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Paul Krugman likes to joke about the phenomenon of the Very Serious Person. The VSP is one of those Washington insiders that the political establishment respects and listens to, despite the fact that the person is (a) nearly always wrong; (b) habitually dishonest; or (c) both.
House Republican Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is the quintessential Very Serious Person. But as the dust settles on the first day of his new budget plan, we're reminded once again of how fundamentally unserious the right-wing congressman really is.
Ryan's plan wants to simplify the tax code, but doesn't do any of the work necessary -- eliminating unwarranted loopholes, for example -- to actually achieve the purported goal. It wants to use budget assumptions for future estimates, but chose assumptions that no sane person could expect to have happen.
It intends to force down discretionary spending to 3.75% of GDP by 2050, but as Jonathan Bernstein explained, that's ridiculous.
Why does that matter? Because that category includes military spending, which as CBO reminds us has never dropped below 3 percent of GDP since World War II. Since Ryan doesn't want to cut the military, that would leave less than one percent of GDP -- to fund the entire rest of the government.
In other words, Ryan's long term proposal would basically shut down the federal government except for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and the military. Republicans don't really want to shut down the FDA, the FBI, and the national parks, not to mention patrolling the border and farm programs and roads. And yet that's the implication of this document. It's not even remotely realistic -- and neither is Ryan's claim that his budget would cut the deficit way down.
The bottom line is that this is less of a budget or a blueprint than it is a partisan document designed to score partisan talking points in an election year.
Kevin Drum, who called the Ryan plan "nuts," fleshed this out a little more, noting CBO numbers that show the Republican budget would whack everything -- prisons, border control, education, the FBI, courts, embassies, the IRS, FEMA, housing, student loans, roads, unemployment insurance ... everything -- by about 80% over the next generation.
And what about Ryan's alleged interest in debt reduction, which leads him to slash spending on Americans' health care? According to Citizens for Tax Justice Director Robert McIntyre, even if we're generous in giving Ryan the benefit of the doubt, his budget plan would cut spending by $4.2 trillion over the next decade, but instead of using it to lower the deficit -- and prevent the so-called "crisis" -- the Wisconsin Republican would use it to pay for $4.3 trillion in tax cuts.
I realize there's nothing I can say to convince the political establishment to stop treating Paul Ryan like a Very Serious Person and start treating him like an Ayn Rand-loving con man, but his budget plan is a bad joke.
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David Brooks will tell us that Ryan is a "very serious person".
Was that saying two peas in a pod or was it two @ssholes in a pod.
Ryan's plan should get extensive coverage in his own home district in the elections. Then we can test the waters for the depth of his support. If he barely wins reelection, he will quickly abandon any further budget plans similar to the two he proposed. If he loses, then he can be the poster boy for Republicans who want to kill Medicare and SS. The only way he and his plans survive is a win by a large margin. It is time to clip his wings before he gets ready to run for president.
I agree, this guy is for lack of a nicer word, a boob..
Sorry Admin!
newsvine error: "Bubblegum"
Trollop, the word I think you meant was "douchebag"!
What scares me the most about this guy is that a lot or women will vote for him because he is good looking. The other thing is the cities of Franklin, Greenfield and Greendale support him. They cheered for him when he did townhall meetings last year. My mother who was at the Franklin meeting was pissed. People need to wake up.
Younger people may like Ryan for various reasons. But older people who are near retirement or are retired will not like the plan because they know what health care premiums are for private insurance through employers. Retired people opposed the last plan even though it would not affect their benefits. They are smart enough to know that if Republicans are willing to take away future benefits, then they won't have any qualms about taking current benefits when the Republicans get the chance. Then you have a lot of middle class programs that his plan would gut. That could generate enough votes against Ryan in his own district. Dems just need to get out the facts in his own district and how it specifically affects people.
Good looking? Are you serious Catherine? Are these people aware that voting for someone, especially someone as dangerous as Ryan, is irresponsible?
Paul Ryan
airhead- a flighty scatterbrained simpleton; "she's a total airhead"; "every airhead on a big salary rushed out to buy one"Hi Mike. I haven't read your commentary, but I love your Cubs pic. Can hardly wait for baseball.
