It’s silly season (when is it not?) in Washington D.C. and Paul Ryan’s budget plan is at the center of attention. Ezra Klein calls Ryan’s budget plan “social engineering,” while NPR predicts his proposal is dead on arrival. Of course this is all debatable. And soon enough, the discussion surrounding America’s fiscal future will consist of talking points and partisan squabbling.
Reality will be lost on the conversation and the country. And that reality is, that damn-this-so-called-deficit-spending Democrats in Washington will never concede the now regnant agenda at the heart of their political existence: dependency. Paul Ryan’s Budget abolishes ObamaCare, privatizes Medicare, and repeals Dodd-Frank. The Democrats’ budget calls for more spending: a $100 billion stimulus for job training, repairs to roads and bridges, and closes loopholes and cuts military spending.
While the Republican plan makes an attempt at steering the federal balance sheet back to solvency, the Democrats are determined to sow dependency by doubling down on stupid borrowing and spending.
Congressional Democrats can’t be divorced from their belief that they can borrow and tax the country into solvency, and the Republicans can’t explain how targeting and shrinking the tax base will beget economic prosperity.
Alas, Ryan’s budget is another loony pitstop on our way to Greece.