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Political Hay
A Conservative Budget for America
Conservatives should be proud to support Paul Ryan’s budget. (UPDATED)
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) unveiled his fiscal year 2014 budget resolution this week.
This great conservative policy achievement quickly came under fire from several quarters on the Right, probably unfairly. The House budget is not a retreat from conservative goals — to the contrary, it’s a roadmap toward achieving them.
The most important characteristic of the House Budget is that it is balanced. The plan ends the Bush-Obama era of trillion dollar deficits and balances the budget by 2023, the last year of the budget window. It does this by reducing the rate of spending growth, not by raising taxes. Spending is scheduled under the budget to grow by an average of 3.4 percent annually, instead of the 4.9 percent annual growth expected under current law by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
This modest restraint in the growth of government spending is hardly draconian. Annual budget outlays still grow by over $1.4 trillion between 2013 and 2023. Yet even this level of self-control results in a considerable reduction in the government’s burden on the economy. Throughout the budget window, federal expenditures as a percentage of national output (the only accurate way to measure such things over long periods of time) decline from 22.2 percent of the economy in 2013 to 19.1 percent in 2024. CBO’s historical tables tell us that this low level of government spending was only matched in six of the previous forty years. Spending stays at roughly this level forever, since the budget fixes the unfunded entitlement crisis at the heart of America’s fiscal problems long-term. By any definition, reducing government spending this much is a huge win for conservatives.
The budget caps on discretionary spending from the Budget Control Act of 2011 and the sequester savings for domestic programs are reinforced by this budget. As a result, discretionary spending under this budget will fall from 7.6 percent of economic output in 2013 to 4.8 percent in 2023. Assuming the overseas operations in Iraq and Afghanistan end soon, this will fall even further to 4.7 percent. This would be the lowest level of discretionary spending since before the New Deal.
The budget builds on the success of welfare reform in the 1990s by adopting a similar model for Medicaid, food stamps, and the other remaining federal entitlement programs. These would be block granted to the states, which would then be free to innovate and design better systems free of federal strings. When given this opportunity with cash welfare payments, the country saw caseloads cut in half.
Turning to taxes, the House GOP budget is revenue-neutral. That may or may not be consistent with what you’ve read in the conservative press. The budget envisions no changes in what revenues taxes will bring in under current law. That means that tax revenues are anticipated to bring in about 19 percent of economic output fairly durably over the budget window. This does not mean, however, that the tax system remains unchanged.
The budget empowers the House Ways and Means Committee to fundamentally reform and simplify the tax system to be more pro-growth. There are currently seven individual tax brackets, with a top rate of 39.6 percent. These will be collapsed into two brackets of 10 and 25 percent. The corporate income tax rate will drop from 35 percent today (which, when combined with state corporate income tax, is the highest in the developed world) to 25 percent (closer to the average rate our competitors pay). The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) would be repealed.
Finally, the entire tax system will become more competitive internationally by reforming the unfair double-tax liability of profits earned overseas.
Some conservatives have complained that the tax revenues assumed are too high. They would prefer that the tax level in place at the end of 2012 be the one that the new budget adopted. There are three principal objections to this. First, tax law was permanently changed when President Obama forced the country over the fiscal cliff. To pretend that never happened is to deny the reality of the world as it is. Second, the dissenters’ baseline is arbitrary. So long as we’re cherry-picking baselines, why stop in 2012? Why not go back to 2010, when there was no death tax, for example? Third, the budget keeps revenue the same but reforms the system to be more pro-growth. It changes the tax code root and branch, the opposite of accepting bad tax law.
The House budget repeals Obamacare. This measure alone shaves $1.8 trillion in federal spending over the next decade. That means no exchanges, no individual or employer mandates, no insurance market regulations, no unelected Medicare rationing boards in Washington, no conscience-impinging mandates, and no subsidies to purchase government-approved health insurance. It also means that all the tax revenue being raised by Obamacare will instead go toward lower marginal tax rates for everyone. The Medicare cuts in Obamacare are transformed into Medicare reforms for those decades away from age 65.
Looked at altogether, Paul Ryan’s House budget plan is a governing document. It’s written down — something Senate Democrats have been unable to do for several years running. If implemented, it permanently ends the entitlement crisis, reforms the tax system for this century, ends Obamacare, and pays off the national debt.
Conservatives should be proud to support it.
Photo: UPI
About the Author
Grover G. Norquist is the president of Americans for Tax Reform.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (138) | Leave a comment
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Aristocat| 3.15.13 @ 6:26AM
Well, Grover, it's not balanced. But the House can kill Obamacare any time they want by defunding it.
And they don't need to negotiate with Obama or the Senate. The House passes a budget, the Senate can take it or shut down the government if they want. Boehner is a coward who will not stand up for a Republican budget. And he has made House Republicans accessories to murder by funding Planned Parenthood abortion factories by the $Billions over the past three years. We are still operating under the 2009 Nancy Pelosi budget thanks to the Boehner teams cowardice.
And Boehner and Ryan are also supporting amnesty, which in itself is a budget-buster.
So you're way too optimistic Grover.
vtwin| 3.15.13 @ 9:46AM
Ah, Norquist like Ryan and Romney borne into a life of privilege which they spend in adulthood trying to destroy the middleclass in America.
Anthony| 3.15.13 @ 10:11AM
More middle class people died in Ted Kennedy's car than as a result of Messers. Ryan's, Norquist's and Romney's upbringing.
What a classic leftist class envy twit you are vtwin.
