What has become known as "Paul Ryan budget 3.0," was presented this morning at a press conference. The presenters today at a press conference were Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and other Republican members of the House Budget Committee. The most interesting part of the Ryan budget is that it projects an elimination of the budget deficit by the year 2023. While many cheer that sentiment, the disagreement comes in how do we get to a balanced budget.
Another interesting note in the "Paul Ryan budget 3.0" is that it budget calls for a rejection of parts of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or "Obamacare." Specifically, "Obamacare" calls for the expansion of Medicaid, something that Ryan's opposes.
Rep. Paul Ryan opposes the method of expansion, not necessarily the expansion. Rep. Paul Ryan wants a block grant type of method with "no strings attached" to the states. President Obama wants the "strings attached."
Rep. Paul Ryan seemingly objects more to the "binding of the hands" of local governments with the rules and regulations of the new medicaid expansion, than he does about the increased costs of the program. Rep. Paul Ryan is calling for a simpler, block type approach to medicaid. However, Rep. Paul Ryan ignores the societal benefits of covering more uninsured.
The budget also calls for the repeal the health-care law’s exchange subsidies. This portion of the law provides $1.2 trillion in subsidies for individuals who meet specific requirements to purchase health insurance from these health-insurance exchanges.
The Ryan budget calls for an increase of spending of 3.5% per year for the next ten years. The opposition budget calls for an increase of 5% per year of increased spending for the next ten years. Ryan claims that since the U.S. economy will grow faster than the budget, the budget will balance in ten years. Ryan argues that his budget would spend $41 trillion over ten years and the democrats budget will spend $46 trillion over ten years, therfore a savings of $5 trillion dollars over the ten year period.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney released a statement saying that the "math doesn't add up." Carney disputed the reductions claimed by Ryan.
Jay Carney also said of the Ryan budget that "The President believes that there is an opportunity for Democrats and Republicans to come together around a balanced plan to grow the economy and shrink the deficit by investing to create jobs, cutting wasteful spending, and strengthening programs like Medicare and Medicaid. This approach will require both parties to compromise and make tough choices."
Saying that the Ryan budget asks nothing of the wealthiest Americans, Carney says that this "has serious consequences for the middle class. By choosing to give the wealthiest Americans a new tax cut, this budget as written will either fail to achieve any meaningful deficit reduction, raise taxes on middle class families by more than $2,000 – or both. By choosing not to ask for a single dime of deficit reduction from closing tax loopholes for the wealthy and well-connected, this budget identifies deep cuts to investments like education and research – investments critical to creating jobs and growing the middle class."
Carney also addressed the issue of Medicaid and Ryan's calling for block grants to the states to simplify Medicaid. "This budget would turn Medicare into a voucher program--undercutting the guaranteed benefits that seniors have earned and forcing them to pay thousands more out of their own pockets."
Carney said "That’s why the President has put forward a balanced approach to deficit reduction with no sacred cows. It includes more Medicare savings over the next decade than the House Republican budget, but it does so by cracking down on waste and fraud, not by asking middle class seniors to bear the burden. It closes tax loopholes for the wealthiest and biggest corporations so we can still afford to create jobs by investing in education, manufacturing, infrastructure, and small businesses. The President’s plan puts our nation on a fiscally sustainable path and grows our economy from the middle class out."
However, Carney did not throw the entire Ryan budget out of hand."While the President disagrees with the House Republican approach, we all agree we need to leave a better future for our children. The President will continue to work with Republicans and Democrats in Congress to grow the economy and cut the deficit in a balanced way."
For Rep. Paul Ryan, a successful negotiation of a budget with the Democrats and President Obama could mean he redeems himself politically. Rep. Paul Ryan needs redemption after the disastrous campaign as Mitt Romney's running mate on the Republican ticket. Many in the Obama Administration and on Capitol Hill are "optimistic" about the chances of a "grand bargain."
Send John Presta an email and your story ideas or suggestions at johnpresta@att.net.
John is the author of an award-winning book, the 2010 Winner of the USA National Best Book award for African-American studies, published by The Elevator Group Mr. and Mrs. Grassroots: How Barack Obama, Two Bookstore Owners, and 300 Volunteers did it. Also available an eBook on Amazon. John is also a member of the Society of Midland Authors and is a book reviewer of political books for the New York Journal of Books. John has volunteered for many political campaigns.
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