How can Republicans and the Tea Party complain that the president is engaging in "class warfare" when they are the ones pitting the rich against every other American. On top of trying to kill Medicare for the working class, the GOP is seeking more tax cuts and tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans while bemoaning that the poor and middle-class aren't paying ENOUGH taxes. that is the very definition of class warfare. The GOP's reckless partisanship is dangerous for our country and is tantamount to political sabotage to win the election. http://www.sunstateactivist.org
No, no, you have it all wrong. It is only class warfare when the lower classes are fighting the upper classes. When the upper class fights the lower class, it's just business as usual (see "slavery").
Wait a minute. Better yet: when the upper class fights the lower class, it's called "trickling down." Hahaha!
Inside the beltway pundits love to attach Dr. Krugman's "VSP" tag to anyone who can be wrong more than they're correct but can say it with gravitas. Remember Rep. Ryan's budget last year had him being lauded as "commendable" and "couragous" by these bloviators until someone actually checked his math only to find he can't add or subtract.
What Paul Ryan has put forth is worse than a con game; it's three card monty where he moves the cards so fast you lose track of what's where. Yet I will bet that either he or his mouthpieces will be on all of the Sunday shows - including NBC's Meet The Press, which loses credibility by the week thanks to David Gregory - being asked serious questions about his laughable budget.
At some point, people will figure out that Rep. Ryan has set up a "head's rich guys win, tail's everyone else loses" situation.
Therein lies the rub. It's not "class warfare" when they do it.
I think I see the beginnings of Steve Benen being a bit more assertive and pulling no punches while describing Republicans. I hope this is the case. I was very impressed with his analysis while at Washington Monthly, but he was too fair (and too nice) to Republicans by half. Perhaps this is why he is writing for Maddow now? But I would love to see Steve use that razor analytical mind of his to seriously lacerate the Republicans. Lord knows we need it, and they deserve it.
BTW, Paul Ryan is a lunatic.
Ryan is a very ambitious person. His top ambition is to never to return to Wisconsin again as a resident. Ever. He intends to stay in Washington for the rest of his life. Railing against the machine while becoming a very wealthy man and convincing a certain segment of society that he is indeed a patriot when in fact he is the worst kind of parasite ... suckling at the government tit for decades and allowing big monied interests to foot the bill for all of his creature comforts. Sadly, his constituents, whether they be wealthy industrialists, fast talking swindlers (like him), or useful idiots are convinced that they're getting the better end of the deal. While this may in fact be the case for the industrialist and the swindler, nothing could be further from the truth for the true believing dolt who every two years pulls the lever for Ryan while he in turn bestows government largess on the rich at their expense. While I don't make it practice to wish harm on anyone, I do hold out hope that someday justice will be served and the Ryans of the world get exactly what they deserve. It happened to Ayn Rand so hope springs eternal :-)
Oh, Darryl, re your 2nd sentence, WE SHOULD BE SO LUCKY. Take our legislators. PLEASE. What a bunch! Ryan, Priebus, Scooter, the Fitzs . . . We thought cryptosporidium was poisonous!
I don't like him, I get this real bad vibe from him. He is phoney. He's trying real hard to be smart but, he doesn't know how to be because he isn't. It's an act. He is real easy to see through. You just know that every word out of his mouth is inaccurate and he needs to quit pretending he knows what he is doing. All his calculations are wrong and he leaves out a lot of information . It's as if the data was left out on purpose because it wasn't thought through soon enough. So, he quick put something together that was quite similar to the last budget , which didn't add up either. It won't get passed. Now that he doesn't have the senior Republican support he needs. He's going to look like a fool. This may be the proudest moment that the Senior Republicans have as they exit the arena.
It's pretty appalling how conservatives use "the tax code is too complicated" as an excuse to eliminate tax brackets (and always the ones at the top, what a surprise!)
Show of hands for everyone who finds the line calculating your taxes from your adjusted income to be the "complicated" part of doing your taxes. Anyone?
