Ryan’s new budget plan points the way to saner fiscal future
In February — three years after Barack Obama became president, and 32 months after the Great Recession officially ended — the United States recorded its largest monthly deficit ever: $232 billion. So, last month we borrowed the equivalent of Portugal.
The relatively good news is that February usually features low revenues and high spending. The country is not actually on pace for a $2.8 trillion shortfall this year. Whew!
The decidedly bad news: Washington still is well on its way toward a fourth straight year of spending $1 trillion more than it takes in.
That word, “trillion,” has lost some of its shock value during the past three years. But if you have children, grandchildren or just expectations of living more than another 10 years or so, you must know runaway red ink is the most important issue we face today. And, with apologies to each Republican telling the country that putting him in the White House is the key to America’s future, any steps toward solving this problem must begin in Congress.
Which brings us to the best news so far. In between the Romney campaign’s giving an unexpected boost to Etch-a-Sketch and the Broncos’ trading Tim Tebow to the New York Jets this past week, the most consequential member of Congress tweaked his plan for backing away from the fiscal abyss.
Paul Ryan, the House budget chief from Wisconsin, laid out his revised Path to Prosperity. The plan may or may not be politically practical, but it is vitally important in illustrating the kind of choices necessary to balance the federal budget.
He does this by recognizing two realities Obama still denies, if we are to judge by the president’s plans.
First: Tax revenues during the past 60 years, regardless of tax rates or loopholes, have averaged 18 percent of gross domestic product. So, if we are serious about balancing the budget, we cannot keep spending above 22 percent of GDP, as Obama proposes to do indefinitely. We have to get it to 18 percent or less.
Ryan’s plan does this, in part by holding down spending on Medicare and Medicaid. The program for retirees would be reined in by helping seniors pay for competing, private insurance plans rather than having the government insure them itself. Medicaid would be effectively handed over to the states, which would get less money from Washington but also much more freedom to shape their health plans for the poor.
But he also does it by cutting spending for defense, for education — for everything besides health care and Social Security — almost in half within 10 years. Would that be a shock to the federal system? Certainly. But, just as certainly, it represents the scale of change required to bring Washington’s spending under control.
The second fact is that we will escape our budget hole only by growing the economy. Among other things, that prevents absolute levels of spending from plummeting even as they shrink as a share of the economy, making cuts more politically palatable.
He proposes to do this with a complete overhaul of the tax code. Among other things, the current six income-tax brackets would collapse to just two: 10 percent and 25 percent. The falling rates would be offset by removing the litany of loopholes and carve-outs that favor the well-connected and distort decision-making. Ditto for corporate loopholes, as that rate fell to 25 percent, too.
There is no greater issue for the country than getting control of Uncle Sam’s finances, and no starker contrast with what Obama proposes to do if re-elected.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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333 comments Add your comment
Rafe Hollister
March 24th, 2012
2:34 pm
Just Saying and Old Timer
I did not say that, can’t you libs read? I said that most seniors say that to me, demonstrating how dumb the masses truly are. I have had two relatives in nursing homes, I know the rules backwards and forwards. My father was the only one in his nursing home of 90+ that paid his own freight. The Administrator constantly reminded my mother that she was stupid for not getting him on Medicaid. Mother said he saved his money, he doesn’t qualify. My mother was told that she was stupid for continuing to pay, and she needed to find a way to get him on the SYSTEM.
Rafe Hollister
March 24th, 2012
2:36 pm
Above could be called an id ten T reading comprehension problem.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
March 24th, 2012
2:38 pm
It is a serious question, one you should try answering.
And I’m wondering why YOU aren’t buying oil futures if it’s so profitable.
Rafe Hollister
March 24th, 2012
2:40 pm
TS PEOPLE LIKE YOU, Rafe, and Lil Barry that GIVES KYLE’S BLOG A BAD NAME.
Then why are you on here, and thanks for putting me in such good company.