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 10:18AM
Norquist is a total slimeball void of any empathy, that has way too much influence in Washington for never being elected to a single office.
vtwin| 3.15.13 @ 10:47AM
All that influence in Washington, my guess he gives good head.
Tom Kyba| 3.15.13 @ 11:53AM
Says the expert with a lifetime of experience.
Anthony| 3.15.13 @ 12:05PM
Careful vtwin, boys who frequent San Fran bath houses shouldn't talk about giving head.
And speaking of gay bath houses vtwin, do you think Obozocare's death panels will eliminate health care choices for men who engage in unprotected anal sex, if they are going to deny health care choices to fat, old, white hetrosexual males who eat too many transfats?
Things could get a bit dicy at the old bath house vtwin.
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 1:37PM
Arnie cares so much about Empathy, one wonders how much you give to Charity, every year.
What he would term: Empathy? I would call: The Destruction of The Black Family.
What he would term: Empathy? I would call: The Destruction of The Work Ethic.
What he would term: Empathy? I would call The Destruction of Personal Responsibility.
What he would term: Empathy? I would call The Destruction of the Public School System.
What he would term: Empathy? I would call The Destruction of Free and Fair Elections.
What he would term: Empathy? I would call the Destruction of our National Sovereignty, via Open Borders.
What he would term: Empathy, by going after Good Police Work like the Stop and Frisk Policy in New York City? I would call The Destruction of America's Inner Cities.
The list is Endless.
Just like Arnie's Stupidity.
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 1:55PM
-"The Destruction of The Black Family." I think that started when southerners were using them as slaves, and then discriminated against them for the next 100 years after that.
Since the Civil Rights era, they have made progress. Obviously not enough, but what are conservatives doing to change that.
-"The Destruction of The Work Ethic." Hmm, you mean like all those great Republican capitalists and hedge fund managers that make tons of money off of cheap labor or by pushing a button?
Funny, all the middle and poor Democrats I know work just as hard as Republican ones.
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 1:59PM
-"The Destruction of Personal Responsibility."
Right, like blaming Democrats for the economic mess and deficit that you guys created.
-"The Destruction of the Public School System." Republicans have been trying to do this for 30 years, and have actually been successful in many states in doing it. You guys don't even believe in public schools.
-" The Destruction of Free and Fair Elections." Again, the Republicans are trying to restrict the vote, so the win....unfairly.
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 2:03PM
-"the Destruction of our National Sovereignty, via Open Borders." The US does not have open borders. It might have some porous ones, but in any case, Obama has deported more illegals than Bush ever did, and stepped up border enforcement. What else do you expect?...oh right, camps...
Again The Limp Penis, like all your other posts, you simply leave retarded Republican talking points from the likes of Rush. Pop your daily Viagra (like Rush) and go away.
WhiteBikerTrash| 3.15.13 @ 2:50PM
Arnie, how ironic that you should bring up the destruction of the black family during slavery. Did you know that the Democratic party (Southerners to you) was created by slave owners to advance slave ownership? In correspondence between slave owners (Democrats) they talked about keeping the slaves families broken up to keep them on the plantation. The system that they perfected is identical to how people on Welfare are treated. As L.B.J said at the dawn of this new plantation system, "Give them just enough to keep them quiet." Look up "Jim Crow" and see who passed those laws, Southerners (Democrats) The Democrats have been very consistent in their actions and results. Arnie wants to be a good slave!
vtwin| 3.15.13 @ 1:58PM
Which question TLP. How low would we have to set Romney's tax rate to prevent the Destruction of the Black Family, the Destruction of The Work Ethic, the Destruction of Personal Responsibility, the Destruction of the Public School System, the Destruction of Free and Fair Elections, Destruction of our National Sovereignty, via Open Borders, and the Destruction of America's Inner Cities?
vtwin| 3.15.13 @ 2:06PM
Typo: Quick question TLP.
vtwin| 3.15.13 @ 2:10PM
Note to editor: Could you spend a little more of your inheritance to provide editing functionality to AmerSpec like they have over at Huffington Post?
Anthony| 3.15.13 @ 2:20PM
Jeez vtwin is there not one person you encounter that is not subject to your rabid class envy? For a guy who despises wealth, you sure as hell obsess on those who have it, except leftists, of course.
When will all the uber leftists give their money to the poor rather than talk a good game and demand that we do it instead?
Maybe Algore can buy a polar bear preserve with his obscene earnings from al Jezzera?
What a chump you are vtwin.
Anthony| 3.15.13 @ 3:20PM
Hey vtwin, check out Drudge: Chelsea Clinton buys a $10M apartment in NYC.
Jeez, vtwin how many Black Famalies would be saved with that $10M?
You truly are a Village Idiot.
vtwin| 3.15.13 @ 3:31PM
Drudge? Do you mean the Drudge that predicted Romney landslide?
The Only Good Democrat| 3.15.13 @ 7:44PM
All liberal couples concerned about green house gases should be living in $10 m, 5000 square feet apartments. You need to put a stop to this, nit wit, once and for all.
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Stan Redmond| 3.15.13 @ 1:34PM
I gotta give you one thing. You sure have memorized your marxist talking points.
Heaven forbid people are responsible for themselves.
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 1:39PM
You could show your personal responsibility by going to Monday's Wes Welker Story.
AlanAnti-RoveCheneyBrooks | 3.15.13 @ 11:10PM
Anthony's right as far as Teddy Boy killing Mary Jo-- you and I would run out of Massachusetts if we were guilty of manslaughter involving a pretty young thing.
