Republican Budget: Real Hope to Counter the Audacity of a Dope

Finally, some conservative leadership.  This budget proposal could not do a better job of illustrating the difference between totalitarian left (the two camps which are either devoid of ideas other than taxing and spending to buy votes to stay in power, or their ideas are the destruction of freedom and capitalism which they plan to accomplish by taxing us all into poverty and legislating away our freedoms until they can control us) and the conservative right offering REAL hope.  If you think our nation can survive the poison Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Dodd, Frank and others are trying to force us to swallow, you are “stuck on stupid.”  We might be able to survive the bites we’ve already received from these snakes if we’ll just quit letting them bite us any more.  It’s time for the voters in these snake’s districts to have a roundup.

Morning Bell: A Budget We Can Believe In

Posted April 2nd, 2009 at 8.25am in Ongoing Priorities.

There are now two ten-year budget plans being offered in Washington. One budget dumps a staggering $9.6 trillion in new debt onto the American people; the other borrows $3.6 trillion less. One budget creates $63,000 in debt per household; the other creates $23,000 less. One budget raises taxes by $1.4 trillion; the other avoids all tax increases and even simplifies the tax code. One budget does nothing to address the unsustainable costs of Social Security and Medicaid; the other begins to reform these programs. One budget permanently raises federal spending to over 22% of GDP; the other lowers it to pre-recession levels.

When President Barack Obama unveiled his budget he told the American people: “We need to be honest with ourselves about what costs are being racked up, because that’s how we’ll come to grips with the hard choices that lie ahead. And there are some hard choices that lie ahead.” But then his budget went on to avoid all of those hard choices, instead moving to borrow and spend at historic levels. Yesterday, House Budget Committee ranking member Paul Ryan (R-WI) offered a clear alternative that does make hard choices. Heritage analyst Brian Riedl details what Ryan’s budget does:

• Freezes non-defense, non-veterans discretionary spending at its current level for five years.
• Reforms entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid, which are currently growing 8 percent annually.
• Takes back stimulus spending that would be spent in 2010 and beyond, when the recession is expected to be over.
• Places a moratorium on earmarks until the system can be cleaned up.

The most ambitious part of Ryan’s budget is the effort to contain the $43 trillion, 75-year unfunded liability in Social Security and Medicare. Specifically, it would slowly transition Medicare into a premium support program for individuals who are currently below age 55. This would provide seniors with a health plan similar to the one that Members of Congress and federal employees currently enjoy—one based on consumer choice and competition. The alternative budget would also allow future adjustments to Social Security benefits for upper-income seniors.

The alternative budget would also go a long way to restoring American competitiveness by making the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent, lowering the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25%, and simplifying the tax code by allowing individuals the choice of opting into a system with a 10% marginal tax rate on all incomes below $100,000 and 25% rate on incomes above $100,000. Even with all these changes, the alternative budget would bring in revenues averaging just below 18% of GDP, which is near the historical average.

The contrast the two budgets create could not be starker. President Obama’s plan saddles Americans with historic tax increases, runaway spending, and a doubling of the national debt. Ryan’s alternative reins in spending, simplifies taxes, and lessens the debt burden on American families. Which vision do you believe in?