Linda
March 24th, 2012
2:48 pm
Several of you have questioned Kyle’s statement, “…Tax revenues during the past 60 years…have averaged 18 percent of gross domestic product…”
This is a known fact that Democrats deny. “Since 1968, fed. tax revenues from all sources combined has been a relatively constant 18% of GDP–regardless of tax rates…No matter what it does, the govt. will collect 18% of the economy in taxes…Lower tax rates encourage businesses to create jobs & to invest in the future…”
This article explains this phenomenon.
http://www.antolin-davies.com/research/nydailynews.pdf
Rafe Hollister
March 24th, 2012
2:52 pm
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/state/witness-martin-attacked-zimmerman-03232012
Witness: Martin attacked Zimmerman
Updated: Friday, 23 Mar 2012, 6:19 PM EDT
Published : Friday, 23 Mar 2012, 5:47 PM EDT
ORLANDO – A witness we haven’t heard from before paints a much different picture than we’ve seen so far of what happened the night 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed.
The night of that shooting, police say there was a witness who saw it all.
Our sister station, FOX 35 in Orlando, has spoken to that witness.
What Sanford Police investigators have in the folder, they put together on the killing of Trayvon Martin few know about.
The file now sits in the hands of the state attorney. Now that file is just weeks away from being opened to a grand jury.
________________________________________
Interesting read. I have been wondering why the police didn’t just arrest Zimmerman and shut up the protesters. The ole two sides to the story once again. I know the libs say the police just will not arrest him because he shot a black teenager, but, rational people know that there has to be more to it than that. This may explain the inaction.
Linda
March 24th, 2012
2:54 pm
This is a chart from the Office of Management & Budget. If you tab over to the last column on the right, you can see for yourself the receipts(both historical & estimated) of the fed. govt. as a percentage of GDP.
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=200
You can see that tax collections in high tax years were about the same as in lower tax years.
Rafe Hollister
March 24th, 2012
2:57 pm
Linda, thanks for the research, I’m going to read. The whole argument makes complete sense to me as I believe in human nature. Libs spend their lives trying to change and alter human nature, it never works. Everyone pitch it and we will divide up what we earn evenly. Works every time, right? Not.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
March 24th, 2012
3:04 pm
“ITS PEOPLE LIKE YOU, Rafe, and Lil Barry that GIVES KYLE’S BLOG A BAD NAME.”
A: I didn’t realize that Kyle’s blog had a “bad name”. Where do you get that information from?
B: If challenging the liberal and conservative establishment with facts gives Kyle’s blog a bad name, then maybe those who don’t like it should just leave, ’cause I don’t do hyperbole and nonsense.
Rafe Hollister
March 24th, 2012
3:04 pm
From Linda’s posted article
In the past 40 years, we have taxed the rich at astronomical rates, we have taxed the rich at
today’s middle-class rates, and we have taxed the rich at many levels in between. But the rate at
which we tax the rich hasn’t mattered – the government’s tax revenue has remained 18% of GDP.
So: The argument that we need tax increases to solve a revenue problem is null and void.
This seems easy to comprehend, but watch MarkV prove me wrong.
Jm
March 24th, 2012
3:12 pm
A must read
America on the precipice and about to go over
http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/budget-346003-debt-percent.html
Rafe Hollister
March 24th, 2012
3:27 pm
Jm
Sobering! Guess I better round up what’s left and convert to Canadian or buy silver. So depressing, as I have enough experience to know that the libs are not going to allow it to be corrected, so the best we can do is slow down the inevitable.
Linda
March 24th, 2012
3:43 pm
This graph shows individual, not all, tax revenues. Whether top individual tax brackets are 91%, 70%, 50%, 30%, etc. individual tax revenues as a percentage of GDP remains the same, per the White House Office of Mgment & Budget.
http://www.heritage.org/BudgetChartbook/income-tax-receipts
Linda
March 24th, 2012
3:57 pm
Rafe@2:57, Libs think that raising taxes raises revenues & believe that raising the minimum wage raises wages. That’s why Democrats could never run a McDonald’s. They think they would get more profit if they raised the cost of quarter pounders to $10 a piece. Basic math does not work in economics.
MarkV
March 24th, 2012
4:28 pm
Rafe Hollister @3:04 pm: “This seems easy to comprehend, but watch MarkV prove me wrong.”
Rafe,
Are you trying to be as much a fool as Tiberius, and claim I have argued something I have not? If you do, make sure you can prove it.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
March 24th, 2012
4:37 pm
“claim I have argued something I have not? ”
One would first have to actually, you know, argue something before one could claim that someone was arguing for them.
We know that someone could not possibly be arguing for you, as we know you never argue anything on this blog.
