In praise of Paul Ryan’s budget

By Tom Quiner

Some conservatives don’t like Paul Ryan’s budget because it doesn’t cut spending enough.

Some liberals don’t like Paul Ryan’s budget because it doesn’t raise taxes enough.

When both sides are sniping, that’s a good sign that the Ryan-authored budget is on the right track. The House just passed it.

The Republicans won back the House in 2010. As required by law, they have passed a responsible budget each year. The Democratically-controlled Senate has not, although it looks like it might finally happen this year.

Here is a quick contrast between the passed Ryan plan and the pending Senate budget, projected over ten years:

Ryan’s plan does not raise taxes.

Democrats call for a $1.5 Trillion tax hike (on top of January’s tax hike).

The Ryan plan reduces deficits by $4.6 Trillion.

The Democrat’s plan increases deficits by $7 Trillion.

The president for the 4th time in five years is late in submitting his budget.

I am concerned that Democrat’s approach of higher taxes and higher deficits is harmful to the nation, and especially to the poor. The risks are real.

As the national debt increases, so do our interest payments, which will eventually crowd out our ability to fund our safety net.

That’s bad for the poor and middle America.

As our debt climbs with annual trillion dollar deficits under President Obama, we run the risk of becoming a poor credit risk to our creditors. China is our largest creditor. If they pull the plug, we would have to implement draconian spending cuts and/or tax increases or both or face collapse. In any scenario, our safety net would be compromised and our economy, say most economic prognosticators, would be hurled into recession … or worse.

That’s bad for the poor and middle America.

You have heard all of the wailing and gnashing of teeth from the president and his party over the sequester. Imagine if we had to make much deeper cuts much faster because China pulls the plug on us.

There is a final, real concern with Democrats’ approach to our budget: inflation. The Fed keeps priming the pump in an attempt to mitigate the damage of Obamanomics. The risk of inflationary pressure can’t be discounted, and it would be devastating to retiring Baby Boomers who’d see their nest eggs frittered away with a devalued dollar. The poor would see the price of a bag of groceries skyrocket.

That’s bad for the poor and middle America.

I credit Paul Ryan for showing continuous leadership in crafting a reasonable budget that looks out for the poor and middle class.