, wars returned, almost 90% of the increases in income now go to 1% of the wealthiest people in America and elsewhere in the world through unlimited corporate domination. You are a liar, Ryan, and I’m ashamed that you rely on you Catholic affiliation with me to promote your scurrilous integrity.