Rafe Hollister
March 24th, 2012
4:39 pm
Mark
I have been reading your posts for months now and still do not know what you are saying, why you are saying it, nor what you believe. I fear only you know what your argument is.
MarkV
March 24th, 2012
5:06 pm
Rafe Hollister@ 4:39 pm
I am afraid I cannot help your failure to comprehend arguments.
Yesterday, I pointed out that when Kyle wrote that we could not spend at 22 percent of GDP because tax revenues had averaged 18 percent during the past 60 years, he failed to provide a justification for that argument. The mere fact that something has averaged x% over 60 years is not, by itself, a justification of saying that therefore it cannot be anything else than x% in the next few years, no matter what circumstances.
You (@7:54 pm claimed that the logic was clear. I asked you to point out from Kyle words those that presenedt that logic. You failed to do so.
Incidentally, while I would not likely doubt Kyle’s numbers, I would not say the same about those from others. Federal tax revenues have not been “a relatively constant 18% of GDP.” During the 60 years Kyle averaged they have ranged from 14.4 to 20.6. That is a spread of 6.2%. The difference Kyle was arguing about as impossible, 22% vs. the average of 18%, was 4%.
SHAME On Paul Ryan and The Republicans (SANER fiscal future?)
March 24th, 2012
5:16 pm
This is unbelievable. The interest rates on federal student loans will double this summer if Congress doesn’t take action.1
Millions of American students from working class families are able to obtain a college education thanks to low-interest federal student loans. But now Congress is putting those loans in serious jeopardy at a time when students and their families can least afford to pay higher interest rates.
With Republicans in the House poised to double the interest on federal student loans, we need leadership from the Senate. Specifically, to stand up and fight on behalf of millions of American students.
WANTED: Bloggers With An IQ Above 52
March 24th, 2012
5:22 pm
@Rafe Hollister
March 24th, 2012
2:40 pm
TS PEOPLE LIKE YOU, Rafe, and Lil Barry that GIVES KYLE’S BLOG A BAD NAME.
Then why are you on here, and thanks for putting me in such good company.
********************************************************************
Those of similar taste congregate in groups.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
March 24th, 2012
5:24 pm
“Yesterday, I pointed out that when Kyle wrote that we could not spend at 22 percent of GDP because tax revenues had averaged 18 percent during the past 60 years, he failed to provide a justification for that argument.”
Because we all know that if every “T” isn’t crossed and every “I” isn’t dotted, Mark V will not do anything but whine until it is, thereby saving himself yet another a$$-whuppin’ from his betters.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
March 24th, 2012
5:26 pm
“The interest rates on federal student loans will double this summer if Congress doesn’t take action.”
Wow! More freeloaders wanting stuff from the government. Never thought I see THAT happen . . .
Linda
March 24th, 2012
5:30 pm
A liberal arguing with 60 years of history. A liberal arguing with the White House Office of Management & Budget in 2012. A liberal wanting to know the argument against racking up more debt. Who would have thought?
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
March 24th, 2012
5:36 pm
“Ryans plan in insane.”
Well, that settles THAT!
Uh, John? How about something a little more meatier than a hyperbolic absolutist statement from you on what, specifically, you believe is “insane” about Paul Ryan’s plan, OK?
WANTED: Bloggers With An IQ Above 52
March 24th, 2012
5:38 pm
@Tiberius – Your lightning rod of hate!
March 24th, 2012
3:04 pm
“ITS PEOPLE LIKE YOU, Rafe, and Lil Barry that GIVES KYLE’S BLOG A BAD NAME.”
A: I didn’t realize that Kyle’s blog had a “bad name”. Where do you get that information from?
B: If challenging the liberal and conservative establishment with facts gives Kyle’s blog a bad name, then maybe those who don’t like it should just leave, ’cause I don’t do hyperbole and nonsense.
*************************************************************************
A. This is what a lot of people think about this blog.
MarkV
February 18th, 2012
10:27 am
I do not know what Kyle thinks about his blog; perhaps he is so busy with the newest member of his family that he does not have time to care. Because the quality of the posts can hardly sink much lower.
It has been always a place for rabid conservatives to gush out their vitriol, trying to outdo themselves in who can insult the President more nastily. Apparently it never occurred to them that nobody really cares what they write.
