Why would conservatives support Ryan budget bill?
The GOP budget bill that garnered nearly every Republican vote in Congress has been much discussed these past few weeks, as has the author of this bill, the party’s economic “genius” Rep. Paul Ryan.
The part of the bill that privatizes Medicare, dubbed “VoucherCare” by some, has taken up most of the discussion. But when I look at the other parts of the bill, I’m amazed that conservatives are lining up to support this nutty plan.
The first problem I see is that this budget plan — touted by conservatives for its deficit reduction — doesn’t actually end budget deficits until 2040. That’s 29 more years of the government spending more than it takes in. We are now into year 10 of deficit spending since the last time we had a budget surplus. And Republicans think it’s OK to go another 29 years before we see a balanced budget?
What is conservative about that?
Ryan’s budget is based on some very fishy numbers. One of the numbers in the plan is the prediction that unemployment will drop down to 3 percent and stay there for the long term.
I want to know what Ryan was smoking when he came up with that. This country has never seen 3 percent unemployment, certainly not for any period of time. Ryan doesn’t explain how we can get unemployment down this low, other than it’s the magic of the free market.
Except his magic is wrong. The natural unemployment rate in an economy with a fully employed workforce is around 4 or 5 percent, accounting for those people finding new jobs, etc. Economists warn that an unemployment rate below that would signal a shortage of labor, bringing with it substantial inflation pressures.
But the other consequence a rate that low would bring is a huge flood of illegal immigrants across our borders. With that many open jobs and rising wages, you would need to build one hell of a wall all the way around the country to keep undocumented workers out.
How many conservatives would stand up and take credit for a plan that greatly increased illegal immigration? Anybody?
Many of the new GOP members of Congress owe their jobs to attacking Democrats over health care reform, specifically the attacks that Dems cut Medicare by half a trillion dollars.
But, the Ryan budget that these Congress critters voted in favor of KEEPS THOSE VERY SAME CUTS. Yes, let’s say it again, almost every Republican voted to cut half a trillion from Medicare, in addition to privatizing it. Good luck campaigning on that next year.
Is this kind of hypocrisy now the norm for the new conservative movement?
While we are on the subject of Medicare, Ryan’s plan assumes that costs will be contained to the rate of inflation. Again, there’s no evidence that this is workable, just some more of Ryan’s magical thinking.
Anyone can make a budget balance if he or she just makes up the numbers. The fact that Ryan’s budget makes up so many numbers yet doesn’t balance for 29 years should set off huge alarm bells for anyone claiming to be fiscally conservative.
Is this all the conservative movement has left? Are the GOP members of Congress so stupid that they buy all of this magical thinking, or are they just so desperate for a plan — any plan — that they signed on despite its obvious flaws?
Are there any real conservatives left in this country? I really want to know, because these new conservatives need some help before they completely embarrass themselves and wreck what is left of the country.
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