My question, as always, is why is it the Ryans end up at bottom of your mediocre tickets? Even Quayle was at least honest- unlike the lapdog from Kennebunkport.
Kemp?: far far better than Dole.
Palin? stronger, smarter, and better looking than what's-his-face, the guy who only got the nomination because Charlie tortured him at the Hanoi Hilton.
You fellows know how to pick losers- please don't go back to Off Track Betting again; you deserve better.
Maxwell| 3.15.13 @ 8:23AM
As always I have a few questions. There are not hard questions that it would take someone with an MBA to answer but simple ones that a programmer would ask. First, since the Democrats are so in love with the Clinton years how about we shrink the number of people employed by the federal government to the body count as it was under Slick Willie? Starting there, then cut by 5% every year for a few years.
Second, can someone, anyone please tell me just what the Department of Education produces of that is of value? If DOE is no longer funded just how much will be saved? How many people can the federal government get rid of & how much money will their pensions & various benefits after retirement save?
Lastly, I will not even start on the BATF.
Von Mises Jr| 3.15.13 @ 9:00AM
The GDP in 2000 was $9.255T and the Federal Budget was $1.828T. With inflation and real changes to GDP, the current GDP is about $15.1T. So the adjusted number for a similar sized Federal Government today should be about $2.98T. We have a Budget of about $3.6 to $3.7T currently that is about $600B to $700B larger in real terms than a dozen years ago.
Ending the Department of Education does little for pensions and benefits save the costs for employees of the Federal Department. States fund their own pension and benefits. The funding would not disappear, but would be kept or returned to the local schools.
The DOE is simply a redistribution scheme and an extra burden to what already happens on the State level. The problem with the DOE is that the money comes back with strings attached. The central planners in DC have no idea what an inner-city versus a rural school requires in a particular State. It also provides another opportunity for waste, fraud and abuse.
Maxwell| 3.15.13 @ 9:14AM
Von, thank you for the information. I appreciate it. and here I thought there would be some savings. I'll go back to my programming.
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 9:38AM
Maxwell, the Pell Grant program for tuition towards college is dolled out through the DoEd. Plus, they service other grants towards public schools across the nation based on need.
These are actually the many programs they fund:
ESEA Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies
Reading First
Striving Readers
High School Intervention
Impact Aid
Improving Teacher Quality State Grants
Mathematics and Science Partnerships
Educational Technology State Grants
21st Century Community Learning Centers
State Assessments
Indian Education
Teacher Incentive Fund
Choice Incentive Fund
Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities
Anthony| 3.15.13 @ 10:06AM
Wow!! What a crock of bureaucratic alphabet soup bullshit programs that don't do a damn thing to actually improve children's education.
80% of New York City high school graduates are illiterate, yet have been the beneficaries of the above listed programs.
I don't know how I managed to get through law school without the benefits of the Teacher Incentive Fund and Choice Incentive Funds.
The DOE is proof positive that government is the biggest money fraud ever invented by mankind.
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 10:29AM
Anthony, your idol, Sarah Palin, is illiterate, and can barely speak English, and much less, hold a logical & reasonable thought.
The thing, the U.S. system actually turns out decent literacy rates compared to other countries. It's the math and sciences where the U.S. is very weak....not to mention geography, languages, and world history.
I would say, the Dept of Education needs to focus more on the math and science areas. But the other problem is, that state schools can not offer competitive salaries for teachers that can really teach these subjects well.
George S| 3.15.13 @ 10:38AM
Why don't you stick to the facts argued instead of Sarah Palin?
NYC spends close to 30 billion A YEAR to educate 1.1 million students. That's $30,000 per student.
Private schools charge as little as a couple of grand a year.
Why the difference? (Psst!! It has nothing to do with Sarah Palin).
You may argue that NYC has to take every student regardless of his/her condition. Fair argument but...
... ObamaCare mandates insurance be the same price regardless of condition. How does it cut costs then?
Can you put 2 and 2 together and get 30 billion?
Now I know why you brilliant liberals cite Sarah Palin in all your answers.
Jack London| 3.15.13 @ 10:52AM
Which schools 'charge as little as a couple of grand a year' George?
vtwin| 3.15.13 @ 11:09AM
Yeah George, what "private school" in NYC "charges as little as a couple of grand a year."
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 1:52PM
How about all of the Catholic Schools?
If nobody charges $2000 for school?
Why did Gay Bathhouse Boy take the $1700 School Vouchers away from all of those Poor Minority Kids in D.C. practically on DAY ONE of his Administration?
Idiot.
Go back to England, put a "Fag" in your mouth, and Suck on it.
vtwin| 3.15.13 @ 2:27PM
The average annual tuition costs for Catholic secondary school is $9,622 (actual cost without Church subsidy $11,790.) The average annual cost for a public secondary school is $10,652.
http://www.ncea.org/news/annualdatareport.asp
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 11:04AM
George, there are other things to consider too. Poverty and family life for one, no matter how good your school is, is going to affect the education of child. Essentially, a child is not going to be totally interested in learning if he/she is going hungry or worried who daddy is going to beat tonight.
My point being, the success of educating children is not entirely up to that of just education policy.
As for the specific programs the DoEd offers, I actually remember many of these, and know that I and many others have benefited from them. Yes, my parents were not rich enough to send me to a private school. As for their effectiveness, maybe some of them need to be scrapped. I can not say, there would need to be a review.
