Patterico's Pontifications

I would prefer a cut this year of 1,65 trillion. And a balanced budget going forward which would result not in reducing the national debt to near zero over a twenty year period but would free up capital to revive and maintain a growing economy over that period of time.

cubanbob (409ac2) — 4/3/2011 @ 7:49 pm

CubanBob: what programs do you propose cutting to get that 1.65 trillion?

Newtons.Bit (b78b37) — 4/3/2011 @ 8:25 pm

Abso – F ‘ing – lutely! Paul Ryan is serious about spending. He is serious about saving his country – our country. No amount seems too much to cut; but,for the new Republican House to come out with substantial cuts is music to my ears. It would have been a sweeter song if it had come out in January right out of the gate – but it is sounding pretty sweet today!

Terry O'Gorman (ae4fd6) — 4/3/2011 @ 8:28 pm

It’s a fresh battle over a budget on which Obama punted his responsibilities rather than fighting over fiscal year which is already half over due to Democrats shirking their responsibilities prior to the midterms. It sets up the Democrats as the “kick the can down the road party” quite nicely for 2012.

daleyrocks (9b57b3) — 4/3/2011 @ 8:52 pm

Did y’all see this colorful food stamp graph? 14 million more on just since Obama’s (excuse the expression) watch.

http://www.redstate.com/moe_lane/2011/04/03/hi-heres-a-food-stamp-graph-that-will-ruin-your-day/

elissa (f9391d) — 4/3/2011 @ 9:19 pm

I agree this is the correct fight to pick.

However, with each passing day, the anger and momentum from November dissipates. WJC got elected after a horrendous mid-term. Voters forget, and they loathe messy fights. My point? The elephants will lose their nerve. The optimal time to fight has passed.

If the GOP miraculously grows some stones and adopts the Limbaugh/Christie/Walker/Palin ethos of unapologetic offense, great. I just don’t see it, though.

Ed from SFV (206325) — 4/3/2011 @ 9:38 pm

Ed, I think you are right that the timing isn’t perfect, but let’s pick up our phones and call our representatives anyway.

That’s a big part of what Ryan needs.

The beauty of Ryan’s plan is that it is completely reasonable and doable. Sure, I’d like to do more, but we’re so hooked on deficit spending that this reduction is a shock to the system. We should support Ryan even if we have somewhat different plans, because we need a huge coalition to push congress in the right direction.

Will Obama sign it? Probably not, without some kind of massive leverage I cannot imagine. But let’s give America a choice between a GOP that seriously spends less, and the status quo democrats.

Elissa, there is nothing more depressing than learning that more and more Americans are dependent on welfare. Fiscal conservatism is going to be very difficult, politically, with so much dependency. Sadly, the only way to have a stable long term economy, with plenty of great jobs, is to ensure the currency and national debt are less burdened.

Those folks on food stamps are the hardest hit by bloated welfare programs.

Dustin (c16eca) — 4/3/2011 @ 9:47 pm

Can someone explain to me why the Dems will capitulate on the bigger cuts later, but they won’t on the ones for right now? Or, if you think that they won’t fold later, and instead will force a shutdown, why it is preferable to have the shutdown later instead of now?

Anon Y. Mous (69b682) — 4/3/2011 @ 9:58 pm

“Can someone explain to me why the Dems will capitulate on the bigger cuts later”

Well, I won’t lie to you. I think the democrats will fight this harder and harder, and if that costs them more seats, that means they will be even more liberal and fight it yet harder.

But, Ryan’s plans are superior to the current GOP House cuts because they are much broader in scope. Instead of ineffective cuts that the dems can note accomplish little, we have a real plan that makes sense. It should be possible for a lot of supporters to accept this as the best chance we’ve got and form a large coalition to pressure our reps and Senators to support this plan.

While the dems will call any GOP cut draconian and doom and gloom, hopefully this budget will place those hysterics against legitimate reformed spending, instead of pitting them against symbolic progress.

We have to force this issue so that democrats can’t run as conservatives in 2012, which they certainly plan to do. Obama and his party will be on record opposing a sane budget, and the GOP had better be on record supporting a bona fide effort to get this country back on track.

Dustin (c16eca) — 4/3/2011 @ 10:05 pm

Why can’t Ryan’s plan still be implemented even if the House stands its ground on the current fight? Why does it have to be one or the other? The plans are not mutually exclusive.

Anon Y. Mous (69b682) — 4/3/2011 @ 10:08 pm

We need to make even more cuts but this is good enough.

DohBiden (984d23) — 4/3/2011 @ 10:14 pm

Voters forget, and they loathe messy fights. My point? The elephants will lose their nerve. The optimal time to fight has passed.

