Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI), in today's Wall Street Journal:
In a nutshell, the president and Democratic leaders in Congress are attempting to bring about the third and final great wave of progressivism, building on top of the New Deal and the Great Society.
House Republicans will offer an alternative plan. This too is no ordinary budget. As the opposition party, we believe this moment must be met by offering the American people a different way forward -- one based on our belief that America is an exceptional nation, and we want to keep it that way. Our budget applies our country's enduring first principles to the problems of our day. Rather than attempting to equalize the results of peoples' lives and micromanaging their affairs, we seek to preserve our system of protecting our natural rights and equalizing opportunity for all. The plan works to accomplish four main goals: 1) fulfill the mission of health and retirement security; 2) control our nation's debts; 3) put the economy on a path of growth and leadership in the global economy; and 4) preserve the American legacy of leaving the next generation better off.
The Washington Monthly's Steve Benen's nutshell cracks a bit differently:
In a nutshell, Ryan proposes a massive tax cut, totaling, by some estimates, around $4 trillion -- on top of the Bush/Cheney cuts, which would remain place. The Republicans plan would voucherize Medicare, and, best of all, impose a five-year spending freeze on non-defense discretionary spending (which is, of course, completely insane).
Kenneth Baer, the OMB communications director, said this morning, "If you expected a GOP alternative to the failed policies of the past that got our country into the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, then I have two words for you: April Fool's."
Based on Ryan's vision, the stimulus package would be gone. Funding for education, healthcare, the environment, infrastructure, law enforcement, and medical research would all be slashed, while the wealthiest Americans are rewarded with massive new tax cuts.
It's almost as if Ryan and his Republican colleagues are trying to destroy the economy. As Pat Garofalo recently explained, "The economic stimulus package's main purpose is to close the GDP gap and jumpstart the economy by spurring spending by households, government and the private sector. A spending freeze would act as an 'anti-stimulus,' cutting spending precisely when it's too low and the economy is moving too slowly."
Paul Krugman added, "I'm shocked by the total intellectual collapse of the Republican Party in the face of this economic crisis.... I'd really like to see some genuine bipartisanship in America. But that can't happen until we start having at least somewhat sane partisans."
And if Paul Ryan is what passes today as a sane partisan, the Republican Party has a long way to go before it can sit at the big kids' table.
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