The cure is to purge the house and senate of republicans and dino's. Elect more independents, especially women. Next problem....
"The bottom line is that this is less of a budget or a blueprint than it is a partisan document designed to score partisan talking points in an election year."
This is the same allegation leveled at Obama's budget. I guess all we can hope for this year are partisan games.
Please do not feed the troll.
I think every time there is a photograph of this person they should label the photo as Steve has pointed out so well, as:
"an Ayn Rand-loving con man"
absolutely spot-on. (I just want to add that I, as a woman, am highly insulted by the meme that is going around that women will vote for this man because he's attractive. First of all, that is insulting to women and secondly, it's insulting to men who actually are attractive. I never have and never will vote for the exterior of a person. If they don't have the right stuff inside--(not by just their words but their deeds)--then they will never get my vote.)
It is official there is no more Republican Party. There are many senior Republicans who have just admitted to this. The Tea Party has now replaced The Republican Party. If you notice there have been a few more this week who have denounced this new agenda by The Tea Party. See they never would have gotten in by their own label they had to use the Republican party in order to do this. I don't see how they can elect Romney now. It's pretty sad to see them go. They were at least willing to compromise. I don't know if they will actually use The Tea Party Convention this year or still call it the Republican Convention for now. Maybe in a couple of years they can come back. Maybe now the Independent party will grow. I think McCain is supposed to be making an announcement pretty soon and Orlin Hatch. That's too bad.
I don't know about Republicans supposedly not wanting to shut down "the FDA, the FBI, and the national parks, not to mention patrolling the border and farm programs and roads"...
In the past year, I've heard Republican elected officials claim the FDA and the national parks are unconstitutional and call for the privatization of the Interstate Highway System. At my law school, a year ago, the Federalist Society hosted a speaker who argued that the police should be entirely privatized. As far as I can tell, the GOP seems to think the federal government's only two legitimate activities are running the military (and sometimes not even that, since I've seen calls for the privatization of the military too) and sticking their noses into people's bedrooms.
I see Eddy Munster is at it again on his new production.
"Saving Ryan`s Budget"
at Cathrine 4571315 Ryan isn't goodlookn or cute. UGH!!!! he looks like Eddie Munster or better yet a MONKEY lmao. He is not nice lookn at all. He's a Big A-- Jerk !! I didn't like him from day one. He definately needs to go... any day now. I say we keep Obama in Office another 4 years and give him more time to work on the Issues he has already started in his 1st 4 yrs. Everyone deserves more time to prove theirselves right by what they say that they want to get done.
Paul Ryan is a selfish mentalcase.
Pilotshark, funny comment.
Rachel, I need your minimum wage comment about how it uplifts the rich too. Help please?
Oh, no! Not this joker back again! CAN'T STAND THIS MAN!!!! I'll bet he's vying to be somebody's VP candidate.They were trying to groom him for presidential candidate but he bombed so badly with his budget last year. But, Now, he's back... to bless us with his wonderfulness another day.... Oh, sigh.....!
The RNC Chairman Reince Preibus says he can't avoid facts, and that people are hungry for candidates that live up to their champagne promises. I suppose he can always use John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Scott Walker, and the rest of these do nothing but obstruct and lie Governors and House members as an example. It's just a suggestion for the chairman because these guy's have done everything they promised and do nothing but work work work! See, now he's got me in a delusional trance as well.
Republicans seem to think that government not only is not the solution, but that government is the problem. Someone should inform them that, "We are the govenment." Hence, if government is the problem, then, "We are the problem."
I've had some time to look at the numbers. His original budget (H Con Res 34) would have INCREASED the total debt to 23.2 trillion with 16.068 "held by public" by 2021. In his new Path to Prosperity he did not advertise what the total debt would be however, did indicate that the debt "held by public" would be...16.07 trillion. Last time around, all but one member of the Tea Party caucus voted for the bill eventhough it does not eliminate deficit spending nor reduce the debt...two of the ten commandments from the Tea Party. The NEW plan is more of the same. So why is no one jumping on the alleged fiscally responsible party and pointing out the fact that they are not!?!