B. WHEN did facts ever have anything to do with your comments.?
MarkV
March 24th, 2012
5:46 pm
Rafe Hollister@ 4:39 pm: “Mark, I have been reading your posts for months now and still do not know what you are saying, why you are saying it, nor what you believe.”
Let me say this in response. I do not proclaim what I believe, and I do not argue with beliefs. Anybody can believe anything, and one cannot use reason to argue with it. Somebody can believe that in the center of the earth there is another planet, bigger than earth, and as long as it is a belief and not something he/she would try to prove, there is no point using geometry or physics or anything else rational to argue against it. Or somebody can believe something equally ridiculous but closer to the discussions here, like that global warming is a hoax, and there is no point arguing with that person.
I also have no interest in discussing here complex issues, which the armchair experts on the blog have no problem pronouncing judgments on. Further, I reject any importance of who or what the commenter is. The only thing that matters to me are the words that appear on the screen.
What the blog is to me is a contest of arguments. Either your argument is valid, or it is not. I point out arguments that I consider invalid, and present the reasons. I know that people like to use the blog just to proclaim their views. They have every right to do so, but I find it mostly uninteresting.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
March 24th, 2012
5:47 pm
MarkV is your standard, IQ?
That’s about as funny (and as accurate) as saying Obama is a good President.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
March 24th, 2012
5:49 pm
“but I find it mostly uninteresting.”
And yet, you can’t seem to stay away . . .
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
March 24th, 2012
5:54 pm
Jm: Guess I better round up what’s left and convert to Canadian or buy silver.
———
I’ve been buying Merk Hard Currency Fund…invests in currencies of countries that aren’t destroying the value of their money, like Obozo is the dollar.
Linda
March 24th, 2012
6:02 pm
Believing that global warming is a hoax is ridiculous?
I understand that a few people might believe that the globe is warming (coming out of a mini age age).
I understand that a few people might believe that humans are causing it (back in the 1800’s).
What I can’t understand are people who believe that politicians in Washington can “fix” it by taxing it & swapping it around.
What I can’t understand are people who believe that politicians believe in global warming.
Why didn’t the politicians come up with something that actually got warm, like stoves & clothes dryers? Why did they pick on breathing?
That’s what I call ridiculous.
Bev
March 24th, 2012
6:36 pm
Nice to see Kyle offers a place for the rabid right to vent. Certainly cuts down on the number of innocent’s shot by their local neighborhood watch.
Linda
March 24th, 2012
6:43 pm
Bev@6:36, Innocents is spelled I-N-N-O-C-E-N-T-S. At least that’s what Mrs. Wilson, bless her soul, said in third grade, & bless your soul, too!
Rafe Hollister
March 24th, 2012
6:46 pm
LBB, Thanks for the tip on Merk, I’ll investigate. Anyone else who has ideas about how to preserve wealth, while Oblamer, Geither, and his buddy at the Fed seek to devalue the currency, please post them.
Sly
March 24th, 2012
6:53 pm
rafe,
Bury it in a mason jar in your back yard.
WANTED: Bloggers With An IQ Above 52
March 24th, 2012
6:57 pm
@Linda
March 24th, 2012
6:43 pm
Bev@6:36, Innocents is spelled I-N-N-O-C-E-N-T-S. At least that’s what Mrs. Wilson, bless her soul, said in third grade, & bless your soul, too!
*************************************************************************************
APPLAUSE….APPLAUSE……APPLAUSE
YOU made it to the 3rd Grade?
CONGRATULATIONS.
Rafe Hollister
March 24th, 2012
7:01 pm
Sly, the way it is devaluing it wouldn’t be worth digging up in five years. Besides, I use my Mason jars to hold my corn harvest.
Rafe Hollister
March 24th, 2012
7:04 pm
Wanted
What grade are you in this year?
WANTED: Bloggers With An IQ Above 52
March 24th, 2012
7:04 pm
@Rafe Hollister
March 24th, 2012
6:46 pm
LBB, Thanks for the tip on Merk, I’ll investigate. Anyone else who has ideas about how to preserve wealth, while Oblamer, Geither, and his buddy at the Fed seek to devalue the currency, please post them.
**************************************************************************************
heeheeheeheeheeheee
How to preserve wealth?
“An abundance of valuable material possessions or resources; riches.”
YOUR COLLECTION of ole time country records DON’T COUNT as wealth.
Or your COLLECTION of Billy Beer DON’T COUNT EITHER.
WANTED: Bloggers With An IQ Above 52
March 24th, 2012
7:08 pm
@Rafe Hollister
March 24th, 2012
7:04 pm
Wanted
What grade are you in this year?
*****************************************************************
DON’T MATTER.
At least I AM NOT BEGGING people for advance on how to preserve wealth.
I have a financial advisor for that GENIUS.
Linda
March 24th, 2012
7:31 pm
Mr. WANTED@6:57, I also have a degree in Economics from one of the largest universities in the Southeastern US. What about you, Mr. ALL CAPS? Would you like for me to give you some instructions on how to pass Civics, especially that first lesson on how to be civil to a lady?
Like attention, do you, sir? I hope you know that Kyle charges for comments by the inch.
Like trying to intimidate women, do you, sir? Better luck next time.
Thank you for your accolades.
Rafe Hollister
March 24th, 2012
7:44 pm
Wanted
Financial adviser? Is that what they call those processors at Title Max. Did you get your title back?
@@
March 24th, 2012
7:59 pm
Whooaaaa! Hillbilly called someone an SOB!!??!!
Rare…but well deserved.
Linda
March 24th, 2012
8:22 pm
Hillbilly, where are you? You still have not out-staged Obama. He’s actually selling tee shirts on his web site for $30 that are reminders of what Biden said when they passed Obamacare 2 years ago when he was unaware the mic was open. They read,
Health Reform
Still A
BFD
Wonder if his daughters wear them. Wonder if the Supreme Court & voters will agree.
http://store.barackobama.com/
WANTED: Bloggers With An IQ Above 52
March 24th, 2012
8:26 pm
@Rafe Hollister
March 24th, 2012
7:44 pm
Wanted
Financial adviser? Is that what they call those processors at Title Max. Did you get your title back?
*******************************************************************
As a matter of fact I DO HAVE MY TITLE.
MY 2010 CAR IS PAID FOR.
I SEE YOU KNOW A LOT ABOUT TITLE LOANS.
Is that your SAFETY NET?
WANTED: Bloggers With An IQ Above 52
March 24th, 2012
8:30 pm
@@@
March 24th, 2012
7:59 pm
Whooaaaa! Hillbilly called someone an SOB!!??!!
Rare…but well deserved.
****************************************************************************
KYLE always have a LOW class bunch of bloggers.
“It has been always a place for rabid conservatives to gush out their vitriol, trying to outdo themselves in who can insult the President more nastily. Apparently it never occurred to them that nobody really cares what they write.”
heeheeheeheeheeheeheehee
Now with Ten Percent More Flavor
March 24th, 2012
8:51 pm
Federal revenues were 14.9% of GDP for 2009 and 2010 so to keep the average at the magical historical level of an average 18%, President Obama is obligated to collect revenue for two years at a level of 21.1% since that would yield an average of (14.9 + 14.9 + 21.1 + 21.1)/4 = 18.0. I would strongly advise President Obama to reserve the two years where unemployment is the lowest, GDP is the highest, and federal expenditures (wars, etc.) are at a minimum as his two average balancing years.
Linda
March 24th, 2012
8:58 pm
Mr. WANTED@8:30, “Kyle always HAVE… ” You probably meant Kyle always HAS…” More kudos for Mrs. Wilson, my third grade teacher, God bless her soul, & yours, too, Mr. Capital Letters.
The rest of your comment needs additional third grade teacher TLC, but I will leave it for yours on Monday morning.
Isn’t it you, Mr. heeheeheehee, etc., who is trying to insult conservatives with your vitriol & nastiness?
WANTED: Bloggers With An IQ Above 52
March 24th, 2012
9:08 pm
@Linda
March 24th, 2012
8:58 pm
**************************************
To bad Kyle isn’t PAYING YOU to be the grammar checker.
Don’t sell yourself so cheap.
@@
March 24th, 2012
9:16 pm
KYLE always ?>>>>have<<<<? a LOW class bunch of bloggers.
Linda already covered ^^^ that one.
Anyhoo…
Apparently it never occurred to them that nobody really cares what they write.
Obviously, YOU do…or you wouldn’t hang out here.
@@
March 24th, 2012
9:17 pm
WANTED:
And before you respond, just know that I won’t be reading it.