But again, look at the total budget. It's about 8% of the DoD. Do you think every program in the DoD is worth the money?
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 1:53PM
NOBODY is going hungry in this Country.
NOBODY.
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 2:05PM
You are so clueless. You are obviously an elitist and have obviously never lived with America's poor.
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 3:51PM
NOBODY IS GOING HUNGRY IN THIS COUTRY.
NOBODY.
Anthony| 3.15.13 @ 12:15PM
Poor, poor Arnie, our Resident Village #3; the boy has Palin Derangement Syndrome something fierce.
I seem to recall Gov. Palin taking Joe Biteme to woodshed during their one debate.
But of course, you were in the same woodshed with the sheep.
Stan Redmond| 3.15.13 @ 1:37PM
the DOEd needs eliminated completely.
As for Sarah Palin... HA. A successful family woman has more brains in her little finger than that mushed mouth uh uh stuttering stammering telepromptor messiah. He can't even talk in a manner that 6th graders can understand without a teleprompter.
vtwin| 3.15.13 @ 10:36AM
Anthony, the Choice Incentive Fund is a Bush era program. President Obama has never asked for funding for Choice Incentive Fund nor has congress with the exception of 2009 funded the program during Obama Presidency.
See Arnie’s link to the DOE budgets below.
Von Mises Jr| 3.15.13 @ 11:03AM
Hey Anthony, Arsie could not have graduated top of his class in sex education school if you had not funded his cucumber.
His anal addiction is Bush's fault.
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 11:08AM
The average high school graduate in America is smarter than George W Bush (did you hear the lil' boy's a paintin' now?).
There's proof that private schools don't necessarily lead to an intelligent individual.
vtwin| 3.15.13 @ 11:47AM
No sh*t, I hope he is a better painter than he was a commander-and-chief.
Dave Williams| 3.15.13 @ 1:25PM
Bush got higher grades than both Gore AND Kerry...ya moron, you.
SUBVET| 3.15.13 @ 11:11AM
Leave...arnie/dipsh*t alone he can't help it his Zoloft ran out.
Von Mises Jr| 3.15.13 @ 11:48AM
Subvet, you know that is Perp, Jefferson, maybe Margie and Tim 360 also.
G. W. Bush graduated from HARVARD WITH AN MBA. So if the average High School student is smarter than Bush, what does that say about his idol who got a JD that is a Degree in words multiplied and nothing to do with business or management?
Does that make him about as smart as a Graduate of Chicken Little Nursery School?
BTW, Jack Oph and Twitvin got kicked out of sex education school since they kept eating each other's props.
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 11:57AM
I know tons of guys with MBAs that are total dipshits. That doesn't mean squat. And have you seen Bush's grades from school? They were atrociously bad!
I could have slept through courses and got better grades than that.
Anthony| 3.15.13 @ 12:23PM
Kinda like what Obozo did at Columbia and Harvard, right Arnie?
Oh wait, we wouldn't know, the Muslim Marxist won't release his transcripts.
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 12:33PM
Bush didn't release them. They were leaked.
Ha ha!
Go back to school you Sarah Palin fanboy!
Anthony| 3.15.13 @ 2:46PM
Wow, troll Arnie, Sarah Palin is living rent free inside your little head. You really do have it bad for her. Real women turn you on eh? As opposed to your ususal leftist fare?.
Sad isn't it, your other little head isn't up to her standards either, that makes you a vttwin loser.
Anthony| 3.15.13 @ 12:20PM
Yes Von I confess, I too fell for Bush's compassionate conservatism, hence, I was a bit ashamed of being accused of being cheap for my buying Arnie a 4 inch cucumber, so I bought him two!!!
Look what my compassionate conservatism got me!!!
Von Mises Jr| 3.15.13 @ 12:56PM
Anthony, if you are compassionate you must buy Arsie a 10" cucumber.
Jack Oph and Twitvin already ate the two 4 inchers. They had them with some Lipton teabags and water.
Anthony| 3.15.13 @ 2:55PM
Von, Ten inches is more than his "fair share".
Mike G| 3.15.13 @ 8:34AM
Unless voters start replacing their Democratic senators and representatives, we're stuck with Obamacare. Anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional, Ryan included.
Von Mises Jr| 3.15.13 @ 9:18AM
Rush said yesterday what I have been touting for months. People are going to be SHOCKED, SHOCKED that ObamaCare is not FREE, it does not decrease Premiums by $2,500 as Dear Leader promised but instead raises them by some 25%, you cannot keep your Plan or Doctor if your employer does not continue to provide the Plan that will be increasing in cost versus paying the $2K fine and letting the employee worry about health insurance and potential fines, and the cost of medical devices like a wheelchair for grandma will go up 2.3%. Other than that, "death panels" will decide if grandma gets that wheelchair or a pill (and it is not the little blue Viagra pill).
This is implementing now as many States have refused to set up Exchanges that now fall to the Federal government to fund (and they don't have the money unless "poor Johnny" gives it to them) and many States have not agreed to Expand Medicaid since they know after a few years DC will renege on the 90% promise to fund and it will fall on local taxpayers. For those that approved the Expansion, the Federal Government now needs to fund the costs in perpetuity to keep their promise that results in higher Budgets and taxes.
This is what the Senate and House Democrats will be faced with in just about 18 months. Our only problem is that I concur with Pat Caddel (Breitbart) that the GOP Establishment and their Consultants will find a way to line their pockets by selling out the conservative base once more.