Ed from SV,

If, as we see at elissa’s link, if 12 million more Americans have become dependent on food stamps since Obama has been in office (currently 44 million), it would seem there is still plenty of reason for momentum and anger to push the GOP to fight for the cuts. What has improved so much in the last two years, that they could deny a reason to stay in the fight?

Dana (9f3823) — 4/3/2011 @ 10:22 pm

Dana–the thing with that graph is, every single right leaning person I know would look at that graph and immediately be both somewhat suspicious and also quite horrified (on multiple levels) that almost 15% of the US population is using food stamps. However, I think most left leaners would say, “look at that! see the rapidly increasing divide between rich and poor! If the government cuts the budget like the Republicans want to people will not be able to feed their families! Americans will starve! Tax the rich!!!

elissa (f9391d) — 4/3/2011 @ 10:45 pm

It’s silly to expect any long term cuts. If you want to know if a House is serious, look at what they do during the spending years that they actually control, rather than hypothetical cuts for some future congress to abide by.

j curtis (2640d2) — 4/3/2011 @ 11:06 pm

If the public won’t support them for the smaller cuts, what in the world makes anyone think they will for the ones two orders of magnitude larger?

M. Scott Eiland (27aed4) — 4/4/2011 @ 12:48 am

Do NOT get all excited about this! If this is done equally over 10 years, it solves NOTHING!

The deficit for THIS YEAR is 1,600 billion. Cutting 400 billion from spending this year still leaves a deficit of 1,200 billion for this year!

Congress clearly doesn’t get it. These “smoke and mirror” actions aren’t going to fix the problem.

The EXTREME action is the fact that the government spent TRILLIONS we don’t have over the last few years.

The RESPONSIBLE action is to stop it NOW! Waiting 10 years to reduce that spending will lead to the destruction of the Republic.

WarEagle (2ca889) — 4/4/2011 @ 8:26 am

Comment by Ed from SFV — 4/3/2011

Ed, I think they are growing some stones. Wallace ask him yesterday if he realized he is going to be demagogued by the Dems, and he said yes. He admitted it! Called them liars if they would try. He’s willing to take the blows and fight. We need to stand with him.

I’m sure this plan is not perfect, but it will signal to business and to the world that we are serious. It will cause an immediate positive reaction in the economy, IMHO.

William Tecumseh Sherman (0131bf) — 4/4/2011 @ 8:36 am

General Sherman, I agree with you. Ryan is a wonderful, knowledgeable, and effective spokesman on this issue both within his party and also out to America and the world. NOBODY can accuse him of being a sleazy politician, or of being a party hack. Nobody can question his intellectual capabilities or ethics. NOBODY. Ryan usually isthe smartest person in the room (despite not having won a Nobel prize).

I read or saw somewhere recently that the president, despite his public posture of working with the other side to solve the nation’s problems and asking for Republican ideas, has never, make that never, sat down or even met with Ryan. Shocking. But I am not surprised. Obama could not hold a candle to Ryan in an honest debate over the budget and deficit and would only embarrass himself–and Obama knows it.

The journey will be long and difficult. Ryan has taken a bold first step and I very much respect him for doing it.

elissa (8a5611) — 4/4/2011 @ 9:04 am

Being the smartest guy in the room isn’t near as important as fielding the biggest, strongest voting bloc. The question is whether the House GOP will stand firm. If they do, they could start now and do so next year, too.

I wonder if the GOP fears it can’t hold its budget coalition together for two votes (now and next year) when faced with a government shutdown. If that’s the case, I hope they can keep their powder dry until next year when the budget vote really matters.

DRJ (fdd243) — 4/4/2011 @ 10:06 am

Obama could not hold a candle to Ryan in an honest debate over the budget and deficit and would only embarrass himself–and Obama knows it.

elissa, if you recall, President Obama was less than positive in his response to Paul Ryan’s systematic examination of the fallacies and misrepresentations of the health care bill during last year’s bipartisan conference. While one can’t say what he was thinking, he certainly looked annoyed – perhaps realizing this guy could be a real problem for him. Biden spent most of the time looking down, appearing to take notes. They know.

Dana (9f3823) — 4/4/2011 @ 10:25 am

How’s $6.4 billion strike you?

Beldar (cd529f) — 4/5/2011 @ 1:33 am

Oh did I say BILLON? I meant $6.4 TRILLION. My bad.

Beldar (cd529f) — 4/5/2011 @ 1:33 am

4/3/2011

Paul Ryan to Introduce Budget That Would (Eventually) Cut $4 Trillion

22 Responses to “Paul Ryan to Introduce Budget That Would (Eventually) Cut $4 Trillion”

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