Op-ed:
The Republican budget plan...sound but will Democrats accept it
The Republican budget plan...sound but will Democrats accept it
By: Diane Sori
And so it continues...yesterday,
Republicans presented their new version of Paul Ryan's original 'Path
to Prosperity'...a revised tax-and-spend fiscal blueprint that
Ryan said would eliminate the deficit within a decade by cutting
$4.6 trillion in federal expenses, would achieve balance between
what the government spends and what it collects in revenues by 2023
without raising taxes, and would help eliminate what is holding up a
major deficit-reduction deal...that is if the Democrats would stop
with their partisan 'anything the Republicans propose is bad'
bickering. Saying this plan "ends cronyism, eliminates waste, fraud, and abuse and returns the federal government to its proper sphere of activity," House Budget Committee Chair Ryan believes this plan will pass the Republican-controlled House even though the plan is non-binding and does NOT have the force of law.
Basically this is a matching spending with income plan that scales back government spending to 3.5% per year as opposed to Obama's spending of 5+% per year. And don't scoff at the 1.5 % difference for in real money that translates into billions of dollars, and with the budget deficits now surpassing $1 trillion annually that is a major savings on a national debt that now stands at nearly $16.7 trillion.
And you have to love this plan as it includes both the repeal of the dreaded ObamaCare...or as it it really should be called...ObamaTax...thus saving $1.8 trillion in expenses, saves $931 billion from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ending, and saves $249 billion from the discretionary spending category that funds the military and programs ranging from education to national parks, while leaving savings in place from the automatic spending cuts that began on January 1st of this year.
This Republican plan also calls for major cuts in welfare programs for the poor including cutting $756 billion from Medicaid and cutting food stamps to those who are NOT truly in need of them along with a transfer of power to the states to determine how said Medicaid and other funds should be spent on said programs, and cutting the increases in the Pell college-tuition grants that were due to go into effect, because as Ryan said, “Are we helping people? Are we getting people out of poverty?” And the answer to that is a resounding NO as these programs are just keeping people tied to the government for their existence instead of teaching them how to help themselves.
The plan also imposes cuts to so-called 'discretionary spending' beyond this year’s...dare I say the s-word...sequestration. It sets aside $1.14 trillion for such spending for the 2014 fiscal year, which amounts to rolling back that portion of the budget to below 2008 levels and even less when inflation is taken into account.
And here's a biggie...the Republican Plan calls for an increase (gasp) in defense spending over current law, along with an across the board 25% corporate tax rate, and a requirement that the president and Congress both offer proposals for the long-term solvency of Social Security.
Also, and apparently unheard of to Democrats (insert sarcasm here), this plan includes the concept of 'balancing the budget.' “We believe that we owe the American people a balanced budget,” said Paul Ryan. And how right he is as this president seems to think that 'We the People' are his personal bottomless money bag. And while some economists do NOT believe a balanced budget is all that important, Ryan and other Republicans feel a balanced budget is a “common-sense goal” while “an unbalanced budget is a sign of overreach.”
“When a government does too much, it doesn’t do anything well” Ryan said, and I couldn't agree more, for as anyone who understands basic economics 101 knows you simply cannot spend money that you just don’t have. This translates into not allowing the government to spend more than it collects in revenue, which this Republican plan sets at 19.1% of the gross domestic product.
Sadly, we all know this plan stands no chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate (Prince Harry even said the Republican proposal "relies on accounting that's creative at best and fraudulent at worst") or of being passed or even taken seriously by Obama, but it does bring to the forefront that the budget must be balanced, as that is what 'We the People' want.
Thankfully, a law passed earlier this year says that lawmakers must approve a budget by the April deadline or their salaries would be held in escrow until a budget was passed or the current Congress ended in January 2015. So we know both parties will have to finally work together and get this done or poor babies...NO paycheck for you. Money talks and NOT getting paid talks the loudest.
http://thepatriotfactor.blogspot.com/2013/03/op-ed-republican-budget-plan.html
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