Stan Redmond| 3.15.13 @ 1:41PM
VMJ. You need to clarify your statement. Obamacare will be free to Obama voters. The new permanant 51% poverty class will live comfortably and happily on us 49% who pay the bill. Not until the innevitable hyperinflation when the printing presses run out of ink at the fed and the companies that are sitting on huge piles of cash throw it in to the market before it loses value.
Von Mises Jr| 3.15.13 @ 2:59PM
Not so Stan. Many of the people, especially the new enrollees go on Medicaid. Many doctors will not take Medicaid. Moreover, if the State they live in does not expand Medicaid, they get nothing.
Doctors will be leaving, hospitals will be closing. If you are poor and the hospital you used to be able to go for emergencies closes their doors, you get less, not more health care. Furthermore you may be a senior that gets health care through Medicare but must buy certain supplies. They are going up in price. Tell grandma on a fixed income with inflation already crushing her that her medical expenses are going up and see if she thinks she got something for nothing.
Purp| 3.15.13 @ 4:50PM
Who sets the premiums VonBoy? Hmmmm.... free market Private insurers... so why are you crabbing... isn't that what y'all want?
Von Mises Jr| 3.15.13 @ 5:21PM
You are one stupid SOB. Insurance companies cannot sell across State lines, there is a plethora of mandates including for your desired sex change operation and now ObamaCare will nationalize the entire health care industry and you think that is a free market.
I am really torn being pro-life that your mother might have been justified. Perhaps your mother threw out the baby and kept the afterbirth.
I normally don’t respond to low-life trolls, but you are so ignorant that it is pathetic.
Anthony| 3.15.13 @ 8:01PM
It' ten minutes to Five, so Purp, our resident Village Idiot Unmero Uno, and head of the mailroom at a Fortune 10 company, feels safe to blog before quitting time.
Hey Purp one day we're gonna contact your employer and tell him what you're up to down in the mail room.
Jacob McCandles| 3.15.13 @ 9:43AM
The media/education/entertainment complex has taken its toll on our voters. After 2012 election, I'm convinced the only way out of this mess is for the people to FEEL the pain of democrat policies. You can repeat the FACTS over and over until you are blue in the face. People are too ignorant and fat and happy and driven by emotion to respond to facts..
So bring on the pain and lets get this over with.
fmm| 3.15.13 @ 12:24PM
The result will not be what you would want. Look at North Korea which has had abysmal living conditions since the 50's and they are still in the same putrid position.
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 1:58PM
North Korea has always been the Final Destination of the Progressives Utopian Dream.
And, the Final Solution.
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 1:57PM
Have you been to Monday's Wes Welker Story?
You should go there.
Cat Shot| 3.15.13 @ 9:05AM
Conservatives can be proud 'til the cows come home. They will be outnumbered by Democrats and Republicans.
c. j. acworth| 3.15.13 @ 9:09AM
I'll support the Ryan plan as a first step. But what I really want to see is not a government that grows by 3.5% a year, but actually shrinks in size and cost. Other than Obamacare, Ryan's budget eliminates nothing. Lon-term, let's get rid of the EPA, DOEd, and a host of other alphabet soup. That would be a pro-growth budget.
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 2:01PM
That could be done by simply Freezing Spending for about 3 Years.
If only.
Jack London| 3.15.13 @ 9:10AM
Ryan's latest effort is a complete joke and deserves all the derision it's getting. What a waste of space he is.
Derek Leaberry| 3.15.13 @ 9:23AM
Ryan doesn't cut discretionary nearly enough. At minimum, all the Obama increases in discretionary in 2009 should be cut to the Bush 2008 levels.
vtwin| 3.15.13 @ 9:31AM
We don’t have a spending problem in Washington as much as a revenue problem. Yes it is true the Bush war with Iraq added nearly a trillion dollars to the national debt but the real drivers of these trillion dollar annual deficits have been the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 followed by the Bush Depression which stated in December 2007. Total federal revenues collected in 2000 Clinton’s last year in office were over $2 trillion but federal revenues fall sharply after the Bush tax cuts and federal revenues didn’t reach the $2 trillion again until 2005 adding over a trillion dollars to the nation debt. This massive loss in federal revenues on Bush’s watch was followed by an even bigger collapse in federal revenues caused by the Bush Depression. Last year, 2012, five years into the Bush Depression that started in December 2007 finds federal revenues below the levels of 2007. But the good news is under Obama leadership we have begun to see a recovery in federal revenues and 2013 federal revenues are expected to exceed 2007 levels for the first time since the beginning of the Bush Depression. No we don't have to cuts medicare for the elderly and poor as Ryan calls for in is budget proposal as we recovery from the The Bush Depression federal revenues will recover as well retuning the nation to the Clinton era surpluses.
http://research.stlouisfed.org.....[id]=FYFSD
George S| 3.15.13 @ 10:29AM
I don't have a drinking problem, I just don't have enough liver cells.
If we taxed every marginal dollar at 100% above $100,00 a year income, would that solve our "revenue problem"?
Please explain why.
Jacob McCandles| 3.15.13 @ 10:52AM
It would decrease revenues, just like high rates have always done.
vtwin| 3.15.13 @ 11:03AM
George, you can choose ignore the facts in you want but federal revenues dropped and annual deficits climbed after Bush cut taxes and again after Bush tanked the economy it is all there in the numbers provided by the Federal Reserve. Deny Global Warming, deny Evolution, deny The Big Bang...
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 11:11AM
Yes, that's one thing the Republicans can't seem to admit. The Bush tax cuts, the Bush wars, the interest on those wars, the lost revenues from his tanked economy, and the stimulus to fight his mess are the vast majority of the debt under Obama.
JD| 3.15.13 @ 12:45PM
Bush did not tank the economy. The economy tanked due to a legacy of horrible policies Bush inherited. The housing bubble was well underway when he took office, and the economy was plunging in the year 2000. You always demand that we accept your ludicrous narratives as prerequisites for everything else you tell us to believe.
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org.....?Docid=456
You can see quite clearly from data that includes all federal taxes (not your usual cherry-picking) how taxes have changed over time. The plummeting rates for the bottom three quintiles overwhelm. And then there's this:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/08/.....-tax-rates
vtwin| 3.15.13 @ 1:29PM
JD, “the economy tanked due to a legacy of horrible policies Bush inherited” OK, Bush tanked the economy because he continued the horrible policies he inherited.
The collapse of the housing bubble was the inevitable consequence of the deregulation of the financial industry, a conservative siren song, which began under Reagan and was subsequently ignored by both of the Bush, Clinton, and Bush.
You are linking to data about federal tax rates while ignoring federal REVENUES. But OK, we'll use data on federal REVENUES form your website.
Notice the same fall in federal REVENUES we saw with the FED numbers?
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org.....?Docid=200
vtwin| 3.15.13 @ 1:31PM
Should read: was subsequently continued under Bush, Clinton, and Bush.
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 2:03PM
"We don't have a Spending Problem."
Why would anyone engage this guy in a conversation?
Seriously.
Why?
Jacob McCandles| 3.15.13 @ 2:29PM
Revenues went up after the Bush tax cuts. They went up big time. Are we dealing with people that can't even read a chart? I think we are. I agree, we should ignore these mental midgets. Er, I mean LP.
Anthony| 3.15.13 @ 12:28PM
"We don't have a spending problem, we have a paying for problem".
See, vtwin is no dumber than your average lefty moron member of congress.
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 9:41AM
State Grants
English Language Acquisition
Special Education
Career and technical education
Postsecondary:
Federal Pell Grants
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants
Federal Work-Study
Federal Perkins Loans
Federal Direct Student Loan Program
Federal Family Education Loans
Aid for Institutional Development
Federal TRIO Programs
Scholarships and Fellowships
Howard University
Other:
Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research
Adult Education
Education Research and Statistics
Research, Development, Dissemination and Regional Laboratories
Statistics
Assessment
Research and Innovation in Special Education
Program Administration/Administration of Credit Programs
Office for Civil Rights
Office of the Inspector General
Other
The department has on average since 2005 got about 60 billion. It got a big boost from the stimulus.
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 9:46AM
Just for comparison, if you want to know, the Dept. of Defense has had an annual budget of about 800 billion. And the Republicans, sans Paul I think, want to increase that figure.
JD| 3.15.13 @ 12:47PM
You exclude the DOE's impacts on other things, including state budgets. Also, you won't find anyone here who wants to increase defense spending.
Why don't you cite a complete breakdown of federal spending instead of cherry-picking?
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 2:05PM
It doesn't matter what we spend on.
WE DON'T HAVE THE MONEY.
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 2:06PM
If we cut EVERYTHING by 10%?
This would all be over, tomorrow.
vtwin| 3.15.13 @ 3:04PM
How would this work with say Social Security? Do you cut 10% of the elderly now on Social Security from receiving any benefits or do we cut everyone on Social Security benefits by 10%? And what do we do next year as the number of elderly eligible for Social Security benefits increases? Deny this group of newly Social-Security-eligible elderly benefits or do we institute another round of cuts of say 2% 3% 4% 5%?
The Only Good Democrat| 3.15.13 @ 7:50PM
You guys need to come up with a sustainable proposal with respect to entitlements. You won and we lost. We are not the guys who are going to raise taxes for you, You might as well get used to that idea. Step up with your ideas that screw over the middle class and the elderly and make them public. We promise to treat seriously.
Anthony| 3.15.13 @ 2:59PM
Yeah, but the Dept. of Defense's Office of Civil Rights can kick ass over the DOE's Office of Civil Rights.
JD| 3.15.13 @ 12:54PM
It's funny how you cite these long lists of ridiculous things and think that we're going to think anything other than "what a long, ridiculous list of waste!" Your thinking seems to stem from the assumption that longer bullet lists equal "more good" instead of "more absurd".
Complexity is inefficiency and opportunity for corruption and waste. But the Left seems to LIKE it, as its consequences are so easily blamed on "greed".
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 1:11PM
Hey JD, why don't you explain to everybody your brilliant ideas:
Why you're ok with rich billionaires evading taxes.
Why being expected to pay taxes is like a life and death hostage scenario.
How 100% of the mortgage loans of the big crash were guaranteed by the government, and that's why the government bailed out the financial institutions.
And please, for the last one, please provide a few sources. I realize your the first 2 ideas of yours are simply due to the fact you are morally corrupt.
The Only Good Democrat| 3.15.13 @ 7:57PM
Why were you ok with Jack Lew, special deals for Soyndra, green energy cons, unions and every liberal rich dude and want to pretend that you are principled? Why did you support Senator Dodd and Congressman Frank? One was taking sweet heart deals from a mortgage company and the other was bending over and taking it from a Fanny boyfriend and kept any reforms from taking place. You are a phony.
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 9:46AM
The funding is all right here guys:
http://www2.ed.gov/about/overv.....index.html
crankitup| 3.15.13 @ 10:00AM
every commie paid troll is all over this place, the hate they spew is disgusting.
SUBVET| 3.15.13 @ 11:19AM
Crank........it's the 15th the check is in the mail today.
You notice now they have a http [talking points] to back up the BS now.
Words can't describe............. these drones.
vtwin| 3.15.13 @ 11:40AM
SUBVET, you notice how conservatives never have facts to back up their BS?
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 12:01PM
No kidding vtwin.
These guys all missed the lesson on referencing sources in English class.
These guys, many of them Christians, apparently think that you can just write something and that means it's true. But I repeat myself.
JD| 3.15.13 @ 12:47PM
Wow, talk about pot calling kettle black!
Kwan| 3.15.13 @ 10:52AM
Either ObamaCare is repealed or this idiotic leftist monstrosity will destroy our health care system and bankrupt the country. Time to bring a halt to the Democrat Party's descent into madness and return the country to fiscal sanity. Ryan's Plan does that which of course means every Commiecrat moron will be against it.
Jim Adcox| 3.15.13 @ 11:55AM
Kwan, the Democrat Party's descent into madness began a century ago with the rise of Woodrow Wilson and his Progressive disdain for the Constitution. Since then, it has veered and swerved ever leftward and downward, dragging the nation with it.
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 2:07PM
KWAN!
Monday's Wes Welker Story.
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 11:39AM
Also, didn't the Republicans get beat in the last running on this exact platform?
Tom Kyba| 3.15.13 @ 11:55AM
Sounds like you girls are a little worried.
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 12:06PM
Not really Tom. It seems most of the country has woken up to the fact that this guy is fraud, and not to be taken seriously.
For one, he can't even do basic arithmetic. Two, he got his chance to peddle these ideas during the election, and he was rejected. What makes you think the Democrats or Obama are going to cave to him when they have the mandate?
JD| 3.15.13 @ 12:55PM
Show me an example of failed arithmetic.
vtwin| 3.15.13 @ 1:35PM
OK, cutting taxes increases revenues.
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 2:09PM
You're even Stupider than you claim to be.
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 1:43PM
JD, his whole plan is dependent on the Affordable Care Act getting repealed. That's not going to happen.
Plus, he wants to cut high income taxes down to 25%, but yet, he's going to increase revenue. He doesn't specify any loopholes he's going to eliminate, and he doesn't specify any major cuts to other discretionary spending. So in fact, he's just making shit up.....kinda like you do.
The Only Good Democrat| 3.15.13 @ 7:59PM
Affordable Care Act will be seen as quite an amusing name soon.
Kwan| 3.15.13 @ 1:23PM
Duuuuhhhhh yeah Tom most of da country has woken up and they want Obama to turn the country into Zimbabwe. In fact Awnie has already constructed a mud-hut in his backyard so that it'll feel like he's living in a real African village.
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 2:10PM
Monday.
Wes Welker.
vtwin| 3.15.13 @ 12:55PM
Ryan reoffering the same budget policies that were rejected by the voters five months ago reminds me of the court room scene from a Few Good Men.
"Objection, your Honor!"
"Overruled"
"No, no. I STRENUOUSLY object."
"Oh! You strenuously object. Then I'll take some time and reconsider."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOnRHAyXqYY
The Only Good Democrat| 3.15.13 @ 8:01PM
We are not raising taxes for you. Get used to that idea. You will continue to see our proposals as well.
Eric S.| 3.15.13 @ 11:42AM
The Ryan budget is like saying "I have no money, so instead of stopping spending, I'm going to not spend quite as much." If it were a family budget you would be forced to declare bankruptcy. We have to stop spending on entitlement yes, but it doesn't end there. We have to end frivolous government spending, endless wars, and overpaying our representatives and the entourages.
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 1:16PM
Anyway, there are actually 3 budgets being passed around Congress. The Ryan plan to screw over most of the nation, the Senate Democrat plan, and the Progressive Caucus plan which is actually the best one.
Kwan| 3.15.13 @ 1:34PM
Duuuuuuhhhhhh yeah. The progressive caucus plan is the best one. That's the plan that raises the national debt to 100 trillion by 2016. Any leftist genius can see that that's the best plan. Of course if unfortunately you're not a leftist genius then you will be unable to comprehend the brilliance of this plan.
Jack London| 3.15.13 @ 1:35PM
Exactly Arnie. Krugman has a good take on the plans today at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03.....1CA3D28CA0
"...Mr. Ryan’s efforts are finally starting to get the derision they deserve, while progressives seem, at long last, to be finding their voice. Little by little, Washington’s fog of fiscal flimflam seems to be lifting."
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 2:13PM
Krugman?
Why not just quote Pee Wee Herman, and be done with it?
vtwin| 3.15.13 @ 3:26PM
Granted Pee Wee Herman would be a more creatable source on economics than say Limbaugh or any of the garbage at Fox “News.” But, Paul Krugman is an economist, Professor of Economics at Princeton University, and a Nobel laureate in science of economics.
The Only Good Democrat| 3.15.13 @ 8:04PM
Krugman is also a dumb ass who you wouldn't let close to your credit card. Spend, spend, spend and end up like Detroit. What a joke.
The Only Good Democrat| 3.15.13 @ 8:55PM
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100558455
Oh yeah, Krugman is brilliant.
RAM| 3.15.13 @ 1:32PM
With real energy independence, something within reach technically that needs support at the top, the US economic picture with the Ryan budget could be bright. We would no longer be beholden to Norquist's Arab patrons.
PetePatriot| 3.15.13 @ 1:56PM
These ten-year plans are tiresome. Even the Soviets only had five-year plans. The only years that matter are the next two years. The out year projections never come close to fruition. Programs and departments need to be cut. Until that happens, who cares about merely slowing the budget increases of worthless programs and departments? The federal government finances all kinds of left-wing programs that undercut our country. Those need to be eliminated.
I would bet a trillion dollars that even if the Ryan budget were passed, his numbers for the tenth year are way off. Cut spending now and eliminate spending on all the worthless, left wing, feel-good programs.
PetePatriot| 3.15.13 @ 2:00PM
The only way to get spending under control is to replace baseline budgeting with zero-based budgeting. Make the army of bureaucrats that aspire to control everything in your house justify their budgets every year. The fact that this matter wasn't taken up during the Bush years when Republicans controlled Washington will be a black mark on them forever.
PetePatriot| 3.15.13 @ 2:07PM
Why even broach the subject of entitlement reform unless Republicans want to be permanently in the minority. Why are they tackling entitlement reform when they can't seem to muster support for cutting any specific programs or force Democrats to put their profligate spending plans on paper?
Republicans have been unwilling to wield the power of the purse to extract ordinary concessions from the Democrats. For instance, Republicans could have merely refused to pass a continuing resolution until the Democrat Senate comes up with a budget. The fact that they just meekly passed a continuing resolution shows how pusillanimous they are.
This Ryan budget is nothing for a conservative to get excited about. Perhaps Norquist could get some Republicans to pledge to cut some spending.
Arnie| 3.15.13 @ 2:09PM
Ok all you conservatives, what do you say, let's start picking stuff to cut from the Department of Education. How about these 2 programs?
Cut or keep?
English Language Acquisition
Special Education
Anthony| 3.15.13 @ 3:26PM
Both, cuz both of these programs seem to have failed both you and vtwin.
PetePatriot| 3.15.13 @ 4:17PM
The Department of Education came into existence as part of HEW in 1953. Public education has gone downhill ever since. Education is a state and local matter. Washington should get its nose out of it. Cut the whole department. Why should a handful of liberal/socialist/Marxist/progressives be given a chance to spread their poisonous philosophies to the nation's youth?
Example of English acquisition reading exercise: "Those nasty Republicans want the government to spend only what it takes in. Why do they want to hurt minorities and poor people?"
If the Federal government would stop sucking all the money out of states only to give a small percentage back after the federal bureaucracy gets its take, states would have more money to spend on what they deem important.
Oh yea, and if Congress would stop printing money to pay for needless programs, the dollar might not lose all its purchasing power. Since the Department of Education hasn't managed to teach this to a large majority of our nation's citizens, it has obviously failed and doesn't deserve to exist anymore.
Stan Redmond| 3.16.13 @ 2:13PM
Correctlyo, you blame government for the problems. Why your blind faith in more government to fix the problems they created in the first place?
nathan| 3.15.13 @ 2:11PM
A budget that grows by what 3% a year, is not cutting the budget. Let's do the math here shall we? The budget is 100 a year. You suggest 105 for next year. I say 103 year. Now have I "cut" the budget? No. If I say 98, that's a cut. And Ryan is proposing to do this over TEN years? You all know right that no congress can bind future ones? So the elected congress in say 2017 can tell St. Paul to stick it right? Rand Paul had it right, what can we do now the next two years, because that's all that matters. And you all remember right that Ryan voted and verbally supported Plan D that ADDED 2, count them TWO trillion to the deficit. Did he vote against a SINGLE Bush stimulus/bailout? NO. So what do we have here, a guy who's been through spending rehab? I mean c'mon he was part of the problem and now he's the solution? REALLY? And where are the defense cuts? Coburn wants an audit, makes it clear DOD hasn't passed one in like forever but "conservatives" yell NO DEFENSE CUTS! Well how about starting with the F-35? Aviation Week no less says kill it. And that's just for starters.
The bottom line, this is joke and can't be taken seriously.
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 2:16PM
Again, nathan, you get one right.
Why don't you join us at The Contest at Monday's Wes Welker Story.
Read my Intro, and have some fun.
Jack London| 3.15.13 @ 2:55PM
I guess all you rightists here are millionaires:
Taxpayers earning more than $1 million a year would benefit the most from the GOP tax plan, the analysis shows, reaping an average $400,000 tax break that would send their after-tax income soaring by nearly 20 percent.
Meanwhile, taxpayers earning between $40,000 and $50,000 a year — closer to the national average — would see their taxes cut by about $666 on average, increasing their after-tax income by less than 2 percent.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....ml?hpid=z3
TLP| 3.15.13 @ 3:54PM
Again: Put the Fag in your mouth, and Suck It.
Stan Redmond| 3.16.13 @ 2:16PM
Taxpayers earning more than 1 million a year pay the most taxes. Why shouldn't they get the most benefit from a tax cut. I'm not a millionair, yet. But there is no moral excuse to keep raping the "millionaires and billionares" to keep paying for failed government programs.
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I GOT HUNG UP SILLY| 3.17.13 @ 9:57AM
Dropping U.S. Corp Taxes in any future cost cutting effort apparently never considered folks like
Bill Gates & his Microsoft Corp not paying any taxes to Uncle Sam while Bill Gates himself receives his yearly elite tax~free foundation entitlement$ ..