Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Trillion Dollars, baby! (a path to paying off our debt)

"...no pale pastels, but bold color..."



The American blog reports this morning:

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan will warn at AEI today that the country is at a “tipping point” in its debt crisis that threatens to “curtail free enterprise” and lead to a “gradual moral-political decline as dependency and passivity weaken the nation’s character.”

As an aside, for those who might not be as familiar with Ryan as others (where ya been?), notice that the House Budget Committee Chairman is a WISCONSIN Republican! I’ll flip what congresswoman Michele Bachmann said last weekend at Iowa’s conservative conference: she said “Social conservatism is fiscal conservatism”; I’ll say “Fiscal conservatism is social conservatism” for fiscal sanity absolutely affects society.  This is a moral imperative!

Rep. Ryan detailed the dire issues amassed in a WSJ op ed today:

Congress is currently embroiled in a funding fight over how much to spend on less than one-fifth of the federal budget for the next six months. Whether we cut $33 billion or $61 billion—that is, whether we shave 2% or 4% off of this year's deficit—is important. It's a sign that the election did in fact change the debate in Washington from how much we should spend to how much spending we should cut.

But this morning the new House Republican majority will introduce a budget that moves the debate from billions in spending cuts to trillions. America is facing a defining moment. The threat posed by our monumental debt will damage our country in profound ways, unless we act.

No one person or party is responsible for the looming crisis. Yet the facts are clear: Since President Obama took office, our problems have gotten worse. Major spending increases have failed to deliver promised jobs. The safety net for the poor is coming apart at the seams. Government health and retirement programs are growing at unsustainable rates. The new health-care law is a fiscal train wreck. And a complex, inefficient tax code is holding back American families and businesses.

You can read the full article for yourself, but after explaining how Obama’s recent budget proposal actually accelerates America’s descent into a debt crisis, Ryan provides us with the much anticipated numbers of the GOP’s Path to Prosperity: $6.2 trillion in cuts from President Obama’s budget over the next decade, and $4.4 trillion in deficit reduction, as compared to Obama’s promised $1.1 trillion. Yes, we’re finally talking trillions with a “T” in cuts…and all the Democrats (and I'm sure some RINOs) gasp. The details of the budget laid out in this article should remind folks of Congressman Ryan’s Roadmap that many conservatives have longed for and recommended for quite some time.

Congressman Ryan ended his piece with this message:

This is America's moment to advance a plan for prosperity. Our budget offers the nation a model of government that is guided by the timeless principles of the American idea: free-market democracy, open competition, a robust private sector bound by rules of honesty and fairness, a secure safety net, and equal opportunity for all under a limited constitutional government of popular consent.

We can reform government so that people don't have to reorient their lives for less. We can grow our economy, promote opportunity, and encourage upward mobility. This budget is the new House majority's answer to history's call. It is now up to all of us to keep America exceptional.

A welcomed “Thanks” to Boehner and Cantor for getting on board with this. Please stick to it, guys…Ryan is ‘leading’ the way!

Paul Ryan has repeated the phrase “the most predictable economic crisis in history” for the good part of a year, along with others, to describe the forthcoming crisis, seen throughout both domestic and worldwide indicators, that we’re sure to face if our elected politicians cannot muster the will to do something about it! Perhaps these are the cohones we’ve been waiting for?