Paul Ryan's Path to Bankruptcy

By Tim Kelly

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan is being assailed by Democrats and the left for proposing a budget they say will leave the poor, the sick, and the elderly destitute, hungry, and homeless. Republicans and the right are praising the congressman for proposing a budget they say addresses the nation's daunting economic and fiscal challenges.

The truth is that the rhetoric condemning and praising Ryan's plan is not justified.

Sure, by the standards inside the Beltway, Ryan's Path to Prosperity is bold. But what is that really worth?

Ryan's plan does have the federal government spending and taxing less than the Obama administration's budget proposal. But in the final analysis, Ryan's plan increases spending and adds more debt. Moreover, the "savings" in the plan are based on future spending cuts and it doesn't balance the budget until 2040.

That is almost 30 years from now!

First of all, do I need to remind readers that the promises from politicians to cut spending in the future are worthless when the federal government can print and spend money virtually at will? How does Congressman Ryan propose to prevent future congressmen from being as fiscally reckless as their predecessors?

Second, how "bold" is a budget cutting plan that can't even balance the budget within a decade? Ryan's plan foresees sizeable budget deficits until 2021. That is more debt piled upon the mountain of debt that already exists.

Here are the actual numbers:
Ryan's plan has the federal government spending $3.6 trillion this year while raking in $2.4 trillion in revenue. Obama's budget spends $3.8 trillion while collecting $2.5 trillion in FY 2012. Both plans create an annual deficit in excess of $1 trillion.

Ryan forecasts total federal spending to grow from $3.5 trillion in FY 2013 to $4.9 trillion in FY 2022. Obama's spending projections have federal spending increasing from $3.8 trillion in 2013 to $5.8 trillion in FY 2022.

Ryan proposes a simplified tax code and zeroing out spending on Obamacare. He also wants to block-grant Medicaid and other entitlement programs. With Medicare, Ryan proposes a range of coverage options, including free-for-service and competing health plans in the hopes of containing costs and improving efficiency. Social Security, however, is untouched despite that program's impending insolvency.

While Ryan's plan to cut taxes and starve Obamacare should be applauded, it should be noted that it doesn't eliminate a single federal program, agency, or department. There are no real cuts in it and, on upon closer analysis, his plan begins to look like just another business-as-usual proposal that slows down projected spending growth while only tinkering with the nation's bankrupt and dysfunctional welfare state.

The problem with Ryan's Path to Prosperity is that it is not a serious budget cutting plan.