Ryan Budget: Who is Making the Hard Sacrifices?

Originally Posted by mcpapa

The Ryan budget proposal is for all intents and purposes the Republican fiscal blueprint. One that was called "right-wing social engineering" by none other than Newt Gingrich (who, to be fair, has since tap-danced around that).

Back to the original thread topic, I can make a pretty good guess as to who will not be making the hard sacrifices.

Know what it was called by Erskine Bowles, the Democratic co-chair of President Barack Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform? A sensible, straightforward, honest, serious budget that cut the budget deficit by $4 trillion. His words.

Here's his exact quote:
“Have any of you met Paul Ryan? We should get him to come to the university. I’m telling you this guy is amazing, uh. I always thought that I was OK with arithmetic, but this guy can run circles around me. And, he is honest. He is straightforward. He is sincere.

And, the budget that he came forward with is just like Paul Ryan. It is a sensible, straightforward, serious budget and it cut the budget deficit by $4 trillion…just like we did.

The President came out with his own plan and the President came out, as you will remember, with a budget and I don’t think anyone took that budget very seriously. Um, the Senate voted against it 97 to nothing. He, therefore, after a lot of pressure from folks like me, he came out with a new budget framework and, in the new budget framework, he cut the budget deficit by $4 trillion over 12 years. And, to be candid, this $4 trillion cut was very heavily back-end loaded. So, if you looked at it on a 10 year basis and compared apples-to-apples, it was about a $2.5 trillion cut.”

Originally Posted by Trinity alum

No, my previous post was accurate, the ACA does not cut Medicare.

Yes it does. You can spin it how you want but at the end of the day there will be $700B less in the Medicare budget. That equals a cut.

Originally Posted by mcpapa

^My limited understanding is that it cuts payments to insurance providers and drug companies. Not a reduction in benefits; and certainly not a migration towards a voucher program.

You cut payments to providers and drug companies and you will reduce benefits, period.

Originally Posted by woodsrider

Yes it does. You can spin it how you want but at the end of the day there will be $700B less in the Medicare budget. That equals a cut.

You cut payments to providers and drug companies and you will reduce benefits, period.

I think you have to define what you mean when you say "cut". It is my understanding that under the Ryan budget the total dollar amount spent would continue to increase but not as fast as the baseline projections. So in Washington parlance that is a "cut". Every place else, it's a budget increase.

Originally Posted by shooter

I think you have to define what you mean when you say "cut". It is my understanding that under the Ryan budget the total dollar amount spent would continue to increase but not as fast as the baseline projections. So in Washington parlance that is a "cut". Every place else, it's a budget increase.

Is this a mirage? My guy Shooter is back? Sweet. The discussion just got a lot more intelligent.

Welcome back.

Then Sen. Obama attacked Pres. George W. Bush for not acting on Medicare. Did he offer Medicare reform to deal with the massive liabilities building up in the system after he became president? Nope. He now demonizes Romney and Ryan for proposing specific plans for reform with his MediScare rhetoric.

Originally Posted by Clyde

The purpose of this thread was to talk about the plan that made Rep Ryan so well-known. So mentioning what Rep Ryan would do seems like it's quite apropos.

Gov Romney can say he's going to use his own plan but THE reason Rep Ryan was selected was because of his reputation on budgets as well as his specific plan.

So you think Romney will use Ryan's plan even though he's said he will stick with his own plan? Otherwise this is all just fantasy and it really doesn't matter what Ryan would do, anymore than it matters what Biden would do.

Originally Posted by woodsrider

I understand that but my point was there is a line of thought that Ryan will hurt Romney in states like FL. Also we've already started hearing how Ryan would cut a large amount from Medicare. Why is it being ignored that Obama has already gotten legislation passed that will do just that.

Interesting, isn't it?

Originally Posted by Trinity alum

I believe that the more people learn about the Ryan budget, the bigger the victory margin for President Obama will be.

Of course you do.

Interesting comment made by Rep Ryan to Fox's Britt Hume last night. When asked about the "Romney budget" and when it would result in a balanced budget he said "we don't know because we haven't ran the numbers yet."

Gov Romney must be thrilled with that answer since he's saying it will result by the end of his 2nd term.

That budget has been termed "fantasy."

Romney’s budget plan is a fantasy

^ I thought that Paul Ryan was the R's resident numbers wonk.

It's possible that those numbers won't be run until, say, 83 days from now.

Originally Posted by mcpapa

^ I thought that Paul Ryan was the R's resident numbers wonk.

It's possible that those numbers won't be run until, say, 83 days from now.

He has run the numbers on his and says it will be balanced around 2030. He has not run them on Romney's.

Originally Posted by Clyde

He has run the numbers on his and says it will be balanced around 2030. He has not run them on Romney's.

Correct. Just wondering out